Next Xbox Price Drop?

[AdamInPlaidum]

For reasons very un-Halo, I find myself increasingly interested in an Xbox. Games like Metal Slug 3, Ninja Gaiden, and Fable really peak my interest, as well as the upcoming Wrestlemania 21 game. But I can't bring myself to spend more than $100 dollars for a system when you can get a Gamecube w/ 2 controllers and Mario Kart for $100. So my question for those in-the-know is: When do you think the Xbox will drop to $100?

[Scorch]

If ever, it'll happen in Fall, when XBox 2 comes out. You can find XBox's now in pawn shops for anywhere from $75-$100, they're used but they still work.

[AdamInPlaidum]

If ever, it'll happen in Fall, when XBox 2 comes out. You can find XBox's now in pawn shops for anywhere from $75-$100, they're used but they still work.

Is there a way to tell just by looking if it has a Thompson drive?

[Scorch]

Actually, there is..

http://users.bigpond.net.au/xbox/thompson.jpg

http://users.bigpond.net.au/xbox/Phillips.jpg

Notice how the Thompson drive has a U shape, while the Phillips drive has more of a circular shape. The Samsung is easily identifiable, it has holes in the drive.

http://zerro.cool.free.fr/Xbox/samsung.jpg

[RaekwonThaChef]

If ever, it'll happen in Fall, when XBox 2 comes out. You can find XBox's now in pawn shops for anywhere from $75-$100, they're used but they still work.

Is there a way to tell just by looking if it has a Thompson drive?

You have to open up the drive. You can tell by looking at the drive disc tray. Go to an XBox mod site, some have pictures of the various drives.

EDIT: Beaten

[bignick]

xbox gives you a lot for the $150. You need a memory card for saves on the GC, plus, if you want to go online, you have to get a broadband adapter.

[bmulligan]

Go online for what ? You mean that ONE game for online play ? I'm starting to feel cheated paying the same price for a multiplatform game for the Cube when other versions have multi-player online and the cube gets zilch. They should drop the price 5-10 dollars for every cube version of a game because of this.

[mmn]

Go online for what ? You mean that ONE game for online play ? I'm starting to feel cheated paying the same price for a multiplatform game for the Cube when other versions have multi-player online and the cube gets zilch. They should drop the price 5-10 dollars for every cube version of a game because of this.

Actually since only 12 people own a Gamecube they should charge $30,000 per game so they might have a chance of making some profit.

[CaseyRyback]

Go online for what ? You mean that ONE game for online play ? I'm starting to feel cheated paying the same price for a multiplatform game for the Cube when other versions have multi-player online and the cube gets zilch. They should drop the price 5-10 dollars for every cube version of a game because of this.

Actually since only 12 people own a Gamecube they should charge $30,000 per game so they might have a chance of making some profit.

Nintendo has made a profit from day one with the GCN

[mmn]

Go online for what ? You mean that ONE game for online play ? I'm starting to feel cheated paying the same price for a multiplatform game for the Cube when other versions have multi-player online and the cube gets zilch. They should drop the price 5-10 dollars for every cube version of a game because of this.

Actually since only 12 people own a Gamecube they should charge $30,000 per game so they might have a chance of making some profit.

Nintendo has made a profit from day one with the GCN

He said MULTIPLATFORM GAMES. Meaning 3rd party developers. Read. Comprehend.

[MrMaddness]

Go online for what ? You mean that ONE game for online play ? I'm starting to feel cheated paying the same price for a multiplatform game for the Cube when other versions have multi-player online and the cube gets zilch. They should drop the price 5-10 dollars for every cube version of a game because of this.

Actually since only 12 people own a Gamecube they should charge $30,000 per game so they might have a chance of making some profit.

Really...only 12? I guess I'm one of the 12. I should feel special.

You may be able to get a used XBox on the cheap...just check for the manufacturing dates. Get an XBox after a date of 04/2002, thats pretty much when the Thompsons began getting replaced.

