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Microsoft XBox (Games) Games Hardware

Microsoft Cuts Xbox One Price To $249 - Would You Buy or Recommend One? (theverge.com) 140

Posted by msmash from the if-you-were-on-the-fence dept.
Tom Warren, writing for The Verge: Microsoft is cutting the price of its Xbox One console to $249. The new price marks the third price cut in less than two months, ahead of the new Xbox One S launch on August 2nd. 500GB versions of the Xbox One are now $249, and this includes bundles with games like Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, Quantum Break, Forza Motorsport 6, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and Rare Replay. Retailers like Best Buy and Amazon will be selling Microsoft's Xbox One console at the new $249 price point immediately, and the software giant says the consoles will be available at $249 "while supplies last." Microsoft's aggressive Xbox One pricing follows a sales gap between its console and Sony's PlayStation 4. Sony has sold more than 40 million PS4s, but it's not clear exactly how many Xbox Ones have been sold as Microsoft hasn't provided sales figures for quite some time. EA previously revealed Microsoft had sold 19 million Xbox One consoles back in January.
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Microsoft Cuts Xbox One Price To $249 - Would You Buy or Recommend One? More

Microsoft Cuts Xbox One Price To $249 - Would You Buy or Recommend One?

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  • No, and no (Score:2, Insightful)

    by damn_registrars ( 1103043 )
    It's still a Microsoft product. It still mostly plays games of a genre that I don't care about (doom clones). Maybe if I was a single guy with money to burn and time to kill, I would be interested but there is no room in my life for a Microsoft or Sony console right now at any price.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      The OP asked if HE should get an Xbone, not if YOU should get one. But, of course, everything is about YOU.

    • I wouldn't worry so much if it was a Microsoft Product or not. The big concern with getting a gaming system when there is a new one expected to be released is the ability to get new games for the system. I am not a gamer so I don't know he details. However if the XBox One and the XBox One S will run the same games going forwards towards the life of the product, and the only difference is being able to run on 1080p vs 4k and you have no plans on getting a 4k TV. Then you are probably good.
      However if the O

    • 1. New brake pads and rotors for my car
      2. One month's 74 degree AC setting on my large, two story home.
      3. A twenty Seven year subscription to Netflix's streaming services
      4. Ten $25 dollar Prime steaks to grill.
      5. 4 physician co-pays
      6. Twelve and a half tanks of gas
      7. A Primo Backpack
      8. Round Trip Tickets to Vegas and a two nights at a shitty Hotel.
      9. $451.53 after 20 years of 3% interest, compounding annually.
      10. A 5/10 hooker for the night or a 10/10 hooker for 30 minutes.

    • They do this every console. Xbox, Xbox 360, now Xbox One. Once they fall behind in the market, Nintendo start making good ground MS gets desperate and cuts it's price drastically. I've never liked Xbox consoles because of their controller setup. But I also never bought one because of the high DOA from out of box. I considered an Xbox Original, issues. Considered an Xbox 360, during price drop a few years back. Online store reviews were 1 out of 2 out of box were duds during sale. I simply have 0 trust from

    • It's still a Microsoft product. It still mostly plays games of a genre that I don't care about (doom clones).

      As of the anniversary update [slashdot.org], Xbox One runs Windows apps. What genre of game would you like to see developed as a Windows app, other than perhaps "fighting game with classic Nintendo IP"?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AK Marc ( 707885 )

      It's still a Microsoft product.

      The implied choice is between MS and Sony. You'd pick a rootkit designed to harm *you* personally, over monopoly abuses that hurt the market, but not the consumers (other than the theoretical damage of a monopoly, which XBone doesn't have).

      It still mostly plays games of a genre that I don't care about (doom clones).

      That their most famous exclusive is an FPS doesn't excuse the massive multi-platrform titles available on both. The exclusives for PS are reducing, though PS still has the Japanese-only games, and many of their sequels.

      Maybe if I was a single guy with money to burn and time to kill, I would be interested but there is no room in my life for a Microsoft or Sony console right now at any price.

