Micro Center's Xbox 360 Pres. Day sale
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Feb 17th 2007 at 9:30PM }
Micro Center is whipping out the impressive Xbox 360 deals again with their President's Day sale. As reported by our sister site Xbox 360 Fanboy, a wireless controller for $20 is a great deal. The best investment on the flyer is certainly the Quick Charge Kit -- although the fanboys don't recommend the Intercooler. The sale is only this Monday, so if you've got a Micro Center in your area, these really are some pretty sweet deals.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Vince @ Feb 17th 2007 10:33PM
Being a "two nails away from a very cosy coffin" format, the HD add-on for the three60 should be much, much cheaper.
They need to start giving those things away if they really want HD DVD to stake it's claim.
Can't argue with the price of that controller though.
yost007 @ Feb 17th 2007 10:35PM
2 Wireless controllers for me!!!
evildoer @ Feb 17th 2007 11:12PM
the contrllers are sweet deal.
but why 400 for a 360 when for 100 more you can get a PS3 with bluray built in.
i mean add ons are fugly.
JimCognito @ Feb 17th 2007 11:23PM
Microcenter is such a great store. It's worth the 40 minute drive just to pick up blank dvd's and whatever impulse buys I get once a month.
BPM @ Feb 17th 2007 11:42PM
"but why 400 for a 360 when for 100 more you can get a PS3 with bluray built in."
Um, because with that $100 difference you could buy a game or two (depending on sales or used games)?
Ya know... since game machines are meant for playing games first, not movies first?
Satertek @ Feb 18th 2007 12:21AM
What about the wired ones? They're actually useful in that you can plug them into a PC.
BPM @ Feb 18th 2007 12:24AM
Satertek, Microsoft released a wireless receiver a while back so you could use the 360 wireless stuff on a PC.
Tyler @ Feb 18th 2007 2:58AM
Yes, but blu-ray has a superior selection of movies clearly the better choice
Frankie @ Feb 18th 2007 3:20AM
That ad is misleading. It made me assume that you're saving $170 for the HD-DVD drive, wtf?
Ace @ Feb 18th 2007 3:37AM
@9
Thats because your an idiot.
I work at Best Buy, and very rarely are
ads misleading. More often than not, the customer
is probably just too stupid to buy whatever it is
hes looking at.
why not the LS2/LS7? @ Feb 18th 2007 3:45AM
The controller deal is fantastic.
But the intercooler is a joke, the quick charge kit is unnecessary, and HD-DVD is looking more dead-end now even than it did before. I cannot imagine how Warners is going to manage to get their "True HD" combo Blu-Ray/HD-DVD discs out before the studios throw in the towel on HD-DVD (by all adopting Blu-Ray). And the main system is not discounted at all.
Somehow I don't think this will set the market alight like the the $100 rebates did in December.
livefromphiladelphia @ Feb 18th 2007 4:46AM
I may pick up a controller or two, although I wish the deal was on the wired pads (those M$ controller batteries seem to lose their charge really friggin fast).
Daniel @ Feb 18th 2007 5:41AM
Anyone who thinks HD-DVD has already lost is mistaken.
Give it time, this format war is just getting started.
Chris @ Feb 18th 2007 6:28AM
10.
Its just like a best buy employee - blame the customer.
evilplushie @ Feb 18th 2007 9:24AM
#8
What's that got to do with anything? Like the above poster said, the extra 100 goes towards buying GAMES since thats what the 360 and the ps3 are supposed to be, Game consoles -_-. It's not like anyone even mentioned buying 2 or more HD-DVDs to watch with that extra 100.
Geez, sony fanboys must be desperate. Instead of claiming their machine has great games, or will have great games, now they're going for the 'Hey, you can play blu-ray movies on it!' defense.
Frankie @ Feb 18th 2007 9:36AM
@10
I sympathize quite a bit with retail people since I work in the restaurant industry but maybe those inane customer ramblings weren't 100% fabrication after all.
Rocketboy @ Feb 18th 2007 12:21PM
No, #10, Ace, is right. #9, Frankie, is an idiot who can't read.
sheppy @ Feb 18th 2007 10:05AM
"13. Anyone who thinks HD-DVD has already lost is mistaken.
Give it time, this format war is just getting started."
How much more time does HD-DVD need? I mean, seriously. Have you seen the release lists? Let's put it this way. Last week, HD-DVD released ONLY a single movie. The Departed and that came out on BluRay as well. That was it, all there was. BluRay? All these movies came out last week.