[Mr.Answer]

Outlook not so good.

[mmn]

For reasons very un-Halo, I find myself increasingly interested in an Xbox. Games like Metal Slug 3, Ninja Gaiden, and Fable really peak my interest, as well as the upcoming Wrestlemania 21 game. But I can't bring myself to spend more than $100 dollars for a system when you can get a Gamecube w/ 2 controllers and Mario Kart for $100. So my question for those in-the-know is: When do you think the Xbox will drop to $100?

I'd say there's a good chance it'll drop to $119.99 after E3 this year. Probably stay that way until a few months after the Xbox 2 release.

[vherub]

i wouldnt hold out for a price drop, but definitely hit up ebay, i would imagine you can get a system with half a dozen games for only a little more than $100

[CaseyRyback]

Go online for what ? You mean that ONE game for online play ? I'm starting to feel cheated paying the same price for a multiplatform game for the Cube when other versions have multi-player online and the cube gets zilch. They should drop the price 5-10 dollars for every cube version of a game because of this.

Actually since only 12 people own a Gamecube they should charge $30,000 per game so they might have a chance of making some profit.

Nintendo has made a profit from day one with the GCN

He said MULTIPLATFORM GAMES. Meaning 3rd party developers. Read. Comprehend.

I am sorry, I should have stated that GCN sales are very close in total to that of the Xbox and that there are a lot of really great games on the GCN that are made by 3rd parties. And it is 3rd party developers would could put online play on the cube if they wanted to. Sony has a similar policy and there are plenty of online games for the PS2.

It is not like you made that entirely clear from the get go as you said only 12 people owned the system, and if only 12 people owned the system then they would not be making a profit.

[CaptainObviousXl]

gcn is the oly system that made a profit at launch

[PenguinMaster]

I wouldn't buy used, I've had both Thompson & Phillips drive XBOXs (bought used) that broke pretty fast.

[62t]

If I don't have live does that mean I should be able to get my games cheaper? It doesnt work that way.

[CappyCobra]

X-Box price drop? :lol: Let's wait until they get some in stock 1st

[cthcky33]

there will probably be a price drop at E3, thats when they usually happen

[David85]

A console thread turning into a bashing another console! Who would have thought! :roll:

[Jarrett]

I only have a Cube right now, but I think I want an Xbox AND PSTwo in the future. But heck, I don't even have time to play GC on a semi-regular basis. I know one thing for sure though. I won't be buying any of the new generation out of the gate.

[schultzed]

I only have a Cube right now, but I think I want an Xbox AND PSTwo in the future. But heck, I don't even have time to play GC on a semi-regular basis. I know one thing for sure though. I won't be buying any of the new generation out of the gate.

Me neither . . . in fact the stockpile of games I have will make it easier to wait.

I don't know how MS can justify a price drop, they are already losing $XX per machine (50-100??).

Nintendo is very smart about the business . . . like Apple, they make money (good money) and do not have to be number 1 to do it.

Sony did a good thing in the redesign . . . they can go down to $100 this year and not lose money per machine.

[wubb]

As others have mentioned there definitely could be a drop at E3 in May. Maybe even as low as $100. Very low chance of anything happening before that time frame IMO.

And the companies really try to keep the lid on these drops, so there probably won't be any solid info on a drop until very soon before it happens.

[Wet Ninja]

I don't know how MS can justify a price drop, they are already losing $XX per machine (50-100??).

When the Xbox launched, they were losing $50-100 per machine. The parts have gotten cheaper since then. An 8-10 GB HDD doesn't cost what it cost back in 2001. That said, I actually don't know if they're still losing money on each machine or not, but I'm curious. Has anyone heard anything about that?

[doubledown]

I thought I read something that the NEXT price drop would be when the XBOX 2 is released....

[y2jrevolution]

I wouldn't buy used, I've had both Thompson & Phillips drive XBOXs (bought used) that broke pretty fast.

