Sony claims Xbox 360 requires HD DVD, etc., thus costs $700

Ok, here's a new one: with Sony's announcements today they've issued a titled "Next-generation Console Comparison Fact Sheet," (downloadable here [DOC]) so let's see some facts. First up, were you aware that to use your Xbox 360 Core system you're required to buy the 20GB drive add-on, an HD DVD drive, a wireless controller, and an Xbox Live sub? We weren't either. But hey, it says right there, "requires users to buy" and this is, in fact, a "fact sheet." Of course, none of that's actually true, and what's more, were one to use the Xbox 360 Premium console pack in that chart instead of the Core pack, the total would be $399 for a console with that very same hard drive, wireless controller, and Xbox Live Silver subscription (which provides access to everything but multiplayer) -- remember, kids, an HD DVD drive is not required to do anything but watch high def movies -- it has nothing to do with high def gaming. We hear Microsoft ain't too happy about this chart either and is preparing certain legal action, namely because it could be misleading to otherwise unwitting retail employees selling customers game consoles this holiday season. Go figure.

[original seed]

No wonder Sony Fanboys are the way they are. They learn it from Sony. Good job on twisting the truth. Ha ha ha. This Sh!t is funny

[Capt CHAOS]

You are not required to buy a HD DVD, I don't give a damn about HD-DVD or BLURAY, DVD is fine for me...

[drewdrakes]

Someones going to get sued, mainly Sony.

[shortyNZ]

sony is really clutching at straws, in my opinion the facts are sony has a huge ugly outdated looking console, cr@p controlers with stoopid inbuilt batteries, only a couple of half way decend but over hyped launch games, a online service that will try to copy xbox live but probalby be rubbish, no real pulling power as far as 3rd party games go, tacked on motion controll that developers probably wont bother using, and who knows what problems will arise when the console actually comes out. i could buy a ps3 despite all the things that i have grown to hate about sony, but at the end of the day t isnt worth paying that for a console that doesnt have half the games i want, microsoft delivers games by buying the publishng rites to all the best games and secureing deals with top companies such as rare and epic, and considering i went through 3 ps1 consoles and im now on my 3rd ps2 because they allways cr@p out...fact is ps3 has to really prove itself before i would ever consider putting my trust in the sony brand again!

[Sdr Norway]

This just shows how desperate sony is, when they feel that they got to pull something stupid stunt like this, just a month before the release

[icdedppl]

wow, more filth from the mouths of the fanboys. this whole story is opinionated! to me, it looks like they are showing that if you were to compare, as close as you could, apples to apples, this is what you would have to pay. how are you seeing it any other way unless you are seeing it through you blind, fanboy eyes?

[specialguest]

hey...MS is known to skew the truth too. the 3 gaming consoles are at war right now, and everything is fair if it means sales. if it's something really outrages, then let the law handle it. video game companies fighting dirty is all good, cus it's only video games. politicians fighting dirty is a totally different story, cus the lies effect real people and society.

[ApocalypseShadow]

the way i read it is sony is saying in order to equal what sony has in the box,you have to BUY all these separate things.it's plain as day!sony's core:20 gig hard drive.360 core:to equal it you need to spend $100 dollars.in order to have multiplayer online you have to BUY it for $50 more.sony's online is FREE.in order to watch hd movies..well duh,you have to BUY the hd-dvd player for $200 more.the core 360 doesn't come with a wireless controller.you have to BUY that too.you don't have to buy any of it.but then it would mean sony is giving you more value by INCLUDING EVERYTHING IN BOTH SKUs.

[xbox360migs]

Xbox 360 premium pack as well, which gives the consumer more value. sony can not just compare it's core to the 360 core, that's just ridiculous. the whole point of the premium 360 is that you save a little but the core is there for sub £200 for people with not enough cash. I openley hate sony for it's countless underhand tactics going back to the sega days, I respect microsoft for it's openess to it's 360 consumers. I know who i'd rather spend my hard earned cash with. sue sony the bar-stewards.

[shoota33]

How dum can xbox fanboys get i mean seriously.

[Thugbot187]

In a war it’s good to have someone that will blindly follow and take bullets for you. Sony thanks you for blind loyalty and your dedication to spread the propaganda in these dark times. We will be passing around the Kool Aid later please drink up.

[Sdr Norway]

Im not a fanboy in any way, Im just saying that so many people in this business is trying to make others look bad, in order to make themselves look better. And yes, that goes for microsoft too. It seems that the only "nice guys" is nintendo, they dont really care what the other two is up to, at least not in that extend

[UrbanJabroni]

Dear Microsoft,

Please sue Sony as soon as possible. This is the sort of behavior that the Sony name has become synonymous with and I for one am sick of it.

