Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Reasons I Will Not Buy an Xbox 360 (At Launch)
Alright, I've been reading up on the Xbox 360, but mostly because I have two friends who have bought theirs, and because I am keenly interested in watching how the first step of the next console generation starts out. Mostly, though, I've been trying to limit my exposure to the new system--especially now that I have seen it in the store--because I want to keep my cool. I waited in line to buy a Nintendo 64 on the first day it came out, and both my brother and I have games for the Nintendo, the Nintendo 64, the Playstation, the Nintendo Gamecube, Playstation 2, and the Xbox that we most certainly could have lived without. So I've been trying to take a different tack with video games the last 18 months: buy the really good ones, and, if possible, get them for less than full price.
And so, this starts the short list of why I will not buy a 360 at launch:
1. Launches suck. If, and I mean IF, you can get one or two great games to play, chances are you'll burn through them before the second wave of Truly Great Games comes along.
2. Full price. The Xbox 360 premium package--the base package is too stripped down for most gamers and I think just helps the short-sighted get over sticker-shock--debuts at $100 higher than did the Xbox. And while I might be able to swallow the hardware punch-in-the-gut, someone decided it was a good idea to retail some of the GAMES at $59.99 rather than $49.99, and that's a slap in the face.
3. They're out (this is not a list built wholly on principle). I'm guessing you won't be able to get a 360 until right before Christmas, and even those pre-orders are likely to fill up before they can get too many on the shelves. Great demand + slightly lower-than-sufficient supply = THE must-have Christmas gift.
4. It's likely more important for Susanne and I to be spending our money on a new computer.
Alright--this is not a wholly cut-and-dry situation, though. Here are my own rebuttals:
1. My friend Jason and I kept wondering why, in the world, they would release the Xbox 360 games to retail before the system is even out. I think I'm beginning to understand the strategy, because now that I'm seeing the games it makes me want to buy the system. The reviews of the couple games I have seen so far have been much more positive than I had expected; I really expected Kameo to be a lunker, but it looks fantastic, and after playing Call of Duty 2 I was nearly completely sold. I stood in Target at the Xbox 360 kiosk, panting, totally absorbed. I think some people came up behind me, and all I could think was, "Look at my masterful playing. Bet you never seen anything like THIS! Duck, run, stand up, shoot, grenade. Rush, jump, smack." This is possibly the best choice for a kiosk game--intuitive and fiercely involving. And of course, in the midst of my masterful playing, I generously used my character's body as a grenade shield for the Allied Forces. Ouch. So the launch games DO look good, and the backwards-compatability should keep those who did buy the system happily plinking away at Xbox Live until other good games come out--so maybe this launch won't be so bad after all. But I still want to see 2 or 3 must-have games before I'm willing to throw down the money--not that I have the time to play the great Xbox games I have right now....
2. I'm still rankling over the prices of the games. But admittedly, the $399 premium package isn't outlandish, because you do really get everything you'd need for the system. I was TICKED that I had spent $299 on my Xbox and still had to buy every other peripheral: HDTV kit (I have 3 advanced media kits, as my home theater technology has grown a lot in the last few years); headset, DVD remote controller, etc. etc. I have spent way more than $100 on peripherals, so I really think that the $399 price point is pretty damn reasonable. Especially considering that Sony somehow justifies foisting a $299 portable on the public. I am NOT a fan of increasing costs for these techonologies, though, and I do think there is a logical limit as to how much the public will be willing to pay for a new console--and $399 is about at that limit. I bet the Xbox will stay at $399 for the premium package, but that there'll be a modest (maybe $50) price cut when the PS3 debuts, and I think a $50 price cut will work because my guess is the PS3 will debut at a pretty exorbitant price.
3. This just makes it easier to wait--even if I still end up buying the system for full price, by the time I take the plunge I should be able to get some of the games used. I'm not waiting in line for video game systems anymore.
4. That's a wholly different set of excitements and expectations, but those are much more important ones, for productivity's sake. Why can't I open 10 windows of Safari without slowdown? Oh, because I'm running ITunes. And because the computer is five years old. Thank God it works.
