Quote Originally Posted by Iceglow View Post

Well I don't assume you must get 4 controllers however here is my point on the whole thing, 4 controllers should not cost over £200 to rig to normal standard use. On the 360 here is how it would break down: (using GB prices from HMV) 360 wired controller £24.99 official, £19.99 unofficial. 2 of these + 2 wireless controllers at £39.99 means, 4 controllers can come to as little as £129.96 for all 4 controllers to be official on the basis of 2 wired, 2 wireless. On the PS3 it comes to £39.99 for each controller or £159.96 for 4 pads. Now acceptable arguments include the cost of batteries for the 360 pads but I'm going to disregard that because frankly there is no need to buy a rechargable quick charge kit or a plug and play/charge kit. As far as gaming goes, the PS3 and 360 pads will work perfectly well out of their packaging for that money, the Wii controllers increasingly need to have Wii Motion plus on them, therefore how can you sit there saying Microsoft force people to use official products or to buy periphials when Nintendo's controllers alone scream out that they are a rip off. Bluntly ask a Nintendo executive to justify charging nearly £100 more for 4 controllers in full function compatability with their console and any game released compared to their competitors, I bet that he can't.
First, you're comparing apples and oranges. You're talking about MSRP on the Wii controllers and using a discounted price you can find from a retailer on the 360 controllers to make your point. I can also find all Wii controller bits for considerably less than MSRP. That's why I was using MSRP as the zeroing point. You're then trying to inflate your point by talking about the price of a set of 4 vs the cost of 1 or 2. It makes your argument seem more compelling because you're throwing out a bigger number, but it's a misnomer.

I think you're a bit hyperbolic about Wii games increasingly needing Wii Motion Plus. There are relatively few current adopters though I will concede that at some point it will likely become a necessity, though Nintendo is likely to make cheap bundles for some time to come. I wouldn't be surprised to see TW2 as a standalone at $50 and a bundle for $60 which would include a half priced WMP. They've already started down this road.

But for the sake of your argument, a single MSRP controller with Wiimote+Nunchuk+WMP would be $80 while an MSRP 360 controller would be $50 which clearly makes the Wii controller more costly.

Thats good that you don't need some gimmicky attachments to play, however a LOT of people are suckered in to buying these things or simply resort to buying the plastic gun frames to make holding the damn thing feel more comfortable.
Once again, most of these little gimmicky things are 3rd party and have nothing to do with Nintendo's marketing. They are far from necessary so I see it as a moot point when we're talking about the console company gouging the players.

I agree the Wii is the cheapest console unit out there, but it's lack of serious games and extortionate controller prices and gimmicky accessories...
... just gonna restate the irrelevance of 3rd party plastic to the discussion...
...they try to ram down your throat and the short lifespan of the Wii remote (I see customers come in all the time having worn these things out til they break) and it's periphials means Nintendo's Wii is by far the most expensive console to maintain.
This is quite anecdotal and I don't see where you're getting this from. I've had the same two Wiimotes for about 3 years now and they are fine despite plenty of play. I've never heard any complaints about how well they hold up before.

I was really really going to try to avoid this, but your argument reeks of irony as you seem to ignore the RROD. If you want to talk about maintenance and shoddy devices that break down you shouldn't try to do so in comparison to the 360.

Wireless isn't essential
I'll agree, but for fairness sake, both other consoles (including the dirt cheap one) have onboard wireless if you want to use it. In side-by-side comparisons, for those that want it, this is a place where the once relatively low price of the 360 is not all that it seems.

I am also curious as to your references of buying a wireless router. What you are buying is a Wireless adaptor, thats very different from a wireless router in fact I believe you might even get away with any cheap one but have never tested this so please, don't take this as gospel truth. As far as buying a router goes, yes they are expensive but as you rightly said there is no requirement that you use wireless and the 360 comes with an ethernet cable in the box.
You can use a wireless router in lieu of the wireless adapter and get a lot better value. MSRP on the MS WNA is $100 while a decent router is only $60. You can get far more functionality out of the router as you an hook it to several other devices and use it as a bridge to your primary router for all of them. It's what I'll be doing without a doubt. It just takes a little extra setup.

The ps3 hard-drive you speak of would not be official and therefore if it was incorrectly installed and caused problems bye bye warranty
Perhaps, but it's pretty easy to install a HD and at least Sony gives an option. For those who are smart enough install their own non-Sony HD, they just saved some money. This isn't even a realistic option with the 360 and I'm sure it was done this way on purpose.

This statement here is utter bollocks sorry. I have a 360. I have 1 wireless controller as came with I have 20gb of hard drive as came with my 360 (and yes sometimes I do consider upgrading it), I do have the wireless adaptor for xbox 360 which did cost me £59.99 but thats my choice to buy that. I do not own a play and charge kit, I do not own a quick charge kit I do happen to own several AA rechargable batteries and the charger for them. So please explain to me where I was forced to buy any accessories for my 360 made by Microsoft?
You're probably right that I overstated it. I don't even consider the controller chargers necessary and don't have one for my Wiimotes. When I'm talking about the MS crap I'm talking about the proprietary wireless adapter and proprietary HDs. Sure your console is functional without them, but less so than it could be. You would probably be more likely to upgrade that HD if it wasn't so costly to do so. The fact that you have to shell out a huge amount of money for a wireless adapter is sad not only because you have to buy one, but because it was made to be needlessly proprietary and therefore far more expensive.



In the end I think we largely agree on certain issues like the fact that basically all of the console companies suck. I don't really have that much more ire for the 360 than any of the others, it's just that certain issues stick out to me. Primarily are the proprietary things they put in place where a standard could be used. This pissed me off so much about the PSPGo going to a proprietary USB cable instead of the standard cable that everyone probably has half a dozen of lying around their house. This forces the consumer down a narrow path and that always upsets me.

I don't think Nintendo intentionally dicked the consumer over with the WMP. I think it was a case of the tech not being ready at release, but they had to drop a console into the market to make a showing against the other current gens. In the long run it pissed everyone off though because what WMP has turned into is what everyone felt like they were promised. Instead they got silly waggle controls often used in a place where a traditional control scheme would work better. Also to be fair, for the lower price of the Wii you also don't have DVD, much less Blu-Ray. They were not equipped to offer large storage solutions though they did help a little when they allowed SD cards to fix the shortcomings... but sadly SD cards cost a premium vs a real HD.



I really didn't want to get into all of this when I started the thread. Mostly I just wanted to see what everyone was talking about being so awesome on the 360 because I wasn't seeing it. I found the answer. It's mostly the FPSs that aren't on my radar but still appeal to a wide number of gamers. It's the superior online play (with the caveat of a fee).

I'm not going to be sad to get my Xbox this weekend. I'm looking forward to a number of games that are Xbox exclusives even if they aren't marquee titles and even though most of the XBLA exclusives I was most interested in are going to also be on PSN soon, I'm still certain there will be a good number of games that I'll want to purchase.

It's always going to be better to have all of the consoles and not miss out on any of the games. I have no grudge against any certain games getting exclusivity (and once I have all the consoles I'll have even less reason). I just have a problem with crappy business practices which all of the companies engage in and arguably some to a greater degree than others.