Entrapment
Broken Arrow (1996)
Chain Reaction (1986)
Phone Booth (2002)
Planet of Apes (2001)
Princess Bride
Sentinel (2006)
The Marine
The Departed
Usual Suspects
Look at upcoming release lists and you'll see similar circumstances on every week all the way up through June. If HD DVD really wants to win the format war, they HAVE to put some effort in. BluRay, in a relatively short amount of time, has managed to match the size of HD-DVDs library.
bty @ Feb 18th 2007 10:15AM
where are all the "blu-ray is the new betamax" people now............LOL!!
mkaz @ Feb 18th 2007 10:22AM
To the format war posters:
This is years away from being settled. Less that 10% of televison owners have HD capabilities. It's going to take a heck of a lot more before anything is decided.
200 bucks is a great deal if you want to get some nifty HD action going today. If it doesn't make it, so be it.
Personally, I think HD-DVD will win. It's much less expensive and it's name is more familiar to the casual buyer, Most people look at Blu-Ray and say What the fu(k is that?! We're nerds, we understand. Others don't.
Additionally, Sony is touting how many BR players have been sold thus far, however, they're counting every PS3 (which isn't even that many) as a BR player. The last stat I read was that less than 2% of PS3 owners even have HD. So guess what? They won't be buying any movies.
Every single 360 HD-DVD purchase will result in software (movie) sales, it's a much easier correlation.
Bicdaddy @ Feb 18th 2007 10:25AM
Both formats will fail. Who wants to drop $30/movie when you can just stream an HD movie now (and DVR it)? In the not so distant future, streaming video will be THE format. Video rental joints will survive for a short while, but eventually they will die off. Cable companies will have to evolve and adapt to the fiber age, or they will fail as well. Who wants to drop $100/mo for cable TV (with HD) when it can be streamed to your TV for free or a small fee added to your broadband fee. This year MS will offer such service to customers fortunate enough to have a fiber connection. Another rumor from the MS market is a new SKU with a 120 GBHDD/HDMI/and a lower power (as in power draw) chipset that won't produce as much heat. Rumor has it, this unit will be on shelves in the beginning of May, and will cost $479... and will be available in Black.
Jeff @ Feb 18th 2007 11:01AM
"Both formats will fail. Who wants to drop $30/movie when you can just stream an HD movie now (and DVR it)?"
Pray tell where you can stream an HD movie *now*. You can't.
And I hate to tell you, but Blu-Ray *is* selling. Its takeup rate is comparable to DVD, and it actually has *more* movies available at this stage of its life.
The "war" was over before it started; some of you just didn't know it. Again, hate to say it because it goes against a lot of the fanboy "logic" around here, but as soon as Sony announced the PS3 was shipping with a Blu-Ray player, that was the end of it. Whatever you think about sales of the PS3, it is selling better than all HD-DVD players combined (over 1 million worldwide compared to around 200,000 HD-DVD players, including the 360 add-on), and that situation's not going to get any better for HD-DVD given the better Blu-Ray industry support.
(What? You mean Sony's "proprietary" standard has better industry support? Yes it does - look at the movie release lists.)
HD-DVD is already dead, and most of the industry knows it. There's an editorial up on The Digital Bits right now about Universal's potential Blu-Ray support being the final nail in HD-DVD's coffin, and I agree with that. I also expect it to happen within the next 2-3 months, and definitely no more than six. At that point, every single major studio will be supporting Blu-Ray, while HD-DVD is missing several. Why would anyone go HD-DVD at that point? The writing's already on the wall and consumers know it, but at that point, you'd have to just be a complete idiot to go HD-DVD.
sheppy @ Feb 18th 2007 11:11AM
"Additionally, Sony is touting how many BR players have been sold thus far, however, they're counting every PS3 (which isn't even that many) as a BR player. The last stat I read was that less than 2% of PS3 owners even have HD. So guess what? They won't be buying any movies.
Every single 360 HD-DVD purchase will result in software (movie) sales, it's a much easier correlation."
Well, tell you what. How's this for stats? Since PS3 launched, BluRay movie purchases went from being tragically low to outselling HD-DVD in a 5:1 ratio through various websites like Amazon and even in the Brick & Mortor shops? Despite the early lead HD DVD had simply by being on the market first, BluRay movie sales (the sales which actually determine the winner) have caught up with HD DVD in a remarkably short amount of time.
