Topic: Latest IGN roundtable snippet from the IGN XBox 360 guy

[GoldenPhoenix]

This is pretty funny actually

Quote
Erik Brudvig, IGN Xbox 360: As has already been pointed out, $250 puts Nintendo in the same pricing range as a core Xbox 360. That's hardly a good thing for a company that is looking to reach out to non-gamers. While some may be drawn in by the new style of play, that won't show through when they see movies of HD games playing at the local game store against comparatively underwhelming Wii footage. For just $50 more...

Nintendo priced themselves out of my launch day purchase, though I'll get one eventually. It's not the price of the console that has me bummed. It's the cost for controllers and the Virtual Console downloads. Comparisons to the 360 controller price don't work for me. Xbox 360 is designed around the online experience, as are most of the multiplayer games for it. I still only have one 360 controller at my house and it hasn't been a problem. The big draw for me with Wii was having it as a party console. The offline experience is important and Nintendo looks like they'll be the ones to deliver it best this generation. Footing the bill of an extra $180 so I can play with my friends doesn't sit well with me.

The Virtual Console prices seem at first glance comparable to the Xbox Marketplace. I think the majority of the Marketplace content is overpriced as it is, but at least the classic games that are released on it have some new bells and whistles added. That's something that isn't expected to come with Virtual Console releases. If Nintendo wants to compare their console to the iPod, they should price their downloads accordingly. 5-10 dollars is no longer an impulse buy like so many of my terrible iTunes purchases have been (Weird Al FTL).

Either way, the pricing doesn't really mean much for the launch period. There are more than 4 million hardcore (though Juan might argue that they aren't hardcore) Nintendo fans out there that will snatch up the Wii as soon as they can. The real question mark is how well these prices appeal to consumers next spring and summer.

I especially like his statement that the Wii controller price argument compared to 360's. It really makes no sense "Hey Xbox 360's controllers are way overpriced but hey it doesn't matter because I decided to not by others for friends to play with me. But that is a no-no for Wii, because they are party oriented (kind of forgets that not all the games are). Another thing that got me was all these so called gamers seeing the HD videos of Xbox 360 games compared to Wii at gamestores, chances are those gamestores are going to have consoles hooked up where gamers will experience both systems, yet he doesn't bother taking that into consideration. He seems to think people will go to a game store and look at Xbox 360 videos saying "Ohhh shiney, me want, only 50$ more even if I have to buy a memory card and game".  

[GoldenPhoenix]

Here is another from Kathleen Sanders

Quote
Some people think I hate on Nintendo. I don't. My near-freakish love of gaming all started with Metroid and many of the most memorable experiences of my youth revolve around my Nintendo or Game Boy. That's memorable experiences... of my youth. The Big N -- as I've gotten older has aged into a constant source of disappointment for me.
However, I can see families using the Wii. I can see kids playing these games, because they are young and have the wiry upper body strength and ability to flail their arms around for hours. I'm hopeful that we'll see games developed just for the Wii that are the exciting, innovative properties that we're being promised. So far, I'm excited about Warioware and um ... (cue sound of crickets)

Flail their arms around for hours? talk about setting up that old straw man argument for the Wii being tiring, I think it has been pretty much proven this is not the case. Not only that she is only excited for WarioWare? Don't get me wrong I think that will be a good game, but for that to be the ONLY game you are looking forward seems a bit pathetic.  

[Nick DiMola]

IGN == Useless. I can't stand listening to their crap editors anymore. I may be a Nintendo fanboy but at least I can admit when another company is doing something right. I noticed Microsoft was doing alot of great things with the 360 hence my purchase of one. Nintendo has a stellar lineup of games coming out (more than just Warioware) and they have a very compelling pricepoint. At $250 the Wii isn't even in the same stadium of the 360 let alone the same ballpark. Being an ignorant idiot seems to come with the territory of being an editor at IGN. I also like the *outrageous* Wii controller prices compared to the 360 (10 whopping dollars). From what I've seen of the Wii's visuals, they look significantly sharper than alot of 360 games. So to say people will see the crappy Wii visuals and not want to purchase one, well, that's just retarded.