      So you recomend against all consoles. Then why not

      • The implied choice is between MS and Sony

        I disagree. The question was "Would You Buy or Recommend One?". I don't see how this makes "none of the above" an invalid choice. For me the WiiU is a vastly superior choice to either, though I still prefer none of the above right now.

        So you recomend against all consoles. Then why not lead with that, and leave the rest out.

        Because I started by answering the question that was posed by the title of the article.

        XBone is for people, especially families

        I think you have that confused with the Wii and WiiU. Just because XBOne has a component that allows you to play a dozen or so games without the traditional controller does not mean t

  • I might pay double if they would drop the data collection.

    Triple if I can play with my friends over the Internet with an open source server.

  • I own Xbox one and a PS4 & various mobile devi (Score:5, Interesting)

    by tacroy ( 813477 ) on Monday July 25, 2016 @09:17AM (#52574893)
    My xbone gets the most use out of my gaming devices. Partially because of the games, but also because it actually makes a surprisingly good streaming hub also as a window 10 OS it in theory could get apps and other neat things from windows.

    Media Stuff:
    I use Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and various other premium channel apps (HBO, CW, etc). While the ps4 does many of those, I have to open each app and hunt for the shows I want. the xbone lets me do a search via voice and then asks what app to open the show in. Way more convenient. The xbox also does live TV and has tv guide and all that stuff. Basically, it replaces the features of a smart TV+

    Game specific stuff:
    Exclusive wise, Sony still has an edge, but it's pretty small. That's when I typically use my ps4. Quantum Break is good, but short. Tomb Raider is amazing, but will likely be coming to PS4 in the next year. I'm also a bit a halo fanboy, so that helps.
    Both consoles give free games each month if you have their premium account thing.
    Xbox one however has backwards compatibility with a bunch of 360 games, so I'm using that a lot as well.

    Other Stuff:
    You can also use the xbox as a miracast receiver, which I use fairly often and works well. Granted you can get a standalone receiver for WAY cheaper, so don't buy it for that.
    I loved xbox fitness, but they are killing it... Still a bit frustrated at that.
    Xbox can be targeted with universal windows app, since it's a windows 10 machine at the core. So the preview program has just started getting actual windows 10 apps on it. Which I'm very curious if that will be awesome or horrible; to early to tell.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Luthair ( 847766 )
      The trouble with the Xbox One and the PS4 for media consumption is that both have very high power consumption. You're much better off using other devices like Roku, Chromecast or AppleTV.
    • Do yourself a favor and go buy an Intel NUC. It's much smaller than an XBone, runs on less power and has better media support.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by MercTech ( 46455 )

      Naaa, I don't trust it.

      I bought an Xbox360 mainly for the media box functions and occasionally to game. Microsoft nerfed the media box function a month after I bought the Xbox. I don't trust Microsoft not to nerf the Xbox ONE's capability on a whim. Once burned, twice shy.

  • blatant ad (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 25, 2016 @09:17AM (#52574897)

    fuck your ads

  • You can get PS4's for cheap. Loads of hardcore gamers are getting rid of their A and B-type chassis for the more silent and power efficient C models. The news about the slim version is also driving used and new prices down, even though it's all rumors. So why bring the PS4 into the XB1 topic? Because you can't recommend one without mentioning its main competitor, which is, to my own tastes and of most, a much better product with a far nicer environment and game library. Much like you should probably get a P

  • Amusing Conjunction (Score:5, Interesting)

    by SuperKendall ( 25149 ) on Monday July 25, 2016 @09:21AM (#52574919)

    Headline on the story just below this one:

    "Microsoft Can't Shield User Data From Government, Says Government"

    That certainly does make for a ringing endorsement that you should buy an Xbox one and attach an always on microphone...

    • Headline on the story just below this one:

      "Microsoft Can't Shield User Data From Government, Says Government"

      That certainly does make for a ringing endorsement that you should buy an Xbox one and attach an always on microphone...