These sort of underhanded tactics that Sony continues to use absolutely hurt the industry as a whole and I am fed up with it.

[no_more_heroes]

Which is why both formats and the tv requied for them are doing so horribly. So, take away the HD-DVD drive. Now, scrap the Core, get the premium and get XBL gold for $34.99. There you go - $435. That's what I plan to do anyway - pay for stuff that I'll actually use [why did you do this to me Sony?) :(

[zypher]

throw in wireless internet (some people actually need that) and you're talking $535 for the premium 360. the core (CORE) PS3 does the exact same thing, plus it has Blu-ray and HDMI, and it's only $500. for an additional $100 you can get 40 extra gigs of hard-drive space; i wonder how much Microsoft will be charging for that 100 gig HD they just announced? furthermore, how is this article misleading? requires means that to equal what the PS3 is offering, you're REQUIRED to spend that much money for the extra accessories for the 360. obviously you don't have to purchase all that stuff if you don't want to (not even the 20 gig HD for the core 360, though i'm not sure how you'd save games without it, so in a sense you DO have to purchase that at least); but that wasn't the point of the comparrison. you don't have to buy all that extra stuff for the core system true; thats why they call the 360's core system the tard system, because 90% of you know that you'd prefer all that stuff (such as wireless controllers, a hard-drive, etc.) you're paying $100 extra for. thats why i never understood the necessity to call the PS3's core system the tard system, because save for flash-ports and a 66% smaller hard-drive, you're getting the exact same thing. thats not the case with the 360, hence the article listing those things as requirements.

[eques judicii]

the core ps3 does not have wifi, please be careful with you what you say:

http://www.us.playstation.c...

[zypher]

oh, my bad. i forgot about that. so, thats $535 for the premium 360 + wireless internet; compared to the $600 PS3 with everything-premium-360, plus HDMI, Blu-ray and 66% more hard-drive space. thats still a comparable price for both, especially since one offers more storage space both optically and hardware-wise. or, i guess you can opt not to buy the wireless adaptor for the 360 and just rearrange your set-up so that you're PC and 360 are close enough together to where they can connect. if you do that, then yes, the premium 360 is $100 cheaper than the core PS3 (yep, i said core, because they both offer the exact same thing).

i just think all this is funny. most of the time when fanboys slam Sony they have just casue. this time is not one of them. Sony list everything you get with their product compared to what you get with the competition, they add how much extra it would cost if you opted to get the extra accessories with the competition product, and everyone's crying foul because of the word "required"? yes, if you want those extra 360 accessories to equate to the PS3, you are "required" to pay extra money for them. you can just as easily opt not to buy all that extra stuff. but at the very least one of those things are mandetory for 360 gaming, at least on the core system; $100 for the 20 gig HD.

[Islandkiwi]

If you take away the "Requires user to buy", then this would be an almost acceptable chart...because it would simply be a comparison of features.

You put in "requires users to buy", it makes it look like you're buying a broken console.

I understand what you're saying, but I don't agree with you at all. That line was inserted to confuse and mislead people, there's no other reason for it to be there.

[Thugbot187]

Zypher it comes down to Common Sense but it doesn’t seem that common among many people. Most of us that have an Xbox 360 wouldn’t recommend the core to anyone, and if you ask most of us they will tell you the Core was a bad idea from Microsoft. The only reason it was a bad idea is because it doesn’t have a hard drive in it. As for a wireless and a wired control, both have there benefits I will tell you I have both because sometimes I just forget to charge the control. Not only that if you aren’t playing on a huge TV it gets really hard to read the screen from across the room. Let’s face it most of us anyway are going to buy a second control, and buy default the controller you don’t like goes to the guest that come over to play on the console with you.

As for HD Movies I don’t care and most of us are happy with DVD. Lets face it there are more movies available on DVD then both HD DVD and BLU-RAY formats. My 360 plays the over 300 movies I have just fine, I don’t need a HD DVD player and don’t want one. You can compare a product Sony has forced you to have. The question is can I play games on my 360 with out the drive and the answer is YES. Can I play games on the PS3 without a BLU-RAY drive the answer is NO but then again I don’t have a choice.

Next Wireless, is for those of us who don’t have wired solutions. Wireless is much slower than wired and is subject to interference from surrounding devices. So please tell me why I would want it.

Finally anyway you slice it just buy the 360 for $399. If somehow you didn’t read this at least you can upgrade. With the PS3 your stuck with the core if you get one, so don’t choice the wrong PS3 when you buy it.

