[RUMOR] Paul Thurrott: Xbox 720 is expensive: $500 or $300 for sub model, 5/21 Unveil

I think it's a bit far-fetched to say that people are leaving home consoles behind for gaming on mobile phones and tablets. Microsoft and Sony haven't released a new system since 2005 and 2006 respectively. Hardware sales may seem like they're on the decline since everyone who wanted a home console has already brought one by now. Also, in terms of quality, mobile devices are a long way off from matching the games that comes on a home console. To me, it's like comparing apples to oranges at this point.

It's not far-fetched at all. Hardware and software sales in the industry have been down for the third consecutive year. Meanwhile whatever growth the gaming industry has seen was largely limited to the mobile/indie games sector.

You're vastly underestimating just how popular smartphones and tablets are as gadgets these days. They are what consoles were back in the mid 90s/early 2000s.

Both companies want to make their consoles multimedia devices. Matching the price points of far more popular platforms is a stupid move.
 
Ok, so mandatory kinect, online only, maybe no used games, less powerful than PS4 and $499?

At this point, I thank we can pretty much assume that anyone on here who claims they would buy this over the competing platforms is a viral marketer.

And it's also going to be easy to see who of the so called gaming journalists are shills.
 
Which would add $100 to the price, it sounds like they don't have a screen in the controller and weaker tech, so it should be about even with PS4, still not seeing why it's gonna be $100 more expensive!

Sony doesn't have a screen in the controller either, it's a touchpad. From my understanding of the current hardware rumors, Microsoft have gone with lower end parts with a large, slower RAM pool to integrate the OS features they want. Because of that, they had to customize more for efficiency and went with eSRAM embedded in the GPU to aid with bandwidth problems but that's very expensive and complex to manufacture.
 
I'm not sure Sony is in the position to eat losses of $50+ on its console, although they could try to offset this (partially) by screwing European consumers again.

Assuming they would get a loss? It seems having the hardware produced by AMD will be a huge cost saving.
 
Sony doesn't have a screen in the controller either, it's a touchpad. From my understanding of the current hardware rumors, Microsoft have gone with lower end parts with a large, slower RAM pool to integrate the OS features they want. Because of that, they had to customize more for efficiency and went with eSRAM embedded in the GPU to aid with bandwidth problems but that's very expensive and complex to manufacture.

Pardon my ignorance, but what are the implications of using eSRAM for games in particular?
 
Which would add $100 to the price, it sounds like they don't have a screen in the controller and weaker tech, so it should be about even with PS4, still not seeing why it's gonna be $100 more expensive!

The first Kinect was $150, so I don't see why a more powerful version would cost less.
 
15 bucks x 24 months = 360 bucks

360 bucks + 300 bucks (console) = 660 dollars!!!

Pretty cheap... right...

PS4: 500 (I'm guessing) + PS Plus (100 dollars for 2 years)

Total: 600 dollars... and for a best machine and a really best service.
For people who are dead set on having a "Gold" subscription it might be cheaper in the long run. Bad analogy incoming but you can kind of look at it as rent-to-own with monthly sub payments. :P
 
How reliable is this guy?

Very.

He also isn't a shill. He calls out MS if he ever sees anything dumb. If Thurrott thinks we're making a mountain out of a mole hill about the supposed online requirement, I'm going to take note. Hell, I use Netflix and Spotify every day and they are both "always online". Can't wait for the unveiling of this.
 
From what? The Durango and PS4 specs are almost identical aside from memory type (PS4) and dual APUs (Durango). There is no way Kinect 2 is $100.

Dual APU's.. I lolled.

(That isn't happening)
 
i love how every single bit of rumored news on 720 is negative. add this new price point rumor to the growing list of things to complain about before we actually know anything
- $500!?
- GDDR3
- comparatively weak gpu
- monthly live fees
- always online
- no used games
- kinect 2.0
- kinect required to be on at all times
- direction (new execs not being OG xbox execs)

did i miss any?


-several CPU cores reserved for non-gaming applications.
-3GB ddr3 reserved for OS/windows 8
 
i've lost it if people buy this.

Then lose it, because I'm buying it. I don't allow groups to make my decisions for me. I make my own decisions. People will decide they don't want to buy this, and that's their business. However, I must have the next Xbox. However, I also must have the next Playstation. And I will have them both.

It's as simple as that.
 
Pardon my ignorance, but what are the implications of using eSRAM for games in particular?

It helps alleviate the bandwidth issues the Durango may run into. It's much faster than the DDR3 of the main memory pool, and from what we've heard from leaks the whole console is designed to mitigate this flaw.
 
