Interesting move.

Link (http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/30/best-buy-done-with-xbox-360-core-model/)

More like Best Buy has discontinued the Core system.

More like Best Buy has discontinued the Core system.

Same thing happened with the 20GB PS3. News broke at BB first. You really think BB would discontinue an active Xbox 360 sku? Unlikely.

I'm surprised that the core lasted this long. By all appearances, xbox marketplace appears to be doing well, and large storage options are more a necessity than a luxury.


Edit: the new title looks better.

I'm surprised that the core lasted this long. By all appearances, xbox marketplace appears to be doing well, and large storage options are more a necessity than a luxury.


Edit: the new title looks better.

Your point is valid, but many people believed that keeping the core around at $250 would compete with the Wii. That's clearly not the strategy here.

Core constitutes 20% of current 360 installed base according to published results from a couple weeks ago. It may be that those sales come outside the US, but you gotta wonder...
Could it be there is a new low end SKU coming? Say with built-in flash?

About Damn Time!

Interesting move.

Link (http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/30/best-buy-done-with-xbox-360-core-model/)

Unless MS intends to get the premium system down to $249 and $199 over the next year I say this could be another major fumble by the Xbox division.

Clearly the RRoD was a huge fumble and with the failure to lower the 360 price at all until almost the 2 year mark MS has not pushed their console market share aggressivey. Apparently they chose to try to get the division profitable moreso than to keep the pressure on their compeition.

The result is that MS has let a 10mil console lead just about evaporate to Nintendo in less than a year while the PS3 is still in a position to resurge with success for blu-ray. Fumble.

The point of the core was supposedly not to reach AVSers but the more casual market gamers such as those snapping up Wii's faster than they can make them. Now what, no low priced entry level model?

That would be the 3rd fumble IMHO.

The point of the core was supposedly not to reach AVSers but the more casual market gamers such as those snapping up Wii's faster than they can make them. Now what, no low priced entry level model?
.

http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/8985/10009/nielsen-data-tracking-games-industry.phtml

Read this. It was also discussed on the most recent 1up podcast. Wiis are being bought by 6 figure income households, and 360s and PS3s are being bought by lower income (than the wii families) households. This isn't an issue of price. There is no magical 250 pricepoint. People are in love w/ the Wii, that is the reality. These are people that would not normally be buying a console early in the life cycle.

I dont understand why people dont get this, its not about price, the Wii isn't in a war, its found a market all to itself with no competitor.

All the Best Buy around my house has in stock now is the core, that is all I saw when I went today. I think they are discontinueing and getting ready for the smaller processor which I wish I would have waited on.

http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/8985/10009/nielsen-data-tracking-games-industry.phtml

Read this. It was also discussed on the most recent 1up podcast. Wiis are being bought by 6 figure income households, and 360s and PS3s are being bought by lower income (than the wii families) households. This isn't an issue of price. There is no magical 250 pricepoint. People are in love w/ the Wii, that is the reality. These are people that would not normally be buying a console early in the life cycle.

I dont understand why people dont get this, its not about price, the Wii isn't in a war, its found a market all to itself with no competitor.

That's an interesting metric but as stated it's open to interpretation:

So, back to the Wii news. It seems that though it is the cheapest of the next-gen consoles, it is in fact more likely to be found in households where the annual income is over $100,000.

Does that mean that when you look at affluent houses they are most likely to have a Wii than the other formats? If so then it actually doesn't say anything at all about Mass market mid and lower income consumer, only that rich people prefer the Wii. Perhaps in fact it will prove out that all income levels prefer the Wii.

Keep in mind all new systems are still in early adoption phase. Mass market is still buying PS2's, they dont' buy early but when they do buy price defintely matters.

I could see why neither MS or Sony wants to see Nintendo as a competitor but they both know they are. There is not doubt that Wii sales affect other system sales and also affect the resources that are allocated by game developers at the very least.

http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/8985/10009/nielsen-data-tracking-games-industry.phtml

I dont understand why people dont get this, its not about price, the Wii isn't in a war, its found a market all to itself with no competitor.

