200°

Does Heavy Discounting of Xbox Spring Bundle Mean New Console Announcement on the Way?

While rumors about Xbox 360 Slim are still just rumors we can at least say that Microsoft is actively trying to sell as many old Xbox 360s as possible, possibly in preparation for announcement of a new console. For example, even the brand new 2010 Xbox 360 Spring Bundle with Forza 3 and Halo 3 ODST is already being offered with $50 gift card at both Amazon and Best Buy. The older bundles, even with far inferior games, took much longer time in order to get discounted. Maybe the big announcement is not too far way?

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dealprodigy.com
GR8 15142d ago

It's all good in the end consumer wins by purchasing a xbox360 High Definition Console for a low price even the poor ps3 owners could afford to jump in now.

rucky5142d ago

Right now, I rather just buy more PS3 games.

-Alpha5142d ago

Here in Canada Arcade's were cut to $120 for about a week and a half.

With the rumors about a Slim (despite no solid evidence) it's quite possible that there is at least a price drop coming. If a price drop does come then alongside Halo Reach Microsoft is set to see a huge sales boost. I will definitely get a 360 this summer if a price drop is going to happen. For now I can't justify dropping another $400 for a console (Console + Online + Halo + Taxes= too much for me).

Rockox5142d ago

I know two people who bought 360s because of that price drop in Canada. I have no doubt MS was clearing out old stock and that there's a new something on the way (the Valhalla chip is still MIA).

megax85142d ago

Agree. Maybe it just Halo Reach but MS id definitely gearing up for something with these new incentives and bundles

FragGen5142d ago

If they have a slim they would have to change their retarded HDD setup/form factor if that's the case. Maybe they'll make it user upgradeable finally.

Hopefully it'll have a fan, too. ;)

Therealspy17765142d ago

a real news article on n4g. never thought i'd see the day. anyone else see the difference? this journalist took factual evidence and made reasonable speculation based on that evidence.

anyway, seems likely that they're going to announce a new sku of some kind. then again, with Halo Reach on the way, and the massive profits bound to follow, it would make sense that MS would want to dramatically increase the install base. could be both. E3 isn't far off.

-Alpha5142d ago

Oh, upgradeable HDDs do exist-- they are just controlled by MS and are ridiculously priced. I almost flipped out once I realized that a 60 GB starter pack with a cheap headset was going to cost me $108.

I was going to take the Arcade deal, but the stores I went to had them all sold out. I think I'm better off waiting for this impending announcement. MS definitely has a sales trick up their sleeve.

OpenGL5142d ago (Edited 5142d ago )

Yeah, it is a shame too. I already have a 120GB hard drive on my Elite so I'm not exactly pressed for space, but I recently purchased a 500GB 7200RPM drive to replace the old 200GB in my PS3 for only $90 shipped. It makes me hope that Microsoft will eventually follow suit and allow users to install any 3rd party SATA hard drive.

Convas5142d ago

and I've used less than 30 percent of the available space on it. Regardless, if these Xbox 360 Lite (Let's not set the Sony Phans off)/Reduced Pricing Plans/Natal Bundles, then I'll definitely upgrade!

Can't wait for E3. It's a good year to be a gamer!

Anon19745141d ago (Edited 5141d ago )

Who knows what's really going on. Could be a slim 360, might just be slapping a bigger hard drive on. Time will tell. Looking at their financials though there hasn't been the surge in spending in the Entertainment Division that would indicate that they've been developing new hardware. If anything, they laid off thousands in the Xbox division and slashed their marketing spending by almost $100 million. From their quarterly updates, they seem to be gearing the Xbox division down a bit, not ramping things up. When Sony was working on the PS3 slim we saw the drain on the financial statements, heard about the big part orders. This isn't happening with Microsoft at the moment.

DemiT5141d ago (Edited 5141d ago )

There is no real solid evidence that there is a xbox slim being released.

However, as I recall, the ps3 had substantial pricedrops and shortages on its fat sku, before we saw the slim release.
If we start seeing clearance sales and shortages of existing 360 skus, then the rumor of a slim 360 may hold water, especially if those clearance sales appear near the release of Project Natal.

The introduction of a xbox slim would be a smart move by MS that could once again shift the worldwide sales balance in favour of the 360.

AAACE55141d ago

You know, i've been doing a lot of thinking about how this gen has been going and came up with some ideas that some might not agree with but could still be possible.

