Hidden Costs of Gaming Options

[Xbox-Scene]

Hidden Costs of Gaming Posted by XanTium | September 14 16:04 EST | News Category: Xbox360

From digitalspy.co.uk: [QUOTE] It's a well-known fact that the big three console manufacturers - Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft - all want your money. Once you fork out a few hundred notes for a console, they have you in their mighty grip, and bleed you dry with their capitalist agendas. In some cases, this can be as much as £300 over the next five years, not including essentials they don't include with the console. Electricity Costs Xbox 360 - 120.45 kWh - £19.21 a year Controllers Xbox 360 - There is no rechargeable option out of the box - a Play & Charge kit retails for £15, and additional wireless controllers are £30 a pop. That's £60 for two charge kits and an extra wireless pad. However you can save by getting a Wired controller for £25. Television Cables Xbox 360 - Comes with component for HD out of the box, also doubling up as composite cables for those with normal tellies. While there are better SD and HD options, these options will do you just fine. Connecting to the internet Xbox 360 - Ethernet port only. If you want to get a plug in Wi-Fi receiver, it'll set you back £60. Other Additions * Xbox Live subscription - While the Wii and PS3 online services are free, full Gold membership costs £40 a year on the 360. Without it, you cannot play online with others or access certain content. * Keyboard - The Wii and PS3 have full USB keyboard support for text input, whereas the 360 keypad costs £25. Alternatively, you can spend an entire hour entering a message via the d-pad. * Downloadable Content - This is subjective, as many games offer additional content that perhaps should be in the full product, but are not on the disc. But when games such as Beautiful Katamari (360) ask you to pay to unlock things already on the disc, it reinforces the point that you have to be a millionaire playboy to get the most out of everything. Summary It should be noted that these are all optional costs - you don't need to buy another controller, to purchase a Live subscription or run your console every day for the next few years. But many people do, and if you are thinking of getting a new system for yourself or someone else these little costs add up to something fierce. The Xbox 360 is the worst for those hidden costs, although the others aren't exactly innocent either. When you consider this doesn't include what you actually bought it for - the games - it shows that this hobby is a costly thing indeed. [/QUOTE] Full Story: digitalspy.co.uk

[bucko]

* Keyboard - The Wii and PS3 have full USB keyboard support for text input, whereas the 360 keypad costs £25. Alternatively, you can spend an entire hour entering a message via the d-pad.

Does he not have a USB keyboard if not I just use xbox.com to type long messages.

This post has been edited by bucko: Sep 14 2008, 09:50 PM

[KanZerX]

Does he not have a USB keyboard if not I just use xbox.com to type long messages.

Last time i checked i just connected my usb keyboard to the 360 and worked

[Wilhelm_I]

Does he not have a USB keyboard if not I just use xbox.com to type long messages.

ye same, what about about using your headset to send voice messages, this is even faster than a keyboard

[Mushy2000]

How much did Sony pay this **** to write this article?...

[Pseudo99]

Yeah, this is a BS biased article. I can make the same argument....

I wanted to hard wire my Wii to my network...$23. Want to buy a FULL wii controller? (nunchuck plus remote), $60. They're not rechargeable either.

Bought a couple PS3 controllers the first year it was out? Now you have to re-buy them all over again if you want rumble (standard 360 and Wii features), $54.99 each. Oh yeah, that one 3 ft. USB charging cable for the PS3 to share between your 3-4 controllers? add another 10-20 bucks apiece (retail usb cables).

I plugged a USB keyboard in my 360 on launch day, worked like a champ. The usb chat pad add-on is a convenience, not a required purchase. Downloadable content to unlock things that are already on the disc? It's not like this ONLY happens on the 360. The 360 just happens to have a wider variety of games that try to pull this stunt, because it's been out for longer. I don't see Beautiful Katamari coming out for PS3 with all the content unlocked already on the disc...so there's NO valid argument there. There's Soul Calibur IV, which people have already confirmed that the content is already on the disc, and you're going to have to pay for it whether you're a 360 or PS3 owner.