While I have disagreed with more than a few of your posts, I completely agree with this one.

The Wii's fun attitude and approach to playing versus pressing buttons appeals to a much larger market than what a traditional gaming console would. Senior citizens, Middle age females, friends and family get-to-gethers.. hell even my girlfriends and her girls during "girls night out" are all groups of non-traditional gamers that have expressed interest in playing the Wii.

The $249 price is simply the icing on the cake. And makes the Wii an impulse buy for people of all income brackets.


All the Best Buy around my house has in stock now is the core, that is all I saw when I went today. I think they are discontinueing and getting ready for the smaller processor which I wish I would have waited on.

Thats exactly what I was pointing at. There is another thread in this Xbox forum on AVS that says that Best Buy in general is phasing out ALL 360's. I believe their stock is being drained to make way for the new Falcon 65nm machines with the redesigned heat sinks.

MS has said before the point of the Core was to allow them to reach the $199 price point as quick as possible, as that is point where the majority of consoles have been purchased.

Taking a look at the 360's 2007 library (including the major releases planned this fall) putting a 65nm 3 year warranty $199 Core, with a free mem card on store shelves before this holiday season is without a doubt the fastest roadway for MS to increase its marketshare in the gaming console market.

And there would be little Sony or Nintendo could do to counter it.

The Wii's fun attitude and approach to playing versus pressing buttons appeals to a much larger market than what a traditional gaming console would. Senior citizens, Middle age females, friends and family get-to-gethers.. hell even my girlfriends and her girls during "girls night out" are all groups of non-traditional gamers that have expressed interest in playing the Wii.

The $249 price is simply the icing on the cake. And makes the Wii an impulse buy for people of all income brackets.

Agreed they are breaking out of the traditional gamer market, but then do you think if the Wii were $499 like a PS3 they would still buy the cake w/o the icing?

Agreed they are breaking out of the traditional gamer market, but then do you think if the Wii were $499 like a PS3 they would still buy the cake w/o the icing?

The cheap/affordable price point is usually a major part of the equation in anything that can be considered "fun".

The more expensive you make a purchase or any experience for that matter.. the less "fun" it quickly becomes. Mainly because the more you have to analyze the price, the more you analyze the decision overall. And it goes from being a fun decision to a serious decision.

If this is true, then will we start to see games start utilizing harddrives??

If this is true, then will we start to see games start utilizing harddrives??

Call of Duty 4 has a sticker on the proposed cover that says "Storage Required" and shows a picture of what looks like a memory card.

Google it.. i'm sure you'd find pics of it pretty quickly.

Call of Duty 4 has a sticker on the proposed cover that says "Storage Required" and shows a picture of what looks like a memory card.

Google it.. i'm sure you'd find pics of it pretty quickly.


I think it was corrected.

http://www.n4g.com/News-54203.aspx


After Robert Bowling, Community Relations Manager at Infinity Ward, posted a bunch of concept box arts for Call of Duty 4 for the community to vote on, it was noticed that the covers had “Storage Required” labels on them and thus reports went out that COD4 would require a memory card or hard drive. We asked Robert about the matter, and he had this to say:

The Storage Required icon should be disregarded. It was simply included as part of the concept artwork by the artist, to give a better representation of what the final box art would look like with icons and logos on it. The game can still be played by users with and without Storage devices (HDD / Memory Card). Obviously you can not save if you are without storage, but that goes for every Xbox 360 title.

And thus, the game does not require storage devices, just like any other 360 title. Though, Core users don’t deserve the pleasure of playing such an awesome game in the first place. Buy yourselves a memory card or a hard drive, people!

Which is your favorite Call of Duty 4 box art of the five?

MS refuted the report.
http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/07/microsoft-says-.html

Of course, if you want to believe the Core has no place in the 360 lineup, the denial won't change your mind, right? ;-)
And of course, the denial is phrased in the present tense... >;-)

Carry on...

