Comments on: Latest PS3 and Xbox 360 price cut rumors

Thanks to another "mole" story by Ars Technica, we're hearing more rumblings of price cuts for the PS3 and Xbox 360 this holiday season. It all sounds pretty logical--but it's still just a rumor.

[Remptser]

I would not mind paying the higher price for the ps3 if it had the backwards compatable feature.
But as they decided to remove it, II'll stay with the xbox &/or Wii

[douggdangger]

It's funny how so many PS3 owners say that Sony should ditch the Wifi yet the fanboys keep saying that Microsoft is "milking" buyers for them.

LOL! I'm glad Microsoft didn't shove wifi and hddvd down my throat and made the console more expensive than it really is.

Had Sony not shoved wifi, bluray and used a cpu that developers hate, they would still be #1.


What Microsoft did right is to not interrupt their enemy while they were making a stupid mistake.


The only way Sony can survive is to get rid of bluray, get rid of wifi, and make their games a downloadable content like they did with the new PSP. Without bluray and wifi, Sony can probably sell the PS3 for $199.99 and sell games for like $40 while not having to worry about profit lost to gamestop, making discs and having a system that's more deterent to piracy.

[Byteme2009]

I find the fanboy arguments on here pretty strange. First off, I don't believe there is one magic system that hands down beats all others. I looked at what I wanted from a system, and the PS3 160gb met my needs better than any other system, period. That being said, with all the talk I hear of people saying the Xbox 360 beats the PS3 hands down, I started to look into maybe buying one so I could keep my options open. What surprised me was to find out that the Xbox 360 is NOT significantly cheaper than a PS3. That being said, maybe I got some bad specs but it seems like even the 360 Elite doesn't have WiFi capability, and that the official solution to this is an adapter for $99.00. The 360 Elite and Pro models throw in an HDMI cable - big whoop, that saves me $10.00. You also get a headset with the 360 Pro and Elite. Again, I really have no need for that. Lets say I change the way I play games and decide I do want to have chat capability. I have two bluetooth hands free headsets and one pair of stereo bluetooth headphones with built-in mic. Granted, this is the Elite and Pro so I can see why they do them as such a package. If I didn't own a PS3 already though I can't see what would sway me over to the 360. Please don't bother listing 15 games that I may or may not play. For the same money I spent on my PS3 I could have bought an Xbox 360 Elite with 40gb less hard drive, and no blu-ray. I am not saying that the 360 is a piece of junk, but I do think that to say it is so much cheaper than the PS3 is pushing it.

Still if I want to just get a 360 so I can have the choice of what to play, I have the option of the Arcade or the Pro right? Again, I have to either run cabling from one side of my house to the other or buy some form of WiFi adapter though? So if I go the official product way I am looking at $300.00 for the Arcade (no hard drive) or $400.00 for the Pro (60gb hard drive). To me that is quite a chunk of change. It seems like I can use an un-official WiFi hookup, but I am still looking at around $40 or so.

I am sure I will be accused of being a fanboy for Sony with all this, but honestly I like Microsoft products for the most part. Granted, I have yet to use a wireless Microsoft mouse on a PC that worked worth a crap, but other than that I like their stuff. I don't have brand loyalty to Sony. I buy products based on how closely they meet my needs, cost, consumer reports, etc. Hysterical ranting and name calling has yet to win me over to any product.

Finally, it surprises me how many people rave on and on about the 360's graphics, but will completely dismiss the blu-ray aspect of the PS3. If you are that concerned about image quality then either you don't watch movies at home or you intend on buying a blu-ray player. A couple of years back I thought that maybe blu-ray was over-hyped until I saw it close up. I have a 50" plasma screen and it still amazes me how blurry and lifeless DVD's look now that I am used to watching HD TV signals and blu-ray discs. Blu-ray simply blows standard DVD's out of the water. It is actually how I ended up with the PS3 - I was given a blu-ray player as a Christmas present last year. I took it back to the store, got a little over $300.00 refund and put that toward the PS3. I have to say it is one of the best purchases I have made, but then again I like playing games, watching movies in 7.1 surround, listening to music (and not having to search through my CD's every time I want to listen to a song), being able to store my digital photos in one convenient place and see them on a nice big screen, and every once in a while just browse around the web. I know you can do a lot of this on the Xbox 360. I just like having everything in the one box :)

[douggdangger]

"The 360 Elite and Pro models throw in an HDMI cable - big whoop, that saves me $10.00."