[THELANDSOFSAND]

certain legal action!

[BIadestarX]

wow, I am amazed that they didn't add 3 controllers, 2 hard drives, and 10 years xbox live membership. Sony fanboys are always acusing microsoft of being desperate... but what would you call, having to lie to confuse consumers. Come on sony you already have loyal fanboys, there no need to do this.

[Marriot VP]

plus they left out the read speed on the BR drive but still put 12x DVD for the 360.

[crazyman]

They missed off the conroller a year for the PS3

[TheMART]

SONY SHOULD STOP TALKING AND START DELIVERING!

The only thing they delivered up till now was a great PS1, a lied about PS2 with an emotion engine that didn't work and a total bull online great system and we've heard so many promisses and lies this time

BRING IT ON

Gears will defeat anything in it's way

[bilal]

that top gamer & 360 fanboys used an article at ign BY MICROSOFT more than 1billion times (and most of what it said was complete piece of sh*t) but when sony says sometething which is very factual....u all 360 fanboys start jumping.

TheMart

i hope gears is so good that, for sometime ur c*nt hole of a mouth just remain shut

[malachi23]

Ok the 360 DOES'NT REQUIRE a wireless control pad as it comes with one....and it's not "Required" to buy the HD-DVD either!

SONY IS SOOO FULL OF SH()T!

[Arkham]

Did you fail English? You've completely misinterpreted what they were saying.

[peksi]

This kinda crap flys both ways so stop being so hippocrate xbox fans. They both try to look good and throw dirt on top of each other. Reminds me of US presidency campaign.. greets to Bush.

[super bill]

the way i see it.its up to the consumer which console he of she will buy.sony and microsoft are bad as one another.

[badkolo]

As sneaky as this stunt sony are pulling is, the fact remains, im a xbox man but I have been saying for weeks that the 360 is basicaly more expensive then the ps3.
No matter how you look at it you get more for your money with the ps3, yes I know you can buy a core 360 for 299 and a premium for 399 and you dont need a hd-dvd drive or wifi but for the 600 you get a lot more on the ps3 plus all that stuff you might not want or need and alot more HD space. But if you even buy a premium at 399 and wanted to have the choice of adding wifi and HD-dvd it comes outt o more then 100 bucks more for the 360 package, 199 for HDdvd and 100 for wireless so thats 700 bucks, plus you still only have 20 gigs while the ps3 has 40 more gigs plus amulti card reader and free online(( if it sucks or not)).
So while I like the fact that MS gives us the option to choose and add things later and being able to play nex gen games for 299 with a core, you still would need a memory card to save the game. So i agree ps3 did the smart move and include everything in one package.

In the end this will be the 360's downfall, people will want the all in one wonder ps3 and it will be pushed as more of a high tech machine versus the clunky 360 with a hdvd sticking to the side minus the HD space and other features.

Ms should respond with commercials showing bundels at 299 and 399 and showing the price in the commercial. They also need to drasticaly reduce the price of the hard drive, its 20 gigs and for the love of god is not worth 100 bucks, it should be 39 bucks so every core owner buys it, the wifi costs 99 bucks, why? it needs to be 39 bucks as well, its not that expensive.

[badkolo]

If this chart hits some retail chains and game stores then I truly beleave MS is done for, this is a crushing blow cause the basic consumer will see this and think twice about a 360 and go for the all in one and cheaper ps3.(( according ot the chart)).

[bluebrad1974]

I hope that people realize how devastating this "fact sheet" could actually be. Think of all the elderly electronics employees at Wal-Mart that would be totally confused and in turn pass that confusion onto casual consumers. I personally hope that Sony has to pay for their deceitful business ethics this time.

[Dante1]

Go Sony, go sony, go sony, master of disaster hahahaha, Sony is the best and if you can't see that, then you can't see sony, it will be so funny when they need the HD-DVD player to play games, they will be done for then, lol it's ok for MS to sprad sh~*t, but not Sony, just the same thing on this site more or less!

[badkolo]

But when the 2 consoles are side by side at retailers and the 360 is there with the hd dvd add on by its side it will look so dorky when compared to the ps3 .
Plus employess will say look how silent the ps3 is and the 360 sounds like a car engine and then they will also point out the fact that the 360 has a brick shaped power brick and the ps3 has none. the more i think about it the more I beleave the 360 is done for. Besides gow and halo3 theres not much else that will sell systems, especially with the ps3 on its tail.

[Islandkiwi]

You mean the 360 is...done for? Because they offer a less expensive console, and a choice of accessories? People won't buy it because there's a power brick that you never see anyway?