MS refuted the report.
http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/07/microsoft-says-.html

Of course, if you want to believe the Core has no place in the 360 lineup, the denial won't change your mind, right? ;-)
And of course, the denial is phrased in the present tense... >;-)

Carry on...

I think a lot of people just hope the core will go away. I know I would like to see more games take advantage of HD in order to get better load times etc. On the other hand, even if the core does go away MS may still restrict HD usage.

I think a lot of people just hope the core will go away. I know I would like to see more games take advantage of HD in order to get better load times etc. On the other hand, even if the core does go away MS may still restrict HD usage.

Regardless of its merits as a gaming box, the Core serves one very important role for MS; it is a fully functional Media Center Extender right out of the box. This function is important enough to MS that they allow the 360 to Boot to the MCE interface instead of the Dashboard. In other words: I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for Core to be discontinued.

There is an issue "read: Glitch" in the computer with some of the sku's at Best Buy, I'm not saying that it ISN'T deleted but that we need to have someone check it again in a few days after they fix the "problematic" skus.

I doubt they'd kill off the Core, the Core has the biggest chance of bringing in peripheral
$$$$. $40 Memory cards, $100 20GB HDD, $40 HD video cable (component or VGA) headset, wireless controller.

the core isnt going anywhere. a new revision may be in the works, but there will still be a console in that slot at the same or lower pricepoint.

if you buy the core system you are stuipd uhless you just need to replace a broken 360 but since there is the 3 year for 3 red lights probally wont have to do that

really WTF did anyone really buy this to save $100 and then have to buy the $45 Component cables (or you are really stupid if you dont have a HDTV but a 360) $45 or more on a memory card since you cant even play most games without something to save to and $50-60 on a wireless controller you are stupid if you did this sorry but you just are

you are stupid if you did this sorry but you just are

I'm one of the "stupid" people who did this. Premiums were simply sold out too fast and after a few weeks I broke down and bought a Core.

Later that year, I bought a Premium second-hand with accessories and games for a great price, so it all balanced out anyway.

Try not to make broad assumptions.

if you buy the core system you are stuipd uhless you just need to replace a broken 360 but since there is the 3 year for 3 red lights probally wont have to do that

really WTF did anyone really buy this to save $100 and then have to buy the $45 Component cables (or you are really stupid if you dont have a HDTV but a 360) $45 or more on a memory card since you cant even play most games without something to save to and $50-60 on a wireless controller you are stupid if you did this sorry but you just are

Judging by your post, I get the feeling you are well acquainted with "stupid."

Yeah the core is hardly stupid esp. for a 2nd system. My first was a premium, and I bought VGA cables and a 2nd wireless controller. Picked up a core as my second, traded in the wired controller and cables, used the component cables from the premium, and bought a used 20gig HDD...all of a sudden I had a second premium for less than $350 out of pocket.

Regardless of its merits as a gaming box, the Core serves one very important role for MS; it is a fully functional Media Center Extender right out of the box. This function is important enough to MS that they allow the 360 to Boot to the MCE interface instead of the Dashboard. In other words: I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for Core to be discontinued.

This is laughable. Not because your lying or anything because in MS's eyes and certain others, you are right. But to think of any 360 as a media center....just makes me laugh. And the 199.99 Media center right out of the box idea goes straight out the window when you need MCE and a full and usually dedicated PC to take advantage of it. Throw in the sloppy interface, whether it be the dash or MCE extenders, bad codec support, poor MP3 listing and slow interface.....yuck.