I'm surprised a next gen "HD" system doesn't include an hdmi cable. That's like buying a "turbo charged" car without a turbocharger.


"You also get a headset with the 360 Pro and Elite. Again, I really have no need for that."

I guess of you were deaf, that would make sense.


"I have two bluetooth hands free headsets and one pair of stereo bluetooth headphones with built-in mic."

Were they free?


"For the same money I spent on my PS3 I could have bought an Xbox 360 Elite with 40gb less hard drive, and no blu-ray."

The 360 could've come with a floppy disk drive to save your games and it still would've whooped the PS3's behind. You're forgetting that it's THE GAMES that sell the hardware. I hope you figured that out by now.


"Again, I have to either run cabling from one side of my house to the other or buy some form of WiFi adapter though?"

I have no problem running a cat 5 cable to my 360 since it's next to my htpc. Oh, the 360 is also not a portable hand held unit so I have no need for wireless ;-)


"Granted, I have yet to use a wireless Microsoft mouse on a PC "

True PC gamers never use wireless mice.


"Finally, it surprises me how many people rave on and on about the 360's graphics"

Multi platform games look better on the 360 than the PS3. GTA4 runs higher framerates and higher resolution on the 360.


"but will completely dismiss the blu-ray aspect of the PS3"

Bluray actually HURTS the PS3 in gaming. The 360's DVD drive reads data FASTER than the bluray drive in the PS3. That's why PS3 games needs to be installed on the HD first.


"If you are that concerned about image quality then either you don't watch movies at home or you intend on buying a blu-ray player."

I have no need for a bluray playing console. I get my "bluray" rips online, and I don't have to pay $35 per br disc. ;-)


"but then again I like playing games, watching movies in 7.1 surround, listening to music (and not having to search through my CD's every time I want to listen to a song), being able to store my digital photos in one convenient place and see them on a nice big screen, and every once in a while just browse around the web. I know you can do a lot of this on the Xbox 360. I just like having everything in the one box :) "

My PC does everything you mentioned and will blow your PS3 out of the water without even trying :-)
The PS3's GPU is comparable to a PC's NVidia 7900.

My GTX 280 will spit on your PS3's face after it gives it a ***** slapping on both cheeks.

[Byteme2009]

Sorry doug - didn't mean to get you all riled up! Out of curiosity, your PC that will do everything I need and blow my PS3 out of the water - if you can hook me up with one of those for the $400.00 - $500.00 price point of the PS3 then please do :)

Also can you give me the website you get your rips from online? I have found a few myself but they have usually not been that great.

You got so caught up in your own response you didn't even get half the points I made anyway so I won't bother going over them. The whole point of my comments is that I am astonished at the whole 360 vs PS3 fanboy debate, given that there is no magic perfect system and it comes down to personal choice. You did embrace that finally with your last couple of lines where you pointed out that neither the 360 or PS3 will compare to a well equipped PC. Cheers :)

[Byteme2009]

Sorry doug - didn't mean to get you all riled up! Out of curiosity, your PC that will do everything I need and blow my PS3 out of the water - if you can hook me up with one of those for the $400.00 - $500.00 price point of the PS3 then please do :) On a brief search the best price I could find for the GTX 280 was just over $200.00 - I would feel a little uneasy slapping a $200+ graphics card into just any old PC and although I can build a PC myself I think I would be hard pressed to come out at under $500.00 overall.

Also can you give me the website you get your rips from online? I have found a few myself but they have usually not been that great.

You got so caught up in your own response you didn't even get half the points I made anyway so I won't bother going over them. The whole point of my comments is that I am astonished at the whole 360 vs PS3 fanboy debate, given that there is no magic perfect system and it comes down to personal choice. You did embrace that finally with your last couple of lines where you pointed out that neither the 360 or PS3 will compare to a well equipped PC. Cheers :)

[magichr3]

Gee, I wonder if the Elite Xboxes will overheat and burnout at the 1 per each user per year rate as they have in the past? Maybe Sony should "learn' from Microsoft about how to get that repeat business by having their units overheat just when they go out of warranty. --you laugh, but it's true. Stay away fro Xbox.

[douggdangger]

Funny how Valve wouldn't support the PS3 one bit.

All they'll be getting are pathetic ports. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!!