If I recall correctly BigNick and myself and many other people for that matter have had launch day xbox's with no problems whatsoever. It's just luck of the draw I guess.

[wubb]

I thought I read something that the NEXT price drop would be when the XBOX 2 is released....

Anything you read is just going to be the author's best educated guess. It's possible that no drop will happen until Xbox 2 comes out, sure.

[MorPhiend]

gcn is the oly system that made a profit at launch

And I don't know about PS2, but XBOX still isn't making a profit.

[MorPhiend]

Go online for what ? You mean that ONE game for online play ? I'm starting to feel cheated paying the same price for a multiplatform game for the Cube when other versions have multi-player online and the cube gets zilch. They should drop the price 5-10 dollars for every cube version of a game because of this.

Actually since only 12 people own a Gamecube they should charge $30,000 per game so they might have a chance of making some profit.

Nintendo has made a profit from day one with the GCN

He said MULTIPLATFORM GAMES. Meaning 3rd party developers. Read. Comprehend.

I am sorry, I should have stated that GCN sales are very close in total to that of the Xbox and that there are a lot of really great games on the GCN that are made by 3rd parties. And it is 3rd party developers would could put online play on the cube if they wanted to. Sony has a similar policy and there are plenty of online games for the PS2.

It is not like you made that entirely clear from the get go as you said only 12 people owned the system, and if only 12 people owned the system then they would not be making a profit.

Actually, the last numbers I read (I think in Nov.) said that as far as worldwide, GCN had no.2 pretty firmly in place. And that was with Sony and Nintendo only reporting USA, Japan and Europe. M$ was reporting weird places like Korea, Australia, Mexico and South America...

Oh, BTW, I also own a Cube. That makes me number 2 on this forum. Only 10 others in the world. Wow...

[shrike4242]

If the XBox drops in price at all this year, it'll either be at E3 timeframe or around the beginning of the XMas season. Or both.

For only one drop, I see it going to $129. For two drops, it'll go $129, then to $99.

Microsoft has plenty of money to toss into the Xbox and make it a loss leader, since they know with the Xbox 2 and XNA, they can do game design twice with a single investment in money. Plus, they have much larger purse strings than either Sony or Nintendo. Plus, they're making money on XBL. And they've invested money in the developers to get them to write for the Xbox the first time around, with XNA and the companies that do PC and XBox games, it suddenly saves them money to do the write once, sell twice for games.

Microsoft can be quite happy losing money on the XBox. They make it up plenty of other places.

[schultzed]

I don't know how MS can justify a price drop, they are already losing $XX per machine (50-100??).

When the Xbox launched, they were losing $50-100 per machine. The parts have gotten cheaper since then. An 8-10 GB HDD doesn't cost what it cost back in 2001. That said, I actually don't know if they're still losing money on each machine or not, but I'm curious. Has anyone heard anything about that?

They were losing at least $100 per machine . . . yes costs have gone down but the price cuts have stayed even with their savings. The HD in particular hurts them.

I don't know and I'm too lazy to look but there is a river of red flowing out of Microsoft due to the Xbox. MS accepts this as part of a larger strategy.

[epobirs]

I don't know how MS can justify a price drop, they are already losing $XX per machine (50-100??).

When the Xbox launched, they were losing $50-100 per machine. The parts have gotten cheaper since then. An 8-10 GB HDD doesn't cost what it cost back in 2001. That said, I actually don't know if they're still losing money on each machine or not, but I'm curious. Has anyone heard anything about that?

Actually, those hard drives cost pretty much exactly what they cost back then. The single-sided, single platter drive was already obsolete when the Xbox shipped. In fact, when Microsoft and Western Digital sent ou the press release on their deal for Xbox drives, the section at the bottom giving background data on the two companies included a mention that Western Digital was proudly the first drive maker to move to 15 GB caacity per platter side.

