Microsoft phasing out the Pro

[16-bit]

Don't know if it's old news for anyone or not, but I figured I'd spread the word. Hopefully this will end up with a nice price drop for the Elite.

 

Engadget link

[MagitekAngel]

I've always had a thing against the current generation's trend of having multiple SKU's of a particular console. Does anybody remember how many different PS3's there have been? Or that the old ones actually had the Emotion Engine, only for that to get phased out later? I miss the old days where you bought one Atari, or Super Nintendo, or whatever, and didn't have to worry about how big your hard drive was, or whether you had HDMI out, and best of all, you got TWO GODDAMN CONTROLLERS.

 

That being said, If they're going to phase something out, it shouldn't be the Pro. If anything, Microsoft should drop the Arcade, include the 5 game disc with the Pro, and shuffle the Pro and Elite down one price level.

[16-bit]

I can understand them keeping the Arcade since it's at such a good price point, but if they want to make it a big seller they need to make the hard drives more affordable or at least make larger memory cards.

 

Good point on the two controllers. That's what the Elite should come with besides the 120gig drive. Not just the "free HDMI cable".

[JamesD]

I think the best thing is to offer the Arcade in a few different colors and have an occasional limited edition package.

As long as you can add a hard drive for the difference in price between the Arcade and Pro then there is no need for the Pro.

Now if Microsoft will just stop charging an arm and a leg for the drives and come out with a 500 GB one so we aren't stuck in an endless upgrade cycle.

[godslabrat]

I've always had a thing against the current generation's trend of having multiple SKU's of a particular console. Does anybody remember how many different PS3's there have been? Or that the old ones actually had the Emotion Engine, only for that to get phased out later? I miss the old days where you bought one Atari, or Super Nintendo, or whatever, and didn't have to worry about how big your hard drive was, or whether you had HDMI out, and best of all, you got TWO GODDAMN CONTROLLERS.

 

That being said, If they're going to phase something out, it shouldn't be the Pro. If anything, Microsoft should drop the Arcade, include the 5 game disc with the Pro, and shuffle the Pro and Elite down one price level.

 

I dunno... there were always a lot of NES SKUs available, though the hardware itself was the same-- the only thing that changed was the pack-in game and accessories. I do remember the Genesis having a decent number of SKUs as well.

 

I'm not a big fan of the Pro system either. When I bought my 360, I saw only two real options: spend all the money at once and get the Elite, or spend the least possible amount of money and get the Arcade. When I did the math, the price of the Arcade + HDD was almost the exact same price of the Elite, so it really became a matter of convenience. The Pro would have been me spending too much and getting too little.

[JamesD]

My Pro system came with two pack in games and Target threw in a third of my choice.

I didn't think the Elite was worth the extra money.

Edited August 11, 2009 by JamesD

[Video]

I've always had a thing against the current generation's trend of having multiple SKU's of a particular console. Does anybody remember how many different PS3's there have been? Or that the old ones actually had the Emotion Engine, only for that to get phased out later? I miss the old days where you bought one Atari, or Super Nintendo, or whatever, and didn't have to worry about how big your hard drive was, or whether you had HDMI out, and best of all, you got TWO GODDAMN CONTROLLERS.

 

That being said, If they're going to phase something out, it shouldn't be the Pro. If anything, Microsoft should drop the Arcade, include the 5 game disc with the Pro, and shuffle the Pro and Elite down one price level.

 

Exactly. Drop the Pro to Arcades price range (yes, they can do it, do you really think the HDD's are costing Microsfot $100? Try more on the lines of $10...if they are being rather sloppy in their mas purchases of outdated 20G drives) pack in the arcade's game with the pro. Then, Drop the elite to the Pro's price range, and, either get rid of the arcade, or make it even cheaper (who wouldn't buy another 360 if it was say $150?) or maybe release them in colors or something?

 

Yeah, a second controller would be nice....but seriously, what was the last system to have two controllers? SNES? (I think) But you know? some of us do still play with IRL friends. And I guess while they could lug their controller overr to your house, it would be more convienant if you had two to start with.

 

As for the Multi SKU's, I can't really recall a single system that did NOT have multiple SKU's, granted, back in the days of Atari and Nintendo, they were still functionally the exact same system....but they existed.

 

One last thing I'd like to know, when's another XBLA compilation coming out? They should make a new one every 6 months or so, stick in an A title, and a few lower ones, and maybe a couple of discontinued ones. I'd buy it for sure.