[vesu0073]

Man, we've got some real venom in this discussion. There are four things on this thread I've heard that are wrong. First, to quote some holier-than-thou gamer, "if your ceiling is $200 you shouldn't be gaming." That's an insult. Gaming, on any system, should never be considered elitist. Not all of us make enough to justify spending $400 to get in on the action. $200 IS realistic and opens gaming up for a lot more people. The fact that Microsoft realized that they could get a larger installed base of more casual gamers was a good economic choice. By the same token, I do agree that the wifi adapter and the higher-capacity hard drives need to come down in price or at least let us (legally) use an external hard drive/wireless adapter of our choosing. Imagine what 2TB of storage would be like...on any system!

Second, the argument that Sony is losing money on the deck and developers would lose money as a result is a moot point. The money has NEVER been in the hardware. The hardware can be sold at a loss because the royalties that Sony and Microsoft get back on the games and accessories MORE than makes up for any loss on the deck. As for the developers, they're getting a very large percentage of those $60 pies. They're not hurting at all. By the way, just because you have to spend a fortune to develop a game doesn't inherently mean that a game will be A) good or B) successful.

Third, in terms of game quality and exclusives, for those banging Microsoft exclusives, have you PLAYED them??? Halo 3 still leads the multiplayer ranks and it's been out for almost 2 years now. Mass Effect was a game-changer in action RPG's (and don't forget about Oblivion). The problem for Sony is up until recently the PS3 hasn't had enough variety and quality in their exclusive titles to warrant their purchase, especially considering all of the content that has come out for the 360.

Finally, I like the hardware that goes into the PS3. I've owned a PS2 in the past and enjoyed it when I had it. The Blu-Ray format is nice when it comes to capacity but it's fatal flaw is that the very-similar picture quality and detail can be had in a 360 at half the price. Yes, theoretically the PS3 could be better but for all the God of War 3's and Resistance: Retributions out there, a 360 game exists that has similar gameplay and stunning graphics. For reasons beyond most people's knowledge, the real potential of the PS3 isn't being used. If you want more games to come out exclusively for the PS3, a $100 drop in the console price would help expand the user base, giving potential developers more incentive to adapt to, and maximize, the hardware. Result: more money for Sony and better games.

P.S. - For the record, I own the other 2 systems and spent another $200 on an arcade 360 because I did get the infamous RRoD. I would have probably jumped to another system if I would have had to spend $400 on a replacement. I'm genuinely asking this (in other words, I'm not trying to insult someone): what is Sony going to do to help if the unit dies? For existing 360 owners, RRoD or not, the Arcade is a blessing for just that reason. A brand new unit (with better and quieter guts) for half of what you originally paid for it. Also, no, I don't work for Microsoft or anyone in the industry.

P.S.S. - In regards to MGS4, for all of its accolades, there is one glaring problem: load times. I'm sorry, no matter what system it comes on, I refuse to wait for a game to load for 20-30 minutes because it REQUIRES hard drive support. At least on 360 games, the hard drive install (if applicable) is optional.

[psidd]

Hard to see what Sony could drop, maybe a usb socket or optical output. They'll do what they always do like reducing circuit components, making the board smaller or combining parts into 1 chip or similar. They wouldnt risk dropping blu ray playback even though they phased out PS2 compatability.

I own both systems, but Sony overhyped themselves this time, even now most identical titles look slightly better on xbox360, unless one version has some exclusive I usually go for PS3 version cos of FREE ONLINE. I already paid for the console & the game, why do I have to pay at the cheapest rate $60/year to play online & extra for the extra wireless adapter? RIP OFF MICROSOFT, at least they didnt force you to buy a remote for DVD playback like the xbox1.

[douggdangger]

Fanboys talking about the "free" online experience again...

Put it this way, let's say you were being charged with a serious crime. Who would you choose to defend you:

1. court appointed lawyer
2. a good lawyer that charges money


There's a reason why something is free.

[ellunchboxo]

that's the stupidest argument i've ever heard. i didn't murder anybody. i played somebody online.

[roachbrain]

Ok so please do tell what is so superior about live? PSN allows you to play other players on line, download games, add on content for games, update games and system software, chat with other players with my own Bluetooth headset I had for my phone already, and no lag problems like most argue about at least not on my ps3. All that and a browser for free. So please do tell because allot of your arguments aren't back up at all it's always live is better, halo rules, bla bla bla...............Halo suck BTW Warhawk, Killzone, Resistance all halo killers and CoD but multi anyways.

Something you Xbox fanboys forget to realize is the cost of the standalone blu-ray player if you want the same features: $300-400 Xbox 360 + $100 Wi-Fi Adapter + $60 Xbox Live + $300-400 Blu-Ray Player = $760-960. That is WAY higher than the $400-500 cost of the PS3.