You claim we won't see the winner for years but I ask this of you. If trends continue the way they have been, by the time the new format starts to hit mainstream, which do you think would win? The one which has a library of 500 movies, or the one with has a library of 5000 movies? Price isn't an issue here. You can claim it is but that's unfiltered bullshit. BluRay (PS3=$500) and HD-DVD (current cheapest HD-DVD player=$450) are similarly priced. Likewise, the media itself is comparably priced. It will come down to libraries when the inevitable battle draws to a close and with Universal being the only hold out on BluRay, how do you think it will fair?
And, BTW, your only 2% stat sounds rather made up. The initial consumer base of a game console usually tends to be on the forefront of technology. After all, if only 2% of the PS3 userbase had HDTVs, do you honestly think we would hear so much about how, when someones HDTV does not support 720p, PS3 downscales to 480P instead of the 1080i or 1080p?
chimp o death @ Feb 18th 2007 11:39AM
Hmm. Funny how we can declare the HD disc format war over, since the two are now neck and neck.
But the console war can't have a winner until a year or two from now, even though the PS3 is getting its ass handed to it.
I'd give Blu-Ray the edge now myself, but a lot can happen in a year (or two).
luke @ Feb 18th 2007 12:01PM
not very much of a sale, except the intercooler works freakin great, cut my 360's freeze rate way down
Jason Ganos @ Feb 18th 2007 12:13PM
TWO WORDS!! PRICE MATCH!!
BLite @ Feb 18th 2007 12:37PM
For those who see this as a long battle, you might want to look at the original DVD vs DIVX (no, not DivX) "war". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIVX)
Although DIVX survived a year, it was initially supported (OVER DVD) by Disney, Fox, and Paramount - some pretty heavy hitters.
As soon as the studios see an obvious direction that customers are taking, it's over. Like the other posters here, I'd wager that time is drawing near. Things just aren't the same as they were in the Beta/VHS days - and a long battle just doesn't make sense.
Mr Khan @ Feb 18th 2007 12:51PM
Marking down the already overpriced peripherals
its a start, now if only MS could do this
Virtua Fanboy @ Feb 18th 2007 1:25PM
If the HD-DVD camp would actually take advantage of its advantages such as the capability to make ALL of thier movies hybrid HD-DVD+DVD so they will play in your living room and bedroom and your friends house. I mean I can watch "King Kong" (I have HD-DVD) in my living room but I can't watch it in my bedroom. How gay is that?
If HD-DVD is so much cheaper to make then how about $5-$10 dollars off the price?
I'm not gonna act like I know the answer to this (because most of you don't know either but you'll act like you do) but when all this stuff started couldn't Toshiba have put a stop to Blu-Rays ability to be compatible w/DVD?
W/those three advantages Blu-Rays start would've been dead in the water. Fuck it I'll just buy the Hybrid Blu-Ray+HD-DVD player from LG, lol.
Yes it does exist.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8203311&type=product&id=1165610378688&ref=06&loc=01
evilplushie @ Feb 18th 2007 1:27PM
Man, we have a lot of potential 'analysts' in this thread -_-. Geez, the frigging article is about a 360 special offer, why must fanboys bring blu-ray movies and HD-DVD into this. Are they all so desperate for acknowledgment and reassurance that their ps3/HD-drive isn't going to bomb and they aren't going to be stuck with a machine that can play certain movies but no games??
Magic 8ball says yes.
Virtua Fanboy @ Feb 18th 2007 1:26PM
sorry for the long post.
sheppy @ Feb 18th 2007 2:00PM
"I'm not gonna act like I know the answer to this (because most of you don't know either but you'll act like you do) but when all this stuff started couldn't Toshiba have put a stop to Blu-Rays ability to be compatible w/DVD? "
Nope, Toshiba couldn't have. Namely because Sony was one of the largest investors as well as developers of DVD technology. Sony is also one of the big six which comprise the DVD Consortium.
I do have to hand it to Sony with BluRay though... thanks for reducing the number of regions drastically. The DVD regions were a tad too many.
hegemonyhog @ Feb 18th 2007 2:24PM
"I mean I can watch "King Kong" (I have HD-DVD) in my living room but I can't watch it in my bedroom. How gay is that? "
No offense, but there's nothing more asinine and stupid than using "gay" as a stand-in for a pejorative term.
