Wal-Mart Flyer Leak Shows $299 Xbox 360 Elite

[blackened144]

[citation][nom]daship[/nom]I have 360 but the $299 price is fail. They need to include a wireless adapter for freee, not a $99 addon. $99 for wireless is rediculous.[/citation]
I bought the $299 Pro bundle over a year ago and it came with the wireless network adapter. It doesnt really make sense that it wouldnt come with the Elite bundle..

 

[naterandrews]

Sony COULD win the holiday war, but they need to educate potential buyers of the value the PS3 provides- the integrated wifi, Blu Ray, etc.

Those that aren't hardcore news hounds or those that are still playing the PS2 might not know about all the differentiators.

 

[Impulse Fire911]

xbox is indeed actually a very reliable system that is if microsoft actually put more fans in the case so they dont overheat like crazy. sony has an amzing system with the ps3 and its good but online play is a little bad since a lot of people usually are yellow bar mostly all the time.

 

[10tacle]

Mmmmm... I smell fresh n00b meat this upcoming holiday season.

 

[tomwaddle]

No PC comments? wow

 

[amnotanoobie]

[citation][nom]The_Blood_Raven[/nom] However, as many of us know, it comes with a hefty premium that isn't necessarily worth it to most people.I love the price competition because it is going to make my Christmas shopping real easy, though it has been needed for a long time.[/citation]
It has been proven at the forums (I forgot the actual post), that you could make a PC near the cost of a 360 or PS3 (without a screen and the other stuff of course, just the box). The only problem with games on the PC is that some of the game developers and publishers botched the ports.

The new prices of the PS3 and 360 would make Christmas season a big buying season, even with the recession.

 

[ssalim]

I have X360 and not PS3 but if PS3 slim is $300 and X360 elite is $300 and both have 120GB while PS3 has blu-ray support... why not choose PS3? sure the game selections etc... but if you choose X360, you have to purchase the wireless adapter (or at least have a wireless-enabled laptop next to it) and X360 "live" is not free (gold membership).

 

[jecht]

[citation][nom]ssalim[/nom]I have X360 and not PS3 but if PS3 slim is $300 and X360 elite is $300 and both have 120GB while PS3 has blu-ray support... why not choose PS3? sure the game selections etc... but if you choose X360, you have to purchase the wireless adapter (or at least have a wireless-enabled laptop next to it) and X360 "live" is not free (gold membership).[/citation]

Why is the wireless adapter always included as something you must buy? Sure, a number of people have wireless networks, but just as many have wired networks, or simply choose not to connect to the internet. And yes, Live is not free. A year's subscription makes it about $4 a month, and not that many people mind paying considering how well it works. And about "game selections"...well, are you buying a game console or are you buying a media center?

In any case all consoles have their strong points, as was mentioned earlier, and price drops are always welcome.

 

[eccentric909]

[citation][nom]Zenthar[/nom]Or at least drop the adapter's price to 50$ and/or offer Wireless N for 100$...[/citation]

Hmm, the one I bought for my son's machine was $30.

You also don't have to buy the MS branded adapter, there are other companies who make wireless network cards for the 360 (not hard since it's just a USB adapter). You can also use the wireless adapter from the original XBox, of which you can find brand new for less than $30.

Personally, I prefer to use a wired networking for my gaming needs. Less worries about lost packets, etc. Even if my Linksys WRT54G is widely respected for it's signal and overall reliability, I'd rather not take the chance.

Also, not sure why you think they should be offering wireless-N. In the first place, I'd bet you wouldn't notice a difference when gaming on a 360 or PS3 between G up through N. Nor does the PS3 even offer built-in N-support to begin with. For both machines you'd have to buy an expensive non-branded N-adapter. Streaming videos might make a small difference, but I doubt a difference large enough to notice.

I admit, I could be wrong on that last part... I just don't see the reason to spend that much money on a wireless network adapter for a console machine, especially when my internet connection is maxed out at 18Mbps and your average broadband connection is still around 1.5Mbps.