Personally, I'd like to see the core go bye bye. I can see why MS wants to keep it around as it's an easy way to get to 199 without lowering their main system too much. But as a gamer, playing a 360 for games, the constraints that the core puts on developers is holding the quality of our games back.

if you buy the core system you are stuipd uhless you just need to replace a broken 360 but since there is the 3 year for 3 red lights probally wont have to do that

really WTF did anyone really buy this to save $100 and then have to buy the $45 Component cables (or you are really stupid if you dont have a HDTV but a 360) $45 or more on a memory card since you cant even play most games without something to save to and $50-60 on a wireless controller you are stupid if you did this sorry but you just are

I have an HDTV, I have a premium, I even have mem cards that I use for roster transfers.
But my kids would be stupid for not having an HDTV and I would be stupid for buying them a core when a core is all I would need buy them?

This could just be a move to a core unit with a packed in memory card as rumored previously. If so, I would like that move.

if you buy the core system you are stuipd uhless you just need to replace a broken 360 but since there is the 3 year for 3 red lights probally wont have to do that

really WTF did anyone really buy this to save $100 and then have to buy the $45 Component cables (or you are really stupid if you dont have a HDTV but a 360) $45 or more on a memory card since you cant even play most games without something to save to and $50-60 on a wireless controller you are stupid if you did this sorry but you just are

Only on the internet can someone who writes this poorly,with a mindset this narrow,accuse anyone else of stupidity.Amazing....

This is laughable. Not because your lying or anything because in MS's eyes and certain others, you are right. But to think of any 360 as a media center....just makes me laugh. And the 199.99 Media center right out of the box idea goes straight out the window when you need MCE and a full and usually dedicated PC to take advantage of it. Throw in the sloppy interface, whether it be the dash or MCE extenders, bad codec support, poor MP3 listing and slow interface.....yuck.

Personally, I'd like to see the core go bye bye. I can see why MS wants to keep it around as it's an easy way to get to 199 without lowering their main system too much. But as a gamer, playing a 360 for games, the constraints that the core puts on developers is holding the quality of our games back.


Uh, laughable? I beg to differ, sir.
Read again:
I didn't say Media Center.
I said Media Center *Extender*.
Y'know, those boxes that let you connect to a Media Center PC from six separate places in the house? Well, they are actually very, very useful. And popular with high-end AV system installers for use as media *terminals*.
No, they don't do everything a PC does as a Media Center. But then terminals don't do what standalone boxes do; they're not intended to and its not necessary.
Anybody who needs a standalone Media Center should get one.
But its not the only AV architecture that makes sense.
(Have you actually looked at all the things a customized MCE network can do that a single Home theater box can't? Look around; these forums are just the place to learn.)
MCE+360 makes a *lot* of sense.
Especially once the mythical price cuts arrive.
(If ever.)

As I said, whatever you think of the Core as a gaming box, it does add up to 20% of the 360 business and it fills in a *required* niche. And, moving forward, they are more likely to be a bigger, not a smaller part of the business. If nothing else because it is the best match against the Wii.

MS keeps saying they want to expand beyond the rabid gamer market; well, Core is the vehicle for that. Doesn't mean they can't re-engineer it (say with a couple gigs of onboard flash), but I'd say the odds are greater that the Premium vanishes than the Core goes. Every product line needs an entry point and for 360 that's the core.

Don't like it?
Don't buy it.
The Elite is still on the market.
Just because it doesn't meet *your* needs doesn't mean it doesn't meet *anybody's* needs.

Only on the internet can someone who writes this poorly,with a mindset this narrow,accuse anyone else of stupidity.Amazing....You took the words right out of my mouth.

if you buy the core system you are stuipd uhless you just need to replace a broken 360 but since there is the 3 year for 3 red lights probally wont have to do that

really WTF did anyone really buy this to save $100 and then have to buy the $45 Component cables (or you are really stupid if you dont have a HDTV but a 360) $45 or more on a memory card since you cant even play most games without something to save to and $50-60 on a wireless controller you are stupid if you did this sorry but you just are

This may come as a shock :eek: to some but there people in this world that consider $100 a significant amount of money. Many would rather pay more later, if and when they choose to rather than pay a lower price right now up front.

There's a reason people use credit cards even on many small purchases, they want to pay later.

Rumor w/ Proof

There ain't no such thing!