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Price points set in place for next-generation launch; European details awaited
The LA Times has broken news of Microsoft's pricing plans for the Xbox 360 console, revealing that the a basic version of the next-generation system will launch at $299, with a premium version shipping at $399.
According to the paper, the $299 version of the console will not include a hard drive - with the extra $100 for the premium version buying a 20Gb drive as well as a wireless controller, headset, Ethernet cable and wireless television-style remote control.
No exact date for the launch is mentioned in the brief article, which will appear in this morning's edition of the major broadsheet, but has already been published on the newspaper's website.
The print edition of the LA Times won't be on news stands until after this morning's Microsoft announcements at the Game Convention event in Leipzig, so it looks likely that the official announcement will go out there after all - despite yesterday's rumours at the show that suggested that no major news would be forthcoming, since none of the firm's top executives had made the trip to Germany.
Europeans will be watching the announcement carefully for news of the Euro and GBP price points for the console. It seems possible that Microsoft will translate between Euro and USD on an even ratio, giving a 399 Euro price point for the premium model - which probably translates as GBP 299 after VAT is taken into consideration.
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299 for the Premium version isn't too bad I reckon - worth it for the extras you get.
Whaddya think?
When you create a Silver LIVE account it's just like creating a Gamertag. It's your Gamertag for as long as you have the 360 and no-one can have the same one. So if you're sying to have 'Dark Phoenix 777' as your Gamertag but know you can't have LIVE until next year, you can still create that Gamertag and use it until you can upgrade to Gold.
Also, the Silver LIVE service will have a lot of promotional offers on. For example, on the first week of launch, Perfect Dark Zero might be playable online for everyone, Gold and Silver members a like. To celebrate the release of 5 new cars and 6 new tracks in PGR3, 3 of the tracks in the game might be open up to Silver members so they can get a taste of PGR3 online. Maybe every weekend the G-TV feature will be open to Silver members so they can watch their Gold counterparts race!
Should be good.
People who have the Solus pack only need to buy a Memory Card and the games they want and they're away. Granted, if you're a LIVE junkie and you want your 360 for more than just playing PGR3 offline, you'll want the Standard Pack; but the Solus/Core pack is fine for those who keep their gaming private and offline.
> I'm definitely more tempted by one now than I was before.
>
> Just depends on when it comes out and if I have enough money for it.
>
> Also, has anyone got a link to the site that says the top end system
> will be backwards compatible, but the lower end one won't?
If you look over on Game's website it'll tell you about it, basically no HDD = no backs compatibility, which has been confirmed by MS.
Will the 360 be Live-able from the off?
Personally if I get one, and it is still an if, it'll be the standard one - with all thr trimmings.
> I've just found out that with the cheap Xbox 360 you cant play normal
> Xbox games so I wont be able to play Pro Evo 5 which means I must buy
> the expensive one.
The reason for this is that the HDD comes with pre-loaded software that will make some of the old games work. So without it none of the original Xbox games will work.
1 without HDD
1 with
1 with everything but the kitchen sink
or something like that. I suppose it would have been too confusing for the casuals and those not in the know though.
The one without the HDD etc is called the Xbox 360 Core Pack.
> I've just found out that with the cheap Xbox 360 you cant play normal
> Xbox games so I wont be able to play Pro Evo 5 which means I must buy
> the expensive one.
Surely the two versions are identical, apart from the hard drive (which you can add to the cheap version anyway)?