It seems like MS, Sony and Nindendo are training us to get the most up to date versions of their products. Every time a bigger HDD comes out, we go out and get a new console (well, some of us anyway).

Anyway, thinking about that and the fact that MS said the 360 will be around for a while makes me wonder if a PC or DS type of situation is about to occur.

Look at it this way... MS could release an Xbox 360 slim with 1 Gb of RAM and a Blu-ray drive installed and it wouldn't interfere with the way things are done too much. You would still be able to play your old and some future games and that would give people time to upgrade by the time most of the games are on Blu-ray.

I highly doubt that would happen, but i'm just wondering how far can things go. Nintendo did it with the DSi, which was a bit more powerful than the regular DS and said that games taking advantage of the DSi's extra power and features would arrive later but I gave up on the DSi a while ago so i'll never know. Sony decided to make the Ps3 complicated to design games on so that the more developers figure it out, the better the games will look over time which will keep things fresh. You've gotta admit that Ps3 games now look much better than they did in it's first year. Just look at the difference between Uncharted 1 and 2!

Anyway, I do get a feeling they will announce a 360 slim at E3. I wonder how many weeks it will be before we see the "LEAKED" ;) pictures of the slim? If I am correct, they are pretty much on time with the leaked Ps3 situation we had last year. I bet next year we get the leaked pictures of the Nintendo Wii micro, which is basically like a portable CD player.

+ Show (7) more repliesLast reply 5141d ago
ASSASSYN 36o5142d ago

I hope a new console is on the way!

-MD-5142d ago

I'm really hoping those 360 slim/price drop rumors are true.

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70°

From Halo 3: ODST to Slay the Spire - the games that shaped Vellum

Alvios Games discusses the titles that inspired Vellum, including Halo 3: ODST, Mass Effect 3, Hades, and Slay the Spire.

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rogueliker.com
80°

Why 343’s next Halo Xbox game needs to be a return to ODST

With its smooth jazz and iconic New Mombasa streets, we need Xbox's next Halo game to return to the remarkable world of Halo 3: ODST.

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theloadout.com
480°

Forza Motorsport players slam devs for using 14 year old car model

Throughout its marketing campaign Forza Motorsport has been described as being “built from the ground up,” but some players are skeptical after discovering a reused car model that first appeared in Forza Motorsport 3.

Flawlessmic196d ago (Edited 196d ago )

yep been playing it all day and the newer car models look ok at best and the older models looks downright ugly and out place. im playing on pc at 4k with everything on ultra with dlls performance mode and the cars just look completey off, even the paints looks off, gt7 on ps5 shits on the car models here and its not even close, espcially paint and materials wise!!

its by no means a bad game but it is again another hype job from MS doesnt get close to living up to what it should be.

i genuinly thought this was gonna improve on GT7 in every way, when in fact at this in point after 10 hours the only thing i think is better is the standing start races as opposed to gt7s god awful chase the rabbit races starting 25 seconds behind.

the fuel and pit stop additions to forza are just surface level additions so they could say hey we did it, i am yet to see a meaningful incorporation of either one and the systems that would facilitate it being genuine are not there.

I cant control my power to fuel ratio during the race like i can in gt7, there is no timing hud for the whole grid, so i dont know how far ahead or behind i am or when drivers are pitting so i could plan my strategy, not that pitting is necesarry at all.

rain doesnt cause a slippery surface or aqua plaining nor does it tell you just how wet the track is like gt7 which informs you if inters or full wets are needed, no weather map, nothing.

its really just shinear version of previous forza, if you want proper sim racing where actual strategy comes in to play with longer races, with real pitt stops and having to manage your actual fuel effectively during the race then this game isnt it, go get gt7.

if you want a really simple and basic sim racer then this is for you.

majorly dissapointed, i thought this was the one game from MS that would hit all the right notes, in reality built from the ground up for next gen was a bullshit line and and its not even better than a cross gen game released a year and half ago.

MTRNYC196d ago

One big thing I feel makes GT7 so much better is that they surface mapped all the tracks so they have actual imperfections which means that sometimes the fastest path is slightly off the expected path because you have to avoid the imperfections to maintain traction.

GT7 is by far the more realistic racing game. It's kind of funny because they claim they reworked the whole driving and physics system to compete with GT Sport and Forza's not even close to as realistic as even GT Sport was and GT7 is way better than GT Sport.