One of the basic problems with hard drives is that they've been cost reduced as far as they're going to go. Until some major cost reduction appear for elements like the casing and other fixed elements there isn't much to be done about it. Microsoft already got a sweetheart deal from WD and Seagate because it allowed them to get more value out of existing production lines before they'd have to invest in upgrades for the latest tech rev. This also meant keeping some factories operating instead of shutting them down during a slow period and possibly not being able to rehire the same same trained workers when the time came. Manufacturers will occasionally make deals that mean operating a production line at a loss to avoid laying off employers and not being well positioned when market demand surges.

Don't be confused by the low capacity of the drives. Just because they're obsolete doesn't mean they're cheaper to produce. This is why Micorosft is looking to use flash memory instead. This doesn't have the minimum pricing problems of a standard hard drive.

[shrike4242]

Don't be confused by the low capacity of the drives. Just because they're obsolete doesn't mean they're cheaper to produce. This is why Micorosft is looking to use flash memory instead. This doesn't have the minimum pricing problems of a standard hard drive.

Also, switching to flash memory gets rid of one moving part component than can fail. Which leaves the DVD drive and any fan(s) in the system to be the only moving part components left.

[epobirs]

I don't know how MS can justify a price drop, they are already losing $XX per machine (50-100??).

When the Xbox launched, they were losing $50-100 per machine. The parts have gotten cheaper since then. An 8-10 GB HDD doesn't cost what it cost back in 2001. That said, I actually don't know if they're still losing money on each machine or not, but I'm curious. Has anyone heard anything about that?

They were losing at least $100 per machine . . . yes costs have gone down but the price cuts have stayed even with their savings. The HD in particular hurts them.

I don't know and I'm too lazy to look but there is a river of red flowing out of Microsoft due to the Xbox. MS accepts this as part of a larger strategy.

This is why they place so much focus on their software attach rate. When you have a subsidized platform you have to sell a certain number of games just to break even. Purchase after that point offer the chance for profits.

[Morrigan Lover]

Nintendo is very smart about the business . . . like Apple, they make money (good money) and do not have to be number 1 to do it.

I don't believe it's any longer possible to be number 1 in the console buisness and make a profit.

[MorPhiend]

Nintendo is very smart about the business . . . like Apple, they make money (good money) and do not have to be number 1 to do it.

I don't believe it's any longer possible to be number 1 in the console buisness and make a profit.

Possibly. I want to wait until Revolution to see if Nintendo can change things. Otherwise you're right. Because both Sony and M$ just have this theory that the more money they waste, the better off they are...

[mmn]

Possibly. I want to wait until Revolution to see if Nintendo can change things. Otherwise you're right. Because both Sony and M$ just have this theory that the more money they waste, the better off they are...

And thank God they do, because that way I get a console that gives me games I want to play instead of 300 different Mario games.

[epobirs]

Nintendo is very smart about the business . . . like Apple, they make money (good money) and do not have to be number 1 to do it.

I don't believe it's any longer possible to be number 1 in the console buisness and make a profit.

That is just silly. Sony has madebillions in net revenue from the PS2 business to date. It takes a massive capital investment to get a console going properly but they recouped that a long time ago. If you look at Sony in the last 8 years you'll find several quarters that looked great at the bottom line but when you look at the divisional breakdown the Playstation and later PS2 were the sole profit center for the company in several of those quarters.

Being #1 in the video game console business is very profitable. Likewise for being #1 in the handheld gaming business. The GameBoy has been Nintendo's primary revenue center for years. Contrary to claims from the kitchen the indications are that the GameCube, if treated as a separate business, is not profitable.

There is a reason why Nintendo's leadership in Japan has spoken of the importance of expanding their range of businesses. It isn't just to leverage the franchises. It's an acknowledgement that they have a precarious position of only one pillar holding up their roof.

[MorPhiend]

the GameCube, if treated as a separate business, is not profitable.

Site your sources.

[David85]

X-Box price drop? :lol: Let's wait until they get some in stock 1st

That's because they are stopping making them so they can sell the XBox 2 in the fall. No point in making tons of systems when a better system comes out in a little while.