Just one final caveat. HDTV. When the Xbox came out Microsoft said, "We'll put high speed in this thing because everyone will have high speed during the life of the Xbox." Well, I didn't believe I would have high speed internet at the time, but I do now and I have been happily shooting people on Xbox Live for 2 years. Now Microsoft is pushing the HDTV revolution...but I guess HDTV doesn't help me get my homework done faster. So we'll see.
And so, this starts the short list of why I will not buy a 360 at launch:
1. Launches suck. If, and I mean IF, you can get one or two great games to play, chances are you'll burn through them before the second wave of Truly Great Games comes along.
2. Full price. The Xbox 360 premium package--the base package is too stripped down for most gamers and I think just helps the short-sighted get over sticker-shock--debuts at $100 higher than did the Xbox. And while I might be able to swallow the hardware punch-in-the-gut, someone decided it was a good idea to retail some of the GAMES at $59.99 rather than $49.99, and that's a slap in the face.
3. They're out (this is not a list built wholly on principle). I'm guessing you won't be able to get a 360 until right before Christmas, and even those pre-orders are likely to fill up before they can get too many on the shelves. Great demand + slightly lower-than-sufficient supply = THE must-have Christmas gift.
4. It's likely more important for Susanne and I to be spending our money on a new computer.
Alright--this is not a wholly cut-and-dry situation, though. Here are my own rebuttals:
1. My friend Jason and I kept wondering why, in the world, they would release the Xbox 360 games to retail before the system is even out. I think I'm beginning to understand the strategy, because now that I'm seeing the games it makes me want to buy the system. The reviews of the couple games I have seen so far have been much more positive than I had expected; I really expected Kameo to be a lunker, but it looks fantastic, and after playing Call of Duty 2 I was nearly completely sold. I stood in Target at the Xbox 360 kiosk, panting, totally absorbed. I think some people came up behind me, and all I could think was, "Look at my masterful playing. Bet you never seen anything like THIS! Duck, run, stand up, shoot, grenade. Rush, jump, smack." This is possibly the best choice for a kiosk game--intuitive and fiercely involving. And of course, in the midst of my masterful playing, I generously used my character's body as a grenade shield for the Allied Forces. Ouch. So the launch games DO look good, and the backwards-compatability should keep those who did buy the system happily plinking away at Xbox Live until other good games come out--so maybe this launch won't be so bad after all. But I still want to see 2 or 3 must-have games before I'm willing to throw down the money--not that I have the time to play the great Xbox games I have right now....
2. I'm still rankling over the prices of the games. But admittedly, the $399 premium package isn't outlandish, because you do really get everything you'd need for the system. I was TICKED that I had spent $299 on my Xbox and still had to buy every other peripheral: HDTV kit (I have 3 advanced media kits, as my home theater technology has grown a lot in the last few years); headset, DVD remote controller, etc. etc. I have spent way more than $100 on peripherals, so I really think that the $399 price point is pretty damn reasonable. Especially considering that Sony somehow justifies foisting a $299 portable on the public. I am NOT a fan of increasing costs for these techonologies, though, and I do think there is a logical limit as to how much the public will be willing to pay for a new console--and $399 is about at that limit. I bet the Xbox will stay at $399 for the premium package, but that there'll be a modest (maybe $50) price cut when the PS3 debuts, and I think a $50 price cut will work because my guess is the PS3 will debut at a pretty exorbitant price.
3. This just makes it easier to wait--even if I still end up buying the system for full price, by the time I take the plunge I should be able to get some of the games used. I'm not waiting in line for video game systems anymore.
4. That's a wholly different set of excitements and expectations, but those are much more important ones, for productivity's sake. Why can't I open 10 windows of Safari without slowdown? Oh, because I'm running ITunes. And because the computer is five years old. Thank God it works.
Just one final caveat. HDTV. When the Xbox came out Microsoft said, "We'll put high speed in this thing because everyone will have high speed during the life of the Xbox." Well, I didn't believe I would have high speed internet at the time, but I do now and I have been happily shooting people on Xbox Live for 2 years. Now Microsoft is pushing the HDTV revolution...but I guess HDTV doesn't help me get my homework done faster. So we'll see.
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