      They no longer bundle the Kinect with the Xbox. In fact, they also freed up the resources that they had dedicated to the kinect to allow developers to have more horsepower. Not only that, but the article you're referencing is the government's claim that Microsoft cannot shield the data, not Microsoft's actual position on the matter.

  • It was such a bargain I bought five!!! They make excellent stocking stuffers. Plus I need to buy some for my house in the Hamptons and my ski house in the French Alps.

  • Current consoles don't allow KB/M (minus rare exceptions or using an adapter), which makes FPS games borderline unplayable. How does anyone finds this bullshit acceptable in this day and age? Seriously, even the Dreamcast had KB/M.

    • Current consoles don't allow KB/M (minus rare exceptions or using an adapter)

      And I'm told most of these exceptions are on PlayStation 2, 3, and 4. Some people like using a mouse in one hand and half of a DualShock in the other because unlike WASD, an analog stick offers analog control of the speed and direction of your movement, not just your aiming.

      • And I'm told most of these exceptions are on PlayStation 2, 3, and 4.

        As far as I know, yes. If there are Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One games with such support, I'd like to know about them.

        Some people like using a mouse in one hand and half of a DualShock in the other because unlike WASD, an analog stick offers analog control of the speed and direction of your movement, not just your aiming.

        Yep, I prefer that method if I can get it. I know one player of War Thunder on PC who uses that method for tanks. I've also read of PC gamers buying up Playstation Move Navigation controllers (that's the one with the analog stick, not the glowy ball on the end of it) and using them with mice.

    • Just a reminder that FPS's aren't the only genre but every console since the PS2 has USB ports for a reason. It's not a case of "allow" but rather "do the developers want to take the time and effort to implement/test/troubleshoot a keyboard + mouse control system alongside the standard controller"

      And often they don't bother to...but....sometimes they do. And I have console games within 10 feet of me with keyboard and/or mouse support. Sometimes the support won't be listed on the box, you have to check.

  • We won an Xbox 360 in a school raffle two years ago. The Xbox One had just been released. But because it had and the 360 had been on the market for a while, we were able to walk out of a pawn shop with a half-dozen games for less than $50.

    I think our total game investment is maybe $100 up to now, and the count is probably 15 or more.

    If you can play 360 games on the One, it might make a decent Christmas present if we don't lose the games we own or have to maintain two systems.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tacroy ( 813477 )
      You can play "Some" 360 games on it. Basically companies need to give permission to let their game play on the xbone. List is here: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox... [xbox.com]

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ET3D ( 1169851 )

        Easier to browse the list here [wikipedia.org] or here [majornelson.com].

      • By "some" the actual number is 0. You can't play any Xbox 360 games on it. What you can do is play games in which the manufacturer has made an Xbox One port. So "by permission", it is a smokescreen for the fact that the Xbox One cannot run 360 games at all. They are trying to make it sound like the manufacturer is being obstinate when it is the same as it has been for new platforms; your old software isn't compatible.

  • No wireless speed wheel, no xbox one (Score:3)

    by GrumpyOldMan ( 140072 ) on Monday July 25, 2016 @09:36AM (#52575037)

    I am a HUGE fan of the Forza series. But I hate playing racing games with a joystick, and I don't have the space for a real steering wheel & pedals. So the XBox 360's "Wireless Speed Wheel" was perfect for me.

    Microsoft lost a customer when they released XBox One without support for XBox 360 controllers and no replacement for the 360's wireless speed wheel. Leaving behind the XBox360 controllers was a blatant money grab, but if they'd have come out with a replacement for the WSW, I'd probably have paid full price & bought the box on launch day. As it is, I still play the original Forza on my 360. And when I needed a next-gen console, there was no reason not to buy the PS4.

