Price promotions are an industry staple, but few have got the trade talking like Microsoft’s latest offer.
The platform holder’s US stores are selling a 4GB Xbox 360 and Kinect for just $99. The catch? It comes with a two-year subscription to Xbox Live, priced at $15 per month, and an early termination fee.
This model is commonplace in other sectors: smartphone handsets are discounted or free with contracts, and media packages like Sky+ come with a free set-top box.
But it’s rarely been tried in gaming before.
The Outerhaven writes: Split/Second was the explosive arcade racing game that outshone Ridge Racer and Burnout. That is, until Disney shut it all down before a sequel could happen.
As a kid i had some heart attacks playing this game. The soundtrack right on point with those close calls. I love this game.
From the mid-1980s to the early part of the 2000s, light gun rail shooters were a staple in both arcade and home system gaming. Arguably, the genre started to really hit its stride in the mid-1990s. While games like Time Crisis, Virtual Cop, and House of the Dead, among others, dominated both the home system and arcade space, some one relegated to only home game systems. Today, we’ll be talking about a little-known cult game published by Sony called Project: Horned Owl. This game was developed by Alfa Systems, and all in all, this is a fun game.
Just like you don’t ask a woman her age, you don’t ask a Final Fantasy fan how many games there are in total.
I don't quiet get who it's directed at. General player? Sure, I can believe them not knowing some of the less popular final fantasy games. But final fantasy FANS? There is nothing forgotten about these games.
It's sort of happening now with mobile phones and Ps3's/Wii's etc In the package...Or even Brighthouse style contracts...though I wouldn't personal do this ish
I can see this as a win win in some sorts. It means a company like Microsoft can go all out on the specs of their next console and have customers pay the premium price through contractual obligations, which would bring the initial investment of the customer, down to something more feasible. If not, then I suspect next-gen hardware won't be as advanced as some would hope.
If you think about it all the successful products out there are on contracts with monthly payments.(Cell Phones and Cars...etc)
I wouldn't be surprised if this occurs. Think about it. It is great to advertise at a seemingly low price and it is very successful in the mobile market. We will see if it is implemented and more importantly how (really expensive/hidden costs) to see if it is actually beneficial.
Remember this. Software is where these companies make most of their money. People usually buy 1-2 consoles and dozen and dozens of games. One day consoles will probably be free w/ a contract (2-5yrs) to the online subscription (just like the 360 and cell phones). They will be required to be online to play and will be disconnected from the network for non-payment. Like I said software is where they make their money, could you imagine if they had 500 million in the wild how much they would make off of a blockbuster game release. Basically the "cell phone business platform" will take over intergrating the payment of the console and the payment of the service into a monthly payment. It probably won't just be videogames that sees this business structure forced into it, the more things that become "connected" will see this happen (TV, Music, CPUs, Etc).