Robin Hoods Playground

Microsoft Explains Arcade Price Increase
By Tom Ivan

Microsoft has explained the reasoning behind its decision to raise the price of the Xbox 360 Arcade by £30 to £159.99.

"We have not made upward adjustments to the trade price of consoles before. A modest increase on the trade price of Xbox 360 Arcade consoles in EMEA allows us to offset exchange rate fluctuations and changes in local market conditions while still offering the most affordable console on the market," Microsoft told CVG.

"Xbox 360 remains the most affordable console in the market and offers a great value entry point into a fantastic range of entertainment experiences available on Xbox 360 now and in the future like Zune Video Marketplace, Facebook, Twitter, Avatar Marketplace and of course Project Natal which will be compatible with all Xbox 360 consoles," the company added.

Earlier today Microsoft confirmed that it is to cut the price of the Xbox 360 Elite, raise the price of the Arcade model and phase out the Pro unit.

And it's now the time where micro$oft will start acting like micro$oft. I was once all over xbox 360 just because of the whole "scene" but c'mon now they aren't even hiding trying to take our money. With this last update of the avatars getting clothing for a certain price... Do people really pay for virtual clothes? I not sure if it's because im getting old or what but I got raised to not waste my money on crap. Now mico$oft drops the price of the xbox elite but also takes our the hdmi cable, nor do they give you component cable. You get an amazing composite cable that makes your new xbox 360 hooked up to a beautiful HD television look like your back in the NES era. Then I hear about the Arcade going up in price because they are pulling out the pro, so of course they gotta make a little more money off us.

Over the last couple of weeks I have been little by little jumping over to the dark side. (Tell you the truth I still hate Sony for killing off the Dreamcast early.) I see it now that Xbox360 is becoming your mainstream, kid loving, money making, machine. Im not one that is into all the mainstream hype and to tell you the truth mainstream gamers have been killing our hardcore games, whens the last time you played a good rpg or played a good hard game like bionic commando and im not talking about the release of the one on the 360. They don't make good games anymore just because the fact is that "Joe" thinks it's the cool thing to play games because he sees Ciji or Robert on the Ultimate Gamer.(Not taking anything away from these people.) Reality tv is killing everything and now it's has started to effect the gamers.

Second is kids... I know I was once a kid and I was into gaming with the NES but let's get real the kids that got brought up with the NES or the SNES era got brought up the way a gamer should be. Tell you the truth the ones that were around this era know what im talking about. If they made a game out there that wasn't pushed by the media, too challenging or didn't have a HALO stamp on it you really think it would sell? Of course it wouldn't but do you remember some of those classic great games like Double Dragon, Bionic Commando, Castlevania, and my favorite Contra. These games sold because they were marketed not by media but by gameplay. Going back on this subject kids now a days are so into the media and non sense of crap that certain companies are making crap.

Make this one quick of a money making system... It's backed by microsoft enough said.

Now the PS3 is winning the edge for me just because I haven't seen any horrible avatar garbage. The online play is for free although I wish they could give it a little more love even if they have to start charging. Whens the last time you saw PS3 put a bad exclusive game on there system... (Shush about HAZE please.) I can name a few off the top of my head that were just NOT good. Crackdown, Hour of Victory, Last Remnant, Chrome Hounds, and of course the HALO 3 trash.

Im going to end the long topic with a simple ending, has Playstation ever sold out like other companies have? Maybe the PS3 is for us hardcore gamers and we just got so caught up in this mainsteam manure micro$oft has been feeding us.

microsoft is microsoft,this is what they do best(orworst)
we all know this,
we've always known this
end of

I HATE microsoft

KingKoopaHN wrote:just because I haven't seen any horrible avatar garbage. The online play is for free

the on line is free
but
the PS3 had all the crap for sale before M$ did
crap for your avatar also they have stuff for sale for your apartment
hell they want you to buy a new house to buy more stuff for.

it call micro transactions they think because its such a small amout and that its "not money" its points or what ever
that people want mind.
you can bet the kids are all over this and doing it

CoFree wrote:

KingKoopaHN wrote:just because I haven't seen any horrible avatar garbage. The online play is for free

the on line is free
but
the PS3 had all the crap for sale before M$ did
crap for your avatar also they have stuff for sale for your apartment
hell they want you to buy a new house to buy more stuff for.

it call micro transactions they think because its such a small amout and that its "not money" its points or what ever
that people want mind.
you can bet the kids are all over this and doing it

exactly...and you can't blame a company for making money. that's what america is all about...unless you're obama


and to be honest...anyone who runs a business can tell you...costs increase with time...not decrease...so a small price hike is to be expected....don't blame the collapse of the economy on MS...you can blame gready politicians on both parties for that. MS is doing nothing but capitalizing on a market...and if you don't think they should be aloud to do that, then you belong in a socialist society. can anyone say Stalin?

well that is just about enough of the political crap

but
i would say this.

robbie2883 wrote:anyone who runs a business can tell you...costs increase with time

that is not a 100% true statement.
electronics being one thing that does drop over time.
the more that is made the cheaper it can be sold to make the same money.

CoFree wrote:well that is just about enough of the political crap

but
i would say this.

robbie2883 wrote:anyone who runs a business can tell you...costs increase with time

that is not a 100% true statement.
electronics being one thing that does drop over time.
the more that is made the cheaper it can be sold to make the same money.

i hear ya on the politics. wasn't trying to start anything.

as for the pricing...while i agree, yes the cost of a product (especially electronics) decrease, i.e. cost of production due to streamlining and so forth, cost of materials, fuel, shipping, marketing, labor, ect. are all subject to the value of the dollar...which you can bet is gonna be worth less. so while the cost of the production might go down. everything around it goes up.

From what I just read this only effects people in the UK, so while we can probably all argue, this move is just because we live in a capitalist world, there is no point as it doesn't effect most of you. (except sas)

Not only that, but from what I read M$ is not trying to make a buck, they are trying not to lose it, by adjusting the price due to the exchange rate...

HaGGardSmurf wrote:it doesn't effect most of you. (except sas)

well there are a lot of uk member and staff

im sure at this point
they think about M$ the same way i do

M$ sucks

CoFree wrote:

HaGGardSmurf wrote:it doesn't effect most of you. (except sas)

well there are a lot of uk member and staff

im sure at this point
they think about M$ the same way i do

M$ sucks

haha I meant in this thread

I think most of us feel the same way about M$.