Bad economy may help the 360 this holiday
by Dustin Burg 
{ Nov 26th 2008 at 2:15PM }
The economy may be in the crapper, but for the Xbox 360 and video games in general, business goes on as usual and could potentially benefit from the economic slump.According to Microsoft and the team from Strategy Analytics, "gaming and entertainment consoles like the Xbox 360 are seen as good value, given they can entertain the whole household through Christmas and beyond," adding that "in tough economic times, home entertainment products traditionally do well." We're sure Xbox home entertainment does especially well when the entry level console (Xbox 360 Arcade) retails for less than a Nintendo Wii. Remember too, only real friends and loving family members give the gift of Xbox 360. It's a fact.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mazrael @ Nov 26th 2008 2:27PM
Well you wouldn't want to dissapoint them with a Wii would you.. give a month & it's be stored under monopoly in a cupboard (the Wii I mean)
KC @ Nov 26th 2008 2:31PM
The 360 can't entertain the household while it's on a UPS truck. Console #3 on it's way back to MS. It's one that MS just sent me 19 days ago as a replacement for my RROD Elite. Nice!
Viphid @ Nov 26th 2008 2:48PM
Too bad for you... but the last couple of times I've stopped at a GS I've noticed there were other customers purchasing the Arcade bundle. They didn't even seem to care that it had no hard drive, it was just the most affordable with the most games.
-V
Trogdor @ Nov 26th 2008 2:55PM
I've been saying this for a while, nice to hear it said by someone more official. The 360 should do very well this holiday, possibly at the expense of the much more pricey PS3.
humper @ Nov 26th 2008 3:07PM
i dont know how ps3 got into this argument. but since the economy is bad, i doubt anyone is going to spring for any gaming system. i think their money would be spent on essential things like food, bills, mortgage, car bills .. etc. Entertainment would be the last thing on their minds. Roof/Transportation > gaming.
Jake @ Nov 26th 2008 2:55PM
3rd? try 5th!! they don't know if they'll get it back to me in time for christmas?!?!?!
KC @ Nov 26th 2008 3:17PM
If that's the case with mine I will buy an arcade and just sell the piece of crap MS sends back to me. No way I can wait until after Christmas.
Thankfully I finished the GOW2 and COD:WAW campaigns before it died!
Jake @ Nov 26th 2008 4:44PM
well first two times they fixed no problem back in 07, then i got rrod again at the beginning of this year, came back, motherboard went faulty or something so i had to send it back straight away, then it just stopped working altogether recently
now i come to think of it it was only 4 times, but the last two times i have been charged £80 repairing, would love to buy an arcade but when you've paid for something to be fixed you don't want to splash out more money
tojfs7931 @ Nov 26th 2008 3:08PM
Come on I just cant believe that the 360 is still having all these RROD problems. I have only had to return my original launch unit and my second unit is still running fine (albiet loudly) they have pretty much fixed the RROD problem. Seems that there are a few Sony fanboy interlopers who want to spread some holiday humbug around. The 360 is ALOT cheaper than the ps3.
adummb @ Nov 26th 2008 3:47PM
I'm going to educate you little people who are in love with talking and slamming Microsoft for the RROD.
The 360 has gone through 3 motherboards so far:
The Xenon - launch until mid 2007 - this was the launch model motherboard. It had a 90nm processor and graphics chip. It was way too hot and sucked. This is the reason the 360 has become notorious for the RROD.
The Zephyr - March 2007 to August 2007 - this first appeared in the Elite, and then transitioned into the other models in July. It added an HDMI port, changed the heatsink on the GPU to a better one, and added another heatsink. It’s way better than the Xenon, because it runs way cooler. I’ve had this model of the 360 since August, and I’ve had no problems.
The Falcon - August 2007 to now - this changed the processor to 65nm, but the graphics chip is still 90nm. It runs a little cooler than the Zephyr.
The Jasper - August 2008 to unknown - is in development and will end the RROD. It will have a 65nm graphics chip in addition to a 65nm processor.
Basically, from the Zephyr and onwards, the 360 isn’t going to fail that easily, and is almost as reliable as Wii and PS3. With the Jasper, it will be just as reliable as the others.
TORO @ Nov 26th 2008 3:59PM
Too bad the software giant couldn't get the hardware right the first time, I guess that's why they focus on software.
Still love my 360 even though I just sent in my 4th Xbox
Ben @ Nov 27th 2008 11:22AM
The way things are going Santa may be out of work before Christmas too!
Just as we enjoy a day of turkey and cheap prices at the pump OPEC is planning another huge cut in production to raise prices.
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/136043/OPEC-moving-to-curb-oil-price-decline-DOE-warns-consumers
T his is probably going to be one of the bleakest holiday seasons most of us have seen in our lifetimes. Not enough credit is being given to the high gas prices this past year and it's serious damage on our economy and society. That one factor alone has caused serious stress in both individuals and businesses. A record number of homes and jobs have been lost as a direct result. And, while we are doing the happy dance around the lower prices at the pumps OPEC is announcing cuts to manipulate the prices upward again. We must get on with becoming energy independent.We can't take another year like this past. There is a wonderful new book out about the energy crisis and what it would take for America to become energy independent. It covers every aspect of oil, what it's uses are besides gasoline, our reserves, our depletion of it. Every type of alternative energy is covered and it's potential to replace oil. He even has proposed legislative agenda's that would be necessary to implement these changes along with time frames. This book is profoundly informative and our country needs to become more informed and move forward with becoming energy independent. Green technology would not only provide clean cheap energy it would create millions of badly needed new jobs. The Book is called The Manhattan Project of 2009 Energy Independence NOW. Our politicians all need to read this book. www.themanhattanprojectof2009.com
Time to follow through on those campaign promises and get this underway. Our country is in a sad state of affairs!