Stanjara196d ago

Excellent write up.
I follow SuperGT and in the preview of the game he was not impressed with improvements.
Said it felt the same as FM7.

The whole time I was searching for ray tracing in race and it was not present.

Built from ground up my ass.

(Yes yes I know there is a performance mode and a visual mode I know)

P.s. You can choose your starting grid position. WTF is that in a sim race?

Flawlessmic196d ago (Edited 196d ago )

@mtrnyc

its all the little details, you see the track evolve in gt7 with the rubbers marks, and the marbles from the tyres start building up off the racing line on the side, you can actually see the tyre deformation when racing an f1 car for instance.

honestly, im actually shocked at how much better and more advanced gt7 is than this game, this is literally just a surface level sim racer, it would make a fantastic entry point for someone new to sim racers but my lord does it pale in comparison to gt7 where it counts

@stanjara

yep picking your starting spot is dumb AF for this type of game

dumahim196d ago

"there is no timing hud for the whole grid, so i dont know how far ahead or behind i am or when drivers are pitting so i could plan my strategy"

Wait, really? They don't have the distance or timing splits options for the HUD anymore that's been there from the start, after they add pit stops, when you'd really need something like that?

Flawlessmic196d ago

@dumahin

i will correct myself slightly just opened the game to see if it was option and you can turn it on for single player races, it was set to multiplayer only but again if the races were really gonna need it they wouldve had it set as on but no the races are like i said simple surface level sim racing.

but to answer the question correctly yes it actually does have the option, you just need to turn it on

Mr Logic196d ago

So...you're rendering at 1080p. Much wow

eagle21196d ago (Edited 196d ago )

And what about the loading times in Forza? They sure are super fast in Gran Turismo 7 (PS5). :)

outsider1624195d ago

"i genuinly thought this was gonna improve on GT7 in every way, when in fact at this in point after 10 hours the only thing i think is better is the standing start races as opposed to gt7s god awful chase the rabbit races starting 25 seconds behind."

This! I really hated this for every race it's always a running start and always last. And we all know the reason for that which is the bad ai.

195d ago
yeahokwhatever195d ago

"its by no means a bad game but it is again another hype job from MS doesn't get close to living up to what it should be" <-- Spot on. I've been playing since the second it launched and I'm a little disappointed too. You're totally right about the paint..its whacky how bad it is visually. I have pretty damn good hardware and the frame pacing is totally jacked up. I wanted a close-to-GT7 game on my PC, unfortunately Forza is the furthest from GT that its been. :-(

+ Show (7) more repliesLast reply 195d ago
isarai196d ago

Reusing assets is ok, but 14yr old model, when it's a hero model? That's just lame.

MTRNYC196d ago

“built from the ground up,”

This isn't even the oldest models, they are recycling, there is stuff dating back to the 360 in the game.

Everything is all lies with these guys.

Enjoy the battle pass and the DLC to get cars and tracks in your live service b.s. game, meanwhile we'll be getting them for free in GT7.

outsider1624195d ago

Built from ground up for the Series S most probably. I mean that's 75% of the audience right there.

Father__Merrin196d ago (Edited 196d ago )

Forza motorsport doesn't have that traditional campaign but rather just tick box races. Most reviewers are omitting this

Flawlessmic196d ago (Edited 196d ago )

i dont mind how they have done it but, theres not a whole lot of content race wise which is a let down, and the car RPG thing sucks balls.

i unlock the same things in the same order everytime and make the same upgrades in the same order everytime.

rather than being able to look at the strengths and weakness of the car im using and put my credits into upgrading the weakess im stuck upgrading parts i dont really need cause thats all i can do and by the time i do unlock what i really wanted, lo and behold the 5 race series is over and its on to a new car to rinse and repeat my unlocking and applying my upgrades

IRetrouk196d ago

I remember this being a massive negative for another game a couple gens ago👀

dumahim196d ago

On one hand, that was kind of a bigger deal since the old models didn't have an interior so it was all just a black silhouette inside. But on the other hand, they made no claims that it was built from the ground up and were clear there were premium models that did have the full interior and some without.

IRetrouk196d ago

I agree, it was jarring and not needed in my opinion, but it didn't make the game bad or worse, yet that was the impression around here at the time if you remember.

yeahokwhatever195d ago

i uh....liked the black interiors. I got the perspective without the distraction. I wish it was an option.

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