Edited August 11, 2009 by Video

[MagitekAngel]

The very last console I can remember that ever came with more than one controller was the N64, but that was only a limited edition bundle that came with one extra controller and possibly a game; I don't quite remember.

 

As for the history of SKU's, in the past, there were often multiple iterations of a console, but all this ever meant was what kinds of "extra" stuff you got; stuff like games, special controllers, lightguns, etc. Different iterations of the console itself were never simultaneous releases; they were always updates, and they maintained the same functionality as the originals; either the manufacturing cost was reduced, the case redesigned, common complaints about the previous model were rectified, etc.

 

Hardware updates are a natural progression. What I'm not a fan of these days is multi-tiered simultaneous console releases: either pay an affordable sum for the console with some of its major components stripped out, or pay a premium to actually get the complete system. If there's anything I dislike more than console SKUs, its all the different versions of Windows; I'm pretty sure the next one is shipping in nearly a dozen different versions and price points. When you have stuff like "Home Basic", "Home Premium", "Home super Premium", "Home almost-Professional", and "Home pretty Professional", all for one product, I just think that's ridiculous.

[moycon]

Try more on the lines of $10...if they are being rather sloppy in their mas purchases of outdated 20G drives)

 

I agree the HDD are too expensive, but keep in mind the Pro's are 60 GB now, not 20 GB.

[Atariboy]

Its my opinion that we're seeing the gradual elimination of the Pro because we'll be seeing the 120 gig console experiencing a price reduction for the fall.

 

And perhaps sometime next year a even larger hard drive (With perhaps a console SKU that includes it to take the place of the current Elite model) as Microsoft continues to push digital distribution.

 

As for another XBLA compilation, there's already been a second XBLA compilation, it was bundled with Sega Superstars Tennis and was included with the arcade model last fall. It's widely available used at GameStop's since many people have traded it in, for $10.

 

Bought a copy recently when it was 50% off and got it for $5. Includes Pac-Man Championship Edition, UNO, Boom Boom Rocket, Feeding Frenzy and Luxor 2.

 

I already own Pac-Man Championship Edition on XBLA (Plus also have a spare copy of it it on disc as well thanks to Namco Museum), and Uno. But it was a good deal to get get the other three along with Sega Superstars Tennis (Which reactions seemed mixed about, but SumoDigital does good work so I'm sure its fun even if its flawed). If someone doesn't own all 5 games, its a great disc.

 

Also, Namco Museum Virtual Arcade is basically a XBLA compilation with a lot of bonus games. Can be had for under $10 and includes all six of Namco's classic XBLA releases along with Galaga Legions, Mr. Driller Online, Pac-Man Championship Edition, and 25 other non XBLA releases.

Edited August 12, 2009 by Atariboy

[Video]

Cool, I'll be looking into it then, though as I said, they should release new XBLA compos regularly, not just once in a blue moon or whatever.

 

Try more on the lines of $10...if they are being rather sloppy in their mas purchases of outdated 20G drives)

 

I agree the HDD are too expensive, but keep in mind the Pro's are 60 GB now, not 20 GB.

 

 

Cool to know, it's still a hopelessly outdated drive, as even the smallest Netbooks use bigger drives (on the lines of2-4X) but still, it's not like the drivves are costing a lot either way. Don't a lot of custom drives even exceed that size now (like Ipod type devices) granted, the 1.8" drive probably are a bit more expensive than the standard 2.5 notebookdrives, but still.

[MagitekAngel]

Good point there, I'm typing this on an Aspire One with a 250 GB Hard drive, and I paid about 50 dollars less for this computer than I would for a 120GB Elite. And not only that, I don't have to pay another hundred dollars on top of that to go online wireless: its built in!

[16-bit]

Good point there, I'm typing this on an Aspire One with a 250 GB Hard drive, and I paid about 50 dollars less for this computer than I would for a 120GB Elite. And not only that, I don't have to pay another hundred dollars on top of that to go online wireless: its built in!

 

 

Yes, but can it play Fallout 3?

[MagitekAngel]

Nope, but Fallout 1 and 2 are pretty safe bets

[Video]

Oh, you got the 10" aspire eh? Awesome computers. And yeah, I got Fallout installed on this one, it doesn't need the disc to play, so that made it easy on me (especially since the computer doesn't have a optical drive)

 

Won't even try Fallout 3 on it, not sure my older notebook could even play that, though it's got much ccloser specs