@ Iriduim: "Uh, the drives are tested to perform to a higher standard than typical desktop and laptop drives. Wow thats a whole lot of BS right there. Western Digital, Samsung, Seagate. They're all tested the same and a laptop gives a hard drive a much bigger pounding than the XBOX. I doubt Samsung made a special HD just for Microsoft."

Wrong. There are several different grades of hard drives available(Enterprise, media grade, OEM, retail). The difference is in the components, quality control and testing done during the manufacturing process, which is usually reflected in the warranty length. Specialized drives cost significantly more than a standard drive of similar size(i.e. media grade drives). Don't believe me? Just check a maunfacturers site.

It is also not uncommon for a large OEM customer to specify certain drive characteristics, if they require it. If a company is buying a device in bulk, they get to pick what they want, but they pay for it as well.

I'm not defending the price and I do not know for sure if the 360 drive is a special grade(I assume it is), but it is possible this is the case.

@#12 Number40one: It's not necessarily true that Nintendo would sell the console for cheaper if it cost less to make. An argument could be made that Nintendo actually INCREASED the price of the Wii after learning of the PS3 price at E3.

The reason? Implied value.

By costing significantly less than their competitors, there could be a perception that the system was not as capable or a bad purchase(ala Virtual Boy)... and no one wants to throw away $100.

My gut feeling is the system was going to be $199(for the console only) before the PS3 price was announced.

Well it's happened to me as well =(

I might be the victim of unlucky timing, but my launch 360(11/1/2005 manufacture date) freezes 5-10 minutes into any game that uses the DVD(arcade games work fine) after the fall update.

No problems at all before this! I tried all the troubleshooting steps on the 360 support site, no joy. Guess I will wait for the hotfix later this week and then call for repair if that doesn't sort out the issue.

Grok4Spock: "The "Xbox 360 is only $50 more than Wii" argument only works if people don't ever plan on saving their games, download content, or use Xbox Live in any way, shape, or form...."

You forgot connect to the 'net wirelessly.

but conversely, the Wii is only $50 less than the core 360 as long as you never plan on: playing games in HD, streaming music or video, saving more than 512MB of content(minus the browser cache/system files), playing legacy games with the classic controller, downloading content, etc.

cuts both ways, doesn't it? ;)

Excuse the ignorance, but if no component cables are with the system included, what will be? The natural conclusion is HDMI, but has that been stated anywhere?

"And if you look at the adoption rate of the DS over the first 17 months, not only does it trail the PSP"

What bizarro world is this guy living in?
end quote

Jeff: It's called "Marketing Land".

Technically, this is probably true(for the first 17 months of each systems' launch) as the DS had a relatively slow start. If you look at current sales or total systems sold, it's all DS, all the time.

But you can't expect Sony to say that, can you? ;)

Is that 22GB for just the US version assets only?

I recall in a previous Insomniac interview they were touting Blu-Ray's ability to include all versions and/or regions on a single game disc.

Bitter

T-Man, 80 MS points=$1US, so 400 is $5.

I don't see any reason to complain considering the price. Co-op didn't exist in the original(or any of the arcade classic compilations) and it's nice to be able to play on your TV via the arcade interface. i.e. no disc to load.

Bitter

Disclamer: Galaga fanboy

Your choice:

- Regularly scheduled releases that are buggy(the PS2 demo that erased your memory card, the broken Darkwatch and Hulk demos for Xbox 1)

- Delayed releases that, for most part, work for everyone.

Personally I'd rather wait a bit and get something that doesn't suck, but that's me...

Bitter

I've got to admit, I'm a "hot cofee" drinker =), but as I ventured into the plane of Oblivion, the sight of burning corpses and severed heads made me wonder how this was rated "T".