You're just being ridiculous. It's like saying people won't buy the Wii because it doesn't play movies. Well, guess what; they're game consoles.

[Hayabusa 117]

For the love of God, the majority of gamers don't need all that extra stuff! Why can't some of you get that? That's why the 360 has everything seperate. Ofcourse it's going to more expensive, EVERYTHING that is either packaged together or built in will cost less. MS give you flexibility, Sony give you value, but you don't need all that extra stuff for the 360, most people won't be getting ALL the extra add ons.
And what about all those n00bs who walk into a game shop and want an all-in-one wonder PS3?
WiFi! lol
Blu-Ray! lol
60gig Hard Drive! lol
Free online! lol
$599.99! lol!
"I think I'll get a 360 instead..."
Yes Microsoft talks bullshit, Sony talks bullshit x 12.
I hope Microsoft do take action and sue Sony. Maybe (just maybe) it'll teach Sony to shut their fuking mouths up. 90% of the PS3's criticisms are because of Sony not keeping their trap shut. SHUT UP AND MAKE YOUR DAMN CONSOLE!

And the PS fanboys think MS fanboy's are deseperate...just take a look at your beloved Sony.

[badkolo]

WiFi! lol

Blu-Ray! lol

60gig Hard Drive! lol

Free online! lol

$599.99! lol!

all in one and thats why it will win. Yeah we have choice with the 360 but in the end that will be its downfall. Add-ons dont sell well and never have. plus the 360 dont look that cool no more with that hd dvd drive next to it. looks kinda lame especially when trying to show it off and everyone knows the ps3 has theres included.

[Nodoze]

I didn't see anything in the Sony article about the purchase of the cabling since the don't BOX IT IN.

HDMI Cables - Sold Seperately
Componenet Cables- Sold Seperately

Oh and one more thing. Get ready to replace your beloved SixAxis(666) controller. The ingenious minds at Sony built the battery into the controller. When those go, the controller goes. Before any fan boy spouts about that one, just take a gander at the recent press Sony has received in regards to Batteries.

I would be worried if I were you.

PS3-699.99
Cables-29.99
Having to replace the 666 controller every year = priceless

[lalaland]

The PS3 ships with the same cable connections as the X360 Core which they compared it to...

And regarding the batteries in the controller, with a 30 hour play time between recharges and 1000 charge cycles in a normal lithium-ion battery, that would be a lifetime of approx. 19 years if you play 30 hours a week every single week...

Do you really play that much? If so, then you should sincerely consider to go out some more...

[scriptkiddie]

how is it more value for my money to me, if i pay for things i do not need, such as HD movies, and wireless network. I think it is more value to save the $200.00. Glad microsoft gives me a choice. I repeat i have no interest in ever watching a movie, or even a HD movie on my console, and i am glad i was able to save the money. Since XBOX 1 i have never once watched a DVD movie on my console. That's what my 400 disk dvd changer is for.

[lalaland]

If you've got a 400 disc DVD-changer, you would surely not worry to much about $200 extra. What a waste of money...

I guess you don't play online either? Or if you do, you won't consider playing online for more than a year? Or do you expect your X360 to break down within your first year of ownership?

Maybe you should just spend your $200 saved on online gaming on your X360 for the next 4 years... MS will abandon your console by then anyways, just as they did with the Xbox...

[EVER OLVERA]

I was just over at the Xbox.com forums and I came across this same thread. Well, it seams that MS legal team is going to sue Sony for their comparison chart. It seems that Sony got itself into a heap of trouble...

[Hayabusa 117]

badkoko, did you or did you not read my post? Most people won't be getting all the extra crap, they mainly want a games console. Yes, if the PS3 was $400, it's a different case, because you're getting extra stuff, compared at the same price. But it's not, and the price will put alot of people off the PS3, because they don't care about Blu-ray, and don't want to pay extra for soemthing they're not going to use. Some will want all the added stuff, but not everyone. Yes, add-ons don't sell well, but the 360 is not an add on: the HD DVD, Wifi e.t.c. are add ons.

And I have never been to any retail store where the employee says "Hey, look at the power pack! Look at how rubbish this add on looks! Listen to how noisy this one is!"

If anything, they'll prefer to sell the 360 with all the add-ons, as it's more money for retailers. :)

[badkolo]

And i agree but mindless drones dont. i was playing the other side of the fence with my posts.

[Funky Town_TX]

You save money when you go to Sam's club. But if you don't have $10 for a gallon of mayo then you don't have it. Sure it will cost you more to buy a gallon at 1 pint increments, but ppl have budgets. Any fool can see this, and I hope ppl understand this in a way. For Sony to say required is BS.