XBL paid subscription vs. free online play. You get what you pay for. Plain and simple. The PS3 is also higher priced than a fully equipped 360. Blu-ray argument? Yeah, $30 a movie when I can get the same regular DVD for $10-15. The resolution might be different, but when I have thousands of dollars of home theater equipment, and I still can't justify the additional cost per movie when I'm not that tight on money, there isn't enough motivation to make that a selling point.

This article is just trying to bash the 360, and it doesn't deserve front page attention on XS. Must be a really slow news day

[steveju]

Xbox 360 - There is no rechargeable option out of the box - a Play & Charge kit retails for £15.

Unofficial Play & Charge kits go for around £4 (incl. delivery) and they work just fine, they just don't have the fancy stickers on them.

Xbox 360 - Ethernet port only. If you want to get a plug in Wi-Fi receiver, it'll set you back £60.

Better and cheaper alternatives do exist, but nobody cares, as nobody wants wireless in the first place, it's just something to bitch about because the 360 doesn't do it out-of-the-box.

Xbox Live subscription - While the Wii and PS3 online services are free, full Gold membership costs £40 a year on the 360. Without it, you cannot play online with others or access certain content.

It's £30 a year actually and without it, you can play certain games online and access the content you can access with a Gold membership with a delay. It was £40 when I bought it though.

So when it boils down to it, which console is the most expensive?

Well, it's goddamn obvious that the PS3 is the most expensive system out there. The cheapest 40gb model costs around £150 more than a Xbox 360 premium. With that, you can get, for example, that extra wireless controller and even the official play & charge kits, 2 years of Xbox Live Gold and a new-ish game (eg. COD4).

[Chancer]

Unofficial Play & Charge kits go for around £4 (incl. delivery) and they work just fine, they just don't have the fancy stickers on them

Bet they are all up to the latest legislation and specs

.Better and cheaper alternatives do exist, but nobody cares, as nobody wants wireless in the first place, it's just something to bitch about because the 360 doesn't do it out-of-the-box.

I don't use wireless but to say nobody wants it is not correct. Some people will have no choice

It's £30 a year actually and without it, you can play certain games online and access the content you can access with a Gold membership with a delay.

Really? Can you point me to where? I paid £40 and it is nearly renewal time so I would like it for £30.
Don't even try the Silver gives you some features close to Gold. Silver is crap.

Well, it's goddamn obvious that the PS3 is the most expensive system out there. The cheapest 40gb model costs around £150 more than a Xbox 360 premium. With that, you can get, for example, that extra wireless controller and even the official play & charge kits, 2 years of Xbox Live Gold and a new-ish game (eg. COD4).

Really £149 for a premium with all that extra stuff? Please supply me with the details on where as my eldest daughter is after her own for Xmas and if I can get the lot for that money I would be well happy.

Bought a couple PS3 controllers the first year it was out? Now you have to re-buy them all over again if you want rumble (standard 360 and Wii features), $54.99 each. Oh yeah, that one 3 ft. USB charging cable for the PS3 to share between your 3-4 controllers? add another 10-20 bucks apiece (retail usb cables).

You are paying too much. I pay 40 pence in the UK.

XBL paid subscription vs. free online play. You get what you pay for. Plain and simple.

Whilst XBL is very good the PSN is a top notch service for nothing. I play on it every day with no issues. the store now has loads to choose from and the interface is nice and clean.

Yeah, $30 a movie when I can get the same regular DVD for $10-15. The resolution might be different, but when I have thousands of dollars of home theater equipment, and I still can't justify the additional cost per movie when I'm not that tight on money, there isn't enough motivation to make that a selling point.

Strange that, people who spend a fortune on HT equipment are usually connoisseurs.I would have expected if you are a Sound perfectionist that you may have spent out the extra. I have a more modest HT set up but still spend the extra £7 per movie (I am tight as well) for Blu-Ray as the quality difference is night and day.