The last point I wanted to say a little more about, that I just don't get, is the pricing of the VC games being bad. I'm sorry people $10 for an N64 game is not a bad price. I collect the damn games and I rarely find a game in good condition at less than $10. At $10 it's still in the impulse buy range. Let's say I get together with my friends and we are chilling playing games and we start reminiscing about some N64 game. If I was to see that game up on the VC I'd purchase it on the spot just to have some fun for 1 night. I'm sure I'm not the only one. The only complaint I have about the VC are NES games. $5 is pricey considering emulation for the NES has been done over and over and has 0 problems at this point. $5 will work for me if I can download japanese Famicom games, otherwise, it's too much. SNES is about right in pricing.

In closing, screw you IGN.  

[Ceric]

I think at IGN you get picked on if you support Nintendo.  Because all the Nintendo editors seem to openly praise the competition.  (Though all that could just be the Money Hat)

[Spak-Spang]

His whole arguement is flawed in one fashion or another.

He states that Xbox 360 is priced at only $50.00 more for HD games and a better online experience for multiplayer.

However, to truly go online with the Xbox 360 you must get the hard drive which is $100.00 either with the Premium package or additional cost of the Hard drive seperate.

Finally, you have to pay for Xbox Live online play...which when Nintendo's games go online next year, you won't have to pay at all.

So the way I look at it.  You can buy a Wii one game, 2 extra controllers for the price of an Xbox 360 and a game (online capable.)

Personally I don't think that is too bad.

Ok...that wasn't finally earlier.

The comments about Xbox Live arcade and the virtual console are ignorant.  Nobody knows if some games will be upgraded or not...and if they aren't we are still talking about classic games that are beloved the world over.  I think the prices again are fair.

[Arbok]

Quote
Originally posted by: Mr. Jack
The only complaint I have about the VC are NES games. $5 is pricey considering emulation for the NES has been done over and over and has 0 problems at this point.

Fully agree in this respect. At that price point, the only NES games I could see getting are Super Dodgeball and Trog for their multiplayer value, assuming they would be available. If online enabled, though, that $5 tag would be much more easy to swallow on a lot of the multiplayer titles.

[couchmonkey]

I refuse to compare video games at $5-$10 to a single song at $1.  Maybe instead of downloading Super Mario 64, everyone should download Promiscuous Girl from iTunes and put it on repeat for about 6-10 hours. HOW'S THAT FOR VALUE, MORONS?

Edit: Changed moron to morons, didn't want to look like I was picking on Arbok specifically, my comment just happened to come after his.  I'm picking on the entire group of people who don't like the VC prices.

[Athrun Zala]

IGN is very biased, and this really shows that

first, the X360 is NOT $50 more, since you are missing a game, a place to save, the Live thing.....

but the most important thing though, is that comparison between the X360's and Wii's controller prices...because he's not taking perception into account.
"look! the X360 wireless controller is $50....and the Wii is $60! how expensive!"
"really? but look! for $10 more you can do this and this!!"
"awesome!"
*Wii get*

you get the idea

[OverHeat]

Dear Mr. Brudvig,

      I see your excellent, well thought out points on the Xbox 360. Although the folks here have shot many holes in your argument, it is likely because they are incapable of sharing your grand vision. Keep up the good work.
                <3  ,  OverHeat.

P.S. How is the IGN Xbox 360 holding up? I read on a few of IGN's employee blogs that it has died after not much more than 20 hours of play. I was wondering if you were keeping that into consideration? You know, the fact that I may need to buy a new xbox360 every few years, or few days. So in retrospect, I think what I am trying to say here is AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA  

[JonLeung]

Because the control scheme of the Wii is very different, meaning very different games, it's much less fair to compare the Xbox 360 and the Wii (than, say, to compare the Xbox 360 and the PS3).  You know, like that metaphor about apples and oranges.

You can say, look, the prices of the consoles are these, and the prices of the controllers are these, and the prices of similar accessories are these - but when it comes down to it, it's the games, and it's impossible to put a real value on the fun of a game.  (You can compare prices of games, but that is far from a measure of how fun the game is.)

(I mean, geez, some people think the PS3 is worth a thousand bucks alone just to play Final Fantasy XIII.  Well, good for them.)

[nitsu niflheim]

doesn't the xbox 360 core system come with a wired controller?

[Kairon]

NES games cost 5 bucks because they're harder to find. Rarity and quality of any hardcopies in existence pushes up demand for new issues of the same games.

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[Smash_Brother]

His points about the controllers are valid, though: the console that's "Not about you or me, it's about Wii" will run you $180 goddamn dollars in order for it to be all about "Wii".