  • Microsoft--and let's be fair here, also Sony to a lesser degree--both really have long histories of abusing their customers. I'm really not a Nintendo fanboy, and I have lots of bad things to say about them, but at the very least they actually recognize that their customers are human beings who play games for fun, they aren't fleshbags with coin purses.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Scutter ( 18425 )

      but at the very least [Nintendo] actually recognize that their customers are human beings who play games for fun, they aren't fleshbags with coin purses.
      Really? You might wanna rethink that. [arstechnica.com] If your decision to chose one technology over the other based on each one's privacy policy, you're always going to lose. You are always the product.

    • Nintendo was abusing its customers back when Microsoft was still busy making Flight Simulator for DOS. There is no "nice" gaming console maker, especially since Sega left the market.

  • You can pry my mouse out of my cold, dead hands.

  • I'd never recommend anything Microsoft to anyone.

    It truly boggles my mind how Microsoft have continually screwed their own customers over for decades, and yet still all the sheep out there keep buying their products, then are shocked/outraged when their turn inevitably comes around.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Pulzar ( 81031 )

      It truly boggles my mind how Microsoft have continually screwed their own customers over for decades, and yet still all the sheep out there keep buying their products, then are shocked/outraged when their turn inevitably comes around.

      Maybe the explanation is that most of their customers don't feel like they have been "continually screwed" by them? I personally don't remember being screwed by them for at least 10 years or so.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by JustNiz ( 692889 )

        I guess you weren't one of those people that unrecoverably lost their entire music collection when they switched music stores (twice now), or got screwed when they forced Windows 10 updates on people, or have never realized your personal data is being collected/sold, or found out that your windows 7 phone will no longer update, or that you're being spied on by your Kinect then. The sad thing is that I could go on and on with examples, yet you will no doubt find justifications to ignore/dismiss them all.

    • Yeah, MS is always screwing customers, so screw them, buy a PS4. Like, remember when they removed the OtherOS functionality... oh wait, when they put spyware on audio CDs... no, that wasn't it, when their game network got hacked and they stored all those credit card numbers in plaintext... shoot, that wasn't them either!

  • I'm waiting for $100 model. I didn't get a PlayStation One until Sony came out with the $100 model.

  • Anyone who actually enjoys gaming on consoles would probably already have a PS4. So a cheaper Xbox One doesn't change anything.

  • I just don't like the controller, although I have to admit the XB One's controller is better than the XB 360's. I much prefer the PS3's Dual Shock. From what I understand, the PS4's Dual Shock is better than the PS3's, so a PS4 will almost certainly be my next console purchase, when or if I'm ever in the market for a new one. That probably won't be for a while, since I'd like to wait for the VR market to mature a bit, and I still have a boatload of games on my PS3 I still haven't even touched.

  • Seeing as MS is putting out a new more powerful version of the Xbox soon, I would think spending any amount of money on the Xbox One would be stupid. Unless it was a bargain price, like $100 or less.

  • It's funny that so many people who do not have an Xbox One are telling others they shouldn't get one..

    I've had mine for almost a year now. I enjoy playing the occasional game but mostly use it for streaming or watching Blu-ray moves as I only had DVD player before. It also plays the movie files I have saved on a thumb drive. I do not have the Kinect. It's a good piece of hardware and you can find some quality games for good prices if you're willing to wait a couple months after launch.

    If you want

  • At that price, the question starts to become relevant, so let's dissect that box. What can be salvaged?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Sneftel ( 15416 )

      Stripping it for parts? Well, there's a HD and a BluRay, of course, and a fan, and some cables; those would be worth a few bucks put together.

      Beyond that there's a couple of circuit boards with lots of chips soldered to them. If you have a BGA rework station and a steady hand, you could recover the ICs. But if you're looking for a graphics card, a socketable CPU, memory DIMMs... you're out of luck. There's no reason for MS to make the xbone a PC on the inside, and every reason for them not to.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by AK Marc ( 707885 )

        There's no reason for MS to make the xbone a PC on the inside, and every reason for them not to.

        Making it as close to a Wintel box as possible, to unify gaming and OS OSs was a stated goal. Given that goal, you think they did what you said and deliberately made it different from the platform they are trying to unify on?