It appears to be neither happy nor sexually attracted to someone of its own gender (particularly true as electronic media lacks gender), so it is, in fact, not gay at all.
mkaz @ Feb 18th 2007 2:32PM
Sheppy
"Price isn't an issue here. You can claim it is but that's unfiltered bullshit. BluRay (PS3=$500) and HD-DVD (current cheapest HD-DVD player=$450) are similarly priced."
Boy are you dumb. Do you really, really think that the general consumer is going to purchase a PS3 JUST for it's ability to play BR? That, my grade school economist friend, is what you refer to as unfiltered bullshit. The word you were going for by the way was unfettered, so how can I take you seriously to begin with?
But think about it: You have Joe Consumer looking to purchase the next gen DVD format. He goes to the store to look for a player (at this point he doesn't have an opinion, which is most likely the case for most people besides the ones you find on these boards which - if you didn't realize it already - is a footnote in the consumer business) and Joey C. asks the Best Buy employee what's available. When Joey C is shown the true BR players priced near 1000 and the HD-DVD players between 400-500, chances are he's going with the latter. Under no circumstances do I see this average consumer being sucked into purchasing a GAME console that, oh yeah, also plays movies.
That's just ridiculous. Plus, if it were me and I was going to buy a next gen DVD platform, I'd want a full function player, not a console.
My two cents, feel free to berate me.
mkaz @ Feb 18th 2007 2:44PM
Maybe it's quality that'll help the issue-
Here's a blurb from HighDefDigest comparing the HD-DVD and BRD versions of Reds:
Going back to the HD DVD versus Blu-ray comparison, doing an A/B and split-screen comparison, the HD DVD just seems a bit smoother, film-like and detailed. Granted, the upgrade is very minor, but still I noticed it. For example, during the scene when Warren Beatty first meets Diane Keaton in a large conference room, I have to give the slight edge to the HD DVD in terms of resolving the finest details in backgrounds. Same goes for some later scenes, such as the almost-montage sequence when Jack Nicholson is romancing Keaton -- the heavily-filtered deep blue shoreside shots again looked a bit more sharp and deep on the HD DVD. Overall, again the difference is quite minor, perhaps even meager. And certainly, the Blu-ray looks very good. But again, I have to give the picture quality edge to the HD DVD.
Ordeith @ Feb 18th 2007 3:48PM
#21 said:
"Pray tell where you can stream an HD movie *now*. You can't."
You can - Xbox Live Video Marketplace.
Ryan J. @ Feb 18th 2007 6:26PM
I'm about an hour away from the closest Micro Center; the best I could do with a local price match was from Best Buy. They offered to split the difference and sell wireless controllers to me for $35. Better than nothing; and I don't have to do rush hour and tolls to Chicago :)
Biofreak @ Feb 18th 2007 7:21PM
I have 30mbit cable, will it be enough for HD stream?
GoldenS1104 @ Feb 19th 2007 1:26AM
#31 said exactly what i was thinking as i went through these comments.
konajinx @ Feb 19th 2007 1:26AM
Screw HD DVD and Blu Ray. I'm still buying DVDs - you know, those lowly ancient discs that we commoners who don't own an HD TV and couldn't care less about enjoy.
I love how all the geeks actually wasting their time arguing about the two new formats have completely ignored the good old standby. It Sony has proved anything in the past it's that it sucks at creating new formats. MiniDisc? Dead. SACD? No one gave a shit. Blu-Ray? Great if you have to be one of those folks who just has to have the latest thing as soon as it's out. Don't be surprised if it falls flat on its ass, though.
john @ Feb 19th 2007 8:44AM
Poster 33 You can watch the movie in HD-DVD and thenlater just flip the disk and watch the movie in a standard DVD player. That one of the main advantages of HD-DVD over Blu-Ray.
Mike @ Feb 19th 2007 9:29AM
How come no one's commenting on the $50 gift card. If I weren't poor and almost 40, I'd get the premium rig and use the card for an extra controller and the other $30 towards Oblivion and/or Gears.
And as a long time HDTV owner / afficianado I must tell everyone to completely ignore both formats unless you have a really really huge set, or are made of money. I mean 60" or more. Preferably a dedicated projector room.
A nicely authored DVD (not your netflix "shrunk" copies) looks quite nice even at humungous sizes, especially with a nice HD-scaling player. Let the early adopters and a$$hole corporations make up their minds first. It's not near decided yet.
I say that now, but the day that lord of the rings extended comes out in hidef, I'll probably be the first in line.