I understand that the Wiimote is a cutting-edge technology, but $60 for a "whole" controller is just ridiculous.

Rest of it is nonsense, though: historically, the graphically superior have never won. People will buy what's fun and what has the most games.  

[RickPowers]

Let's correct a common misconception.  You do NOT need an Xbox 360 hard drive to play games on Live.  You do, however, need the extra $50 memory card if you don't get one.  So the price of even a Core system if you want to play online is $350.  That's without a game, though you could add an Xbox Live Arcade game like Geometry Wars for just $5.  And yes, the core system comes with a Wired controller, not wireless.  And no headset, but you don't need it to play online (voices will come through your speakers instead).

Second, no one is going to look at a Wii game and and Xbox game and say, "Oooh, for only $50 more ..."  The people Nintendo is going after with Wii are the ones that don't have an HDTV (and don't see any need to get one, because they can't tell the difference in the picture quality*) so the idea of the Xbox 360 being in HD doesn't appeal to them.  Plus, those non-gamers would be turned off seeing something like Tom Clancy anyway.  All it takes is one demo of Wii Bowling or Wii Tennis, and they'll be sold.  At least, that's the idea.

We keep comparing the Xbox 360 to the Wii as if they are competing.  For the first time, I think I can honestly say that I don't see many places where Wii and Xbox 360 would be competing with each other.

Third, I do find the argument about controller prices to be 100% valid.  I have two wireless controllers for my Xbox 360 ... enough for myself and my wife, and have no desire to get any more.  Xbox 360 is primarily an online experience, so if I'm playing with more than two people, odds are it's online.  My N64 and GameCube had full complements of controllers specifically for parties ... since you need all of them for games like Mario Kart and Mario Party.  This does make the price of the controllers a bitter pill to swallow, since I know I'm not alone in this respect.  Given that Nintendo is historically slow to give access to the online components of their consoles to developers (even now, there's complaints about Wii's online features being a mystery to developers), local multiplayer is a big deal.  Even more so when you realize that having four drunk people flailing their arms about is at least half the fun.  (Watching my mother-in-law play Mario Kart after half a bottle of champagne is a treat.

*Before you laugh, research shows that more than half of current HDTV owners aren't getting an HD signal and don't even realize it ... my in-laws being a prime example.  They had a 57" Hitachi rear-projection LCD HDTV for over a year before they ever saw anything in HD on it.  The first thing they saw was my Xbox 360, and they couldn't have cared less (though I did eventually talk them into getting a Comcast HD DVR).  

[GoldenPhoenix]

Quote
Originally posted by: Spak-Spang
His whole arguement is flawed in one fashion or another.

He states that Xbox 360 is priced at only $50.00 more for HD games and a better online experience for multiplayer.

However, to truly go online with the Xbox 360 you must get the hard drive which is $100.00 either with the Premium package or additional cost of the Hard drive seperate.

Finally, you have to pay for Xbox Live online play...which when Nintendo's games go online next year, you won't have to pay at all.

So the way I look at it.  You can buy a Wii one game, 2 extra controllers for the price of an Xbox 360 and a game (online capable.)

Personally I don't think that is too bad.

Ok...that wasn't finally earlier.

The comments about Xbox Live arcade and the virtual console are ignorant.  Nobody knows if some games will be upgraded or not...and if they aren't we are still talking about classic games that are beloved the world over.  I think the prices again are fair.

Good points Spak, one thing I forgot to mention for Xbox 360 even if you only bought a memory card for storage, you STILL need a the component cable for HD TV and I believe that is 30-40$, so you are looking at 70-80$ right there with no game!

[Artimus]

I don't really think IGN is biased. I mean, it's the XBOX360 guy saying this. Go to almost any console-specific site anywhere and they'll be mostly negative about the others.

[GoldenPhoenix]

What about that Kathleen woman? She is biased and isn't from any of the channels.

[Hostile Creation]

He'll end up eating his words, I have no doubt about that.  These are the last pitiful attempts and keeping one's chin up in face of potential disaster.

[Kairon]

Isn't that the definition of biased? IGN just happens to be biased in all directions at once simultaneously... with the exception of not being as rabidly Pro-Nintendo as some fanbois would prefer.

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Bias helps IGN maintain the individuality of their channels take it away, and you're simply left with morons that agree with each other.