Also, about those read speeds: per 1x revolution, Blu-Ray reads more data than DVD: 1x DVD = 10.5 Mbit/s, 1x Blu-Ray = 36 Mbit/s. Thus, even though the DVD drives have faster revolutions, the data that Blu-Ray transfer's is going to average out to be more. The same thing happened with CDs: 1X CD = about 146 Kbit/s. The newer discs also have lower maximum read speeds: CD's max's out at about 48x, DVD's max's out at about 22x, and Blu-Ray max's out at about 8x.

[xophaser]

Still got my orginal 20gb PS3 and all is fine (hardwire is not a problem, actually faster). Don't care able a slim, but nice that they can drop it to 299 or maybe 350. I just saying they need more gun-metal grey, that color rocks.

[Sardonik]

Still not worth it in either case, PC gaming supremacy.

[roachbrain]

I'm a PC gamer too but no way is it a better experience. Maybe for some FPS and RTS seeing the keyboard and mouse are way better at executing commands or just plain accurate. Still you don't have to worry about hackers and cheaters as much on a counsel than you do pc gaming. Not to mention the cost to stay current is just not worth it for gaming. I am a true gamer since NES but I'm not going to keep updating my already expensive gaming pc just to keep up. Give me counsel over PC any day.

Still love WoW, counter strike, dawn of defeat, half life, and warcraft III. Unless your cheating you can't see me in any so don't bother.

[cohenri7]

Add mine to the list of people that would buy a second PS3 if they lower the price to $299 - just to have a Bluray player for my bedroom. I might even be willing to jump for one sooner if they could work out a Netflix deal...

[ellunchboxo]

me too

[brebuch1]

Sony dropped the PS3 price awhile back with their various credit card offers. I pulled the trigger and got a free extra controller that helped justify the tax I was charged on SonyStyle. I will get a $100 credit right away, plus I can rack up $200 in credits over the next 6 months if I spend $3000. My wife and I got two cards and plan on using the cards for usual purchases gas, groceries, fast food, and shopping. Pay off the balance every month. So with $300 in credits, my PS3 is looking like $130. As long as the credits hit in a timely manner, everything will be fine. And my wife and I can control our spending, this is not our first credit card. Sony has dropped the price of the PS3, you just have to play their game and not get in trouble.

[sav1981]

No disrepect to anyone but this article has some funny comments. How about we gamers duke it out on Street Fighter IV? Wii owners you can borrow my controller since you gamers are always in the back seat of this generation fanboy war.

[friscoG]

And the debate goes on. I own both the 360 and PS3. I have more 360 titles because I have had it longer as I recently got a PS3. Honestly, the cost is similar. The PS3 doesn't have an arcade equilvalent, but at $399, the PS3 has more value than the elite. In the long run, the PS3 gives you more, but people can't get over the $299 hump, and that is where it hurts Sony. It is hard to get people to see that when they get a 360, they are going to end up spending the same amount or more in the long run if they do add on the extras. At $299, the arcade looks appetizing, but once a hard drive, wi-fi, etc are added on, the value has faded away.

[chrkeller]

Yeah, pretty much. Well stated.

[bullzeye20]

Dudes, My 160 gb media center aka PS3 with a 750gb external hard drive loaded with everything sitting next to my 42in lcd playing blue-ray, kicking your ass in COD, talking-txting-downloading-interacting on the PSN(for free), pulling my files from my computer via media sharing all from one sweet system. Save for an extra month and buy the PS3 you wont be dissapointed. Oh did I mention that my PSP can run my PS3 from anywere over a wireless network gaining access to all my saved files and games. Xbox cant even trump my PSP in that aspect no wireless installed, a handheld beats you.

[WolfyZA]

That probably sucks on PSN... Before i respawn i quickly need to TXT that dude who just pwned me... The *****

Im from South Africa and we dont have Live at all.. So i had to make a fake account just to experience it. Im addicted. I just cant see how PSN can compete with Xbox Live. So some games have lag. thats life.

Ive wanted a PS3 ever since its launch ...then December my cousin brought his PS3 and how dissapointed i was.. The Dashboard looks like a glorified PSP... WAIT IT IS!!!! With every second theme looking the same as the previous one . Im sure the PS3 has potential but im not seeing it.

And I still envy PS3 for having MGS4 lol

[renjre]

they cud make a download only ps3 with like 500g but no blueray