        It's an AMD-based PC, running Windows 10 Embedded (game version). It shouldn't be too hard to find the DRM chip, cut it out, and install some Linux on it or something. Though, if they are selling it for $250, it probably costs $100 to make, so you won't be gaining much.

  • It's hard to recommend an older model when a Xbox One S is around the corner and expected to sell for the same price.

    In general I think that the Xbox One is an attractive console at this price for the undemanding gamer. You can buy it for $250, subscribe to Gold for $60 a year and you get about 4 games a month to keep. Great inexpensive gaming gift for a kid. With keyboard and mouse support underway, aimed at PC style game control but hopefully usable for the UI, it could likely even become a PC alternative

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AK Marc ( 707885 )

      In general I think that the Xbox One is an attractive console at this price for the undemanding gamer.

      I think it's underrated for the non-gamer. Blu-Ray, Netflix and such. It's the media box for the home with a large, but not smart, TV.

      PS3 had more media options than PS4, so neither is the right choice for that anymore. XBone is the right choice for the non-gamer to get a media PC attached to the TV. Small, quiet, and low on power, for something that'll play DVDs, BluRay, Netflix, and even some gaming, if you decide to try it out.

  • Zero-fuss Mouse + Keyboard + Homeworld Deserts of Kharak. That would make me curious.

    Basically it goes like this:
    Turn the XBox One into an affordable zero-fuss gaming PC and I'm in.

    Since that's not happening because it would directly canibalise MSes OEM market - probably the only place they still make money selling Windows - this most probably won't happen.

    So, no, I don't think I'm getting an XBone.

    Concerning consoles in general: I see their point and I do have the last edition of the XBox 360 (my very firs

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by ET3D ( 1169851 )

      I'm not sure what you mean by zero-fuss, but MS is planning mouse + keyboard gaming support. Hopefully it will arrive this year.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by tacroy ( 813477 )
        I wouldn't purcash based on hopeful features though... They did kill OTA DVR... Still a bit annoyed about that.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AK Marc ( 707885 )
          Sony killed it first. Sony dropped PlayTV completely from PS3 to PS4. So I dropped Sony for the XBone so I'd be able to do OTA at all (without having to buy a separate DBV-T decoder, which I don't currently have). Since PS3 had a DVr, MS promised one, but when Sony didn't deliver an OTA at all, MS stopped focusing on competing with the missing feature. MS already beats Sony for TV features, so no need to try harder.
  • Personally I have found there is a dearth of interesting games on all of the current generation systems. Definitely does not live up to previous generations
  • It would really help the X1 in my eyes if they focused more effort on making XBLA-exclusives backwards compatible. As it is, they tend to go for "big" titles, which are also available on the PC, which does kind of hurt it in my eyes. As it is, my X1 is mainly a Halo box.

  • I should have sold my XBone as soon as I got it for free from the Microsoft Build Conference. Instead, it accumulated dust for years under the idea that "ooh, I can use the Kinect 2 as a 3D scanner!" And my kids can play Kinect games in a few years! Turns out, nobody supports Kinect 2 as a 3D scanner because it is inferior to the Kinect 1. And they never made any decent games for it. Even new, the writing was on the wall: I couldn't even trade-in my new-in-box $500 XBOX for a used $300 Wii. GameStop j

  • It listens to everything you and your family are saying, all the time. Then Microsoft reports to the murderers at NSA. Even if you "have nothing to hide", on principle alone, you should refuse to buy this kind of product.
    Plus, if you have kids, you never know if they are not going to do some good deed, worth of punishment. If they say something "wrong", the FBI might send someone to turn them into "terrorists", entrap and arrest them.

    Eric and "Anna" [theintercept.com] is a short about one "eco-terrorist" made by the FBI.

    Years after McDavid's conviction, the FBI released thousands of pages of FOIA requested documents not disclosed at trial (...)
    In January 2015, after serving nearly half of his 20 year sentence, Eric McDavid was released from prison. As a condition of his release, he waived his right to sue the government for any wrongdoing in his case.

    Would

  • Not even if they pay me.

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