Alright. Mandatory internet connection. Mandatory Kinect. No used games. Very expensive. Less powerful than PS4.

amn36.gif
It is looking worse and worse, depending on the veracity of each individual rumor. Don't underestimate Sony's ability to screw things up on pricing though. If they want to put themselves in a good position, have a $399 unit readily available at launch. Hurry up and get here, June!
 
Microsoft must not think much of their customers' intelligences...

EDIT: Wasn't the whole dual-APU Durango thing just a late April Fool's joke? Not sure why people are putting so much stock into that...
 
Can they PLEASE reveal the machine already so I can see if it has even a single advantage over PS4 ;(

The late reveal of Nextbox annoys me way more than it should.
 
Dual APU's.. I lolled.

(That isn't happening)

It's just the latest thing we've heard about the Durango. After hearing it has 3GB and some cores reserved for OS activities, it'd make sense if it had another processor dedicated solely for non-gaming tasks.

That would explain the higher price. Of course, it would also have a higher TDP and be harder to cool.
 
Maybe the are going to include software licenses for stuff like Office?

To justify the high price point. Otherwise I have no idea how they think this thing would sell.
 
I'm wondering if MS will bring their announcements forward. They simply can't afford to let a month and a half of bad press to circulate at this stage.

Yeah, and who knows what horrible news will come out in the next month and a half?
 
Where is the evidence that Epic is making an exclusive game? I've seen people (you?) say this before and I have not seen anything.
In the "4 new IPs" thread, one of the job listings was for someone to manage a project from Epic. Don't have the link at the moment, as I'm on my phone. Unless I'm remembering wrong, but I'm pretty sure it's in there.
 
For people who are dead set on having a "Gold" subscription it might be cheaper in the long run. Bad analogy incoming but you can kind of look at it as rent-to-own with monthly sub payments. :P

If you want to pay monthly, go and buy the console with your credit card, period.
 
Realistically, there is no way even a quarter of this stuff is true. No one their right mind would sign off on releasing a weaker $500 console saddled with PR shit storms like required internet, no used/rentals, and mandatory Skynet.
 
Then lose it, because I'm buying it. I don't allow groups to make my decisions for me. I make my own decisions. People will decide they don't want to buy this, and that's their business. However, I must have the next Xbox. However, I also must have the next Playstation. And I will have them both.

It's as simple as that.

EA loves people like you...
 
It's just the latest thing we've heard about the Durango. After hearing it has 3GB and some cores reserved for OS activities, it'd make sense if it had another processor dedicated solely for non-gaming tasks.

That would explain the higher price. Of course, it would also have a higher TDP and be harder to cool.

It's not going to use a whole APU (CPU/GPU combo on one chip) for non gaming activities.

It will however, probably have something like an ARM core for that, similar to the PS4.

But that doesn't make it Dual APU, not even close. - Dual APU isn't a design that even makes sense.
 
I'm excited for the Durnago reveal because after the initial "The 360 has been great to us" section it'll be a "I'm proud to announce the Xbox (call it at you want)" and the system rises out of the floor actually showing off the way th console looks. That reveal thread will probably turn into an absolute warzone which should be very entertaining.
 
From what? The Durango and PS4 specs are almost identical aside from memory type (PS4) and dual APUs (Durango). There is no way Kinect 2 is $100.

"Almost identical" can lead to two very different R&D costs. Also, dont count on dual APU's. It aint happening.
 
Realistically, there is no way even a quarter of this stuff is true. No one their right mind would sign off on releasing a weaker $500 console saddled with PR shit storms like required internet, no used/rentals, and mandatory Skynet.

You can expect that from Microsoft , specially since they want to manage the videogames market the same they do with software.
 
Out of all the stupid shit they are doing, given the stupid move of no BC, i will say its smart to set the 360 at a 99$ price and hopefully keep supporting the production of the console and dont drop it instantly like they did the first Xbox. They really need to do that as well as keep the 360 network open. I can see this happening actually in the long run.
 
It is looking worse and worse, depending on the veracity of each individual rumor. Don't underestimate Sony's ability to screw things up on pricing though. If they want to put themselves in a good position, have a $399 unit readily available at launch. Hurry up and get here, June!

If Xbox 720 is going to be $500, I think that's where PS4 will come in too

it's unfortunate, though, I think that would mean a relatively slow build up to next-gen success, which with the Wii U tanking as poorly as it is... probably is not what videogame companies are hoping for. Just chuck the EyeToy and Kinect, new systems, the shit tech isn't worth the added price
 
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