[xbox360migs]

It's a total mis-use of words and they should be punished. totally unfair! I don't want to buy sony since they screwed the sega saturn and nearly killed nintendo, I wish they would putting it politely Go away! Sue them!

[THWIP]

It's just Sony being Sony again, desperately trying to discredit their competitor's product, rather than fix what's wrong with their own.

Sony....lower the price of your system, and you win this battle. PERIOD. All other tactics are futile, and only serve to make you look bad (worse) in the public eye.

[Liverpool4ever]

Sony aint being Sony...
Sony is being Fony :o)

[OminaeYu]

Thing is is the 360 was built for now with all the possibilities of 2mrw and the ps3 was purely built with 2mrw in mind. in ruff 90% of the world don't have a setup that can even show hd movies so wots the point in charging so much for extra kit that you won't be able to use for maybe 2 or 3 years so MS was smart to break it all up. sure if you add it all up it make the ps3 look like better value but it means the consumer pays less NOW!! which is wot counts the most and when HD become the standard they can easily go out and upgrade for wot seems like a really low price. since MS did this there product will always look infinately more affordable than the ps3 and as for xbox live being so expensive on average how much money do u spend in 1 day people think about it....in the uk thats about £20. xbox live costs in the uk about 80p a day probably less. thats about the same price as a bar of chocolate and you get a service of the highest standards. wot more do u need to make u happy.

[0ldb0y]

Even if Sony's "facts" were true, they don't mention the "required" waiting time to get your hands on a PS3, which is indefinite.

[xbox360migs]

Sony have also left off the fact that the Xbox 360 uses a Dual band 5 ghz A / + (B and G)wireless network adapter which is superior to just 811/b, and this helps the 360 perform over a wireless network with a higher bandwidth which is needed to stream live tv and video plus music etc properley when the Xbox 360 is used as a media center extender which I think i'm right in saying sony left that info out too.

[Nodoze]

Wireless b is so 5 years ago. If the PS3 is sooo advanced, why would they 'include' the lowest speed wireless connectivity? I can tell you why, so that when they make marketing charts they can place a bullet point in their column. I am using a wireless g adapter with my 360, and am able to stream most movies from media center with the rare exception being some of the high res HD content. With wireless A I could do this.

With Sony you are FORCED to use wireless b, with no OPTION to buy better technology (wireless G, and A).

How do you like them apples FANBOYZ?

[DJ]

They're not expensive and hook up through usb ports on the PS3. The PS3 has Gigabit Ethernet while 360 has...well, normal ethernet which is 1/10th the speed of Gigabit. How do you like them apples?

[lalaland]

And there you were stating the exact same rubbish.

The "a" and "b" variants are from 1999 and use the bands you've stated. The "g" (from 2003) and "a" variants are in principle equally as fast, but because the "a" variant is in the 5GHz spectrum, it is almost entirely restricted to line of sight.

That is why the "g" standard today is the standard.

And btw, the PS3 allows for both a/b/g wifi networks... go look it up!

[Dusk]

Sony has made a big mistake with this one. You can't legally publish false information about a competitor. Sony will get sued and seeing as Microsoft's legal team fought off the U.S. government, I think Sony's in some trouble.

[Arkham]

"Required to buy" only means that in order to have that comparable system, with those features, you have to buy add-ons. You're all reading out of context.

[FKN Unbelievable]

extra Wireless Controllers is a Luxury.
HD-DVD is a Luxury.
Vison Cam is a Luxury.
Hard Drive is Neccesary. (But it comes with the Premium along with headset and Limited edition DVD Remotes with HDMI cables)
You could enjoy your games offline but to go on online is 39.99 for a Subscription fee.
No matter what PS3 is more expensive straight out the box Regardless. After buying a Core PS3 system to piece the sh1t together to a Premium is going to cost funds no matter what. Don't try to take up Sony on this one they Fu(ked up Bad nd you look like assholes try to defend soomething that's guilty plain as day. You Fanboy's Need to Get the Fu(k on with that Bullsh1t.

[lalaland]

That is spectacular, since no HDMI cable for X360 has been announced at this point in time... Where exactly did you get that?

And actually online is $50 a year... Are you only gonna play online for one year?

So with 1 year online and a harddrive, the total price of X360 is $450 -- that is just a $50 price difference to the comparable basic PS3. And for those extra bucks you get a highdef movieplayer, rechargeable batteries in your controllers and free online for the rest of the consoles lifetime...

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

Good god only one system is out the other two aren’t even out to compare physically but everyone are experts because of the hype. Guess what guys the starting pistol just went off still 500 more laps to go the other two cars have yet to come to the line.