Kane @ Feb 19th 2007 9:49AM
Fantastic deal on the controller and HD-DVD player. The HD-DVD player is by far the least financially risky way to get into high-def movies.
It's easy to tell who knows what they are talking about in this thread and who is just pulling shit out of their ass: those who think the war is already over are ignorant. This is a long, long way from being over.
The extent of "research" that people do when claiming Blu-Ray has "won" is by looking at the release list, then reading Sony's press releases about sales trends and how it's over. That's cute. Sorry kiddies, try again. If you're taking those numbers at face value, without looking at what they actually represent, you're a fucking clueless fool.
Saying "the format war is over" is the gaming fanboy equivalent of saying "the console wars are over" just because the PS3 has been more like the P.O.S. so far. It's still far too early to determine what will happen.
The truth: no major studio is going to budge anytime soon - we may see a smaller entity like Lionsgate or Weinstein go dual-format, but none of the heavy hitters will be moving. Both sides will stick to their guns. The PS3 will help Blu-Ray, while affordable HD-DVD players coming later this year will help HD-DVD. BOTH formats will survive, but NEITHER format will thrive. Eventually, dual-format players will become more of an affordable reality, and the "format war" will become less and less relevant...and moronic fanboy crap like "IT'Z ALREDY OVER CUZ TEH PS3 AND RELEASE LISTZ SAYS SO" can rest in peace.
Aradayn @ Feb 19th 2007 10:58AM
You know, you don't actually have to drive to Micro Center to get these - it looks like this deal is online too.
( In fact, I just ordered a few controllers and charge kits from their site. )
why not the LS2/LS7? @ Feb 19th 2007 12:37PM
mkaz:
35% of US households had an HDTV even BEFORE last Christmas.
This is a far cry from the 10% you list.
Less than 2% of PS3 owners have HD? What kind of drugs are you on?
And Reds was released months ago. Yes, at the time, there were some poor BluRay transfers out there, that's no lie. But that period is over. BluRay transfers are no longer inferior (although both formats have their bum transfers), and in fact any movie that comes out on both uses the exact same transfer on both.
Kane:
How is buying an HD-DVD player at $199 (or even $169) less financially risky than just buying a PS3 instead of a 360, which comes with a BluRay player for $100 more? Not to mention HDMI?
john:
Most HD-DVDs cannot be played in a regular DVD player. Only a few are the combo discs. And to be honest, the combo discs are a ripoff. They're more expensive than regular HD-DVDs, regular BluRay movies and of course more then DVDs. Adding another $5 to the price of an HD-DVD is not going to help adoption much.
I'll say it again, HD-DVD looks less viable now than ever before. It already suffered from poor industry support, and now BluRay has far more players and far more sales out there too. I can't see how the Weinsteins are going to remain HD-DVD only for much longer. Universal can afford to hold out, but the question is, will they? How long will they stand for their releases selling half as much in the US as they would if they were on BluRay? And the position, from what I understand, is even worse for HD-DVD in Japan and Europe.
I don't see how BluRay can lose at this point. It appears ready to top HD-DVD in all 3 major markets (US, Japan, Europe), and so I can't see it being abandoned. The situation doesn't look good for HD-DVD, but at this time I don't think it can be ruled out as succeeding (although it will not surpass BluRay).
Of course, as many have pointed out, DVD will be the big winner for the forseeable future. Even a good selling HD disc sells less than 2% of what the DVD sells right now. That's going to take a long time to overcome.
BenderRodriguez @ Feb 19th 2007 6:07PM
Blu Ray is terrible for games, the time it takes to download content off the Xbox's DVD drive is several times faster than PS3's Blu Ray disc. Meaning you're going to have much longer load times on the PS3 vs. a game released on the 360.
Blu Ray can hold more content, sure, but when developers are making games, they don't want (or have time) to test a bunch of stuff that's going to be PS3-only so you're more likely to get any bonus material on a non-PS3-exclusive title via downloadable content afterwards... And then they'll probably release it on both consoles.
Basically you're trading the potential for more content (not likely) for longer load times (definitely). Blu Ray might be the way of the future for movies, but it's definitely a step back for gamers.
BenderRodriguez @ Feb 19th 2007 6:14PM
p.s. It also screws up multiple platform releases because the code is more or less the same before it gets ported to each platform, meaning a game that relies on streaming is going to limit the faster-streaming Xbox game because they had to account for the slower-streaming Blu Ray. Same thing happened on the last console cycle.
Developers don't have time to make one game to two specs.