The fact is anything you buy can have hidden costs. All my games machines have plenty. I have probably spent enough on BR movies to buy another 2 PS3s.

This post has been edited by Chancer: Sep 14 2008, 11:41 PM

[trentdadi]

How much did Sony pay this **** to write this article?...

I kind of thought that at first. Go to the website to read the full article. XS trimmed it down to only give us the 360 details.

[BRD]

I was unaware that there were games that tell you to pay to unlock crap already on the disc. That's bullshit.

I've always used a USB keyboard on the 360.

[Pseudo99]

Hey Chancer, I'm talking about my price differences in USD, and RETAIL priced Usb cables. The original article was geared to people who are paying retail prices, so I was making comparisons to what you pay in-store for certain things, not online.

As far as HT goes, my main rig has a 50" Pioneer Elite plasma tv, and Onkyo speakers with Onkyo 7.1 receiver. I just don't see enough difference between picture and audio quality to make up for the double price of blu-ray. If there was a 10-20% price difference between formats, I would be praising it in the streets and call it the replacement to DVD, and put a PS3 in each of my other two HT equipped rooms. I have average people coming over to my house all the time (people who are not HT savvy), and only rarely do I get a compliment on how nice the picture looks when using a better quality format. I personally am a connoisseur of HT equipment, but when most people come over and they can't tell the difference between your DVD and Blu-ray, it makes it tougher to justify the price. I can only "wow" myself for so long until it loses its thrill.

In my experience, the two seperate week long experiences I had with online play on PSN was with GTA4, and Madden09, both during launch weeks. I had alot more laggyness and disconnects than when I play on XBL. (this is in the US, also). Also, friend organization, messaging, and invites are easier to coordinate on XBL. I purchase XBL arcade games all the time. There's always a demo to make sure I like a game or not. The arcade games on PSN occasionally have free demos, but more often than not, I refrain from buying them because I don't want to flush my cash down the drain if I don't like it. If I were to give PSN a compliment over XBL, I'd say it's the fact that anyone can download retail game demos for free.

Just clarifying the things you're calling me out on. I don't consider myself a fanboy, I'm a proud owner of all three systems, I'm just calling out the original article for the incorrect points its trying to make.

[0794]

wait...hobbies cost money?

a completely stupid article merely repeating the obvious that things in life cost money.

although i guess that some people may not realize that buying things costs money and so this article could be informative...

[halcyonx12]

It's not that it costs money, it's that the investment is pretty large when you factor in everything you want. Besides the USB keyboard, this article makes a point about online and wireless which are out of the box for the other consoles at least, and are pretty necessary. Nobody wants to run an ethernet cable to where their TV is.

[Naquadah]

Online £40 a year? http://www.jasper1675.com/newuk12gold.html £26 for 13 months

£60 for wifi adaptor? why buy official? you can get a good wireless bridge with a 4 port switch built in for about £25

£15 Play n Charge? you can get an Energizer charger with 4 2500mAh AA batteries for £5 from Wilko's, no having a wire connected to you're pad to charge it, just swap em out with the 2 charged ones.

Pads can be found for less that £30, Froogle, Kelkoo and various other engines will find em.

USB keyboards work fine, how about the 360 comes with a headset but the PS3 and Wii dont, ALL 360 games support voice, its a feature of the console, not all PS3 games do and... do any Wii games?

Downloadable content? same applies for PS3, and there's sod all for Wii games!


"PS3 - Just a composite cable; no HD option in the box. Your gorgeous new HD console will look like it's being played back through an '80s VCR. You need a component or HDMI cable, stat. That's £20, thank you very much."

I love this, you can get an HDMI cable for less than £5 lol, same with the Wii, £20? my component cable cost about £5, iv seen them for like 2.99 since.


And blabbering about electricity costs.. dear lord.. what's a few quid a year? absolutely sod all! ridiculous, what a POS article

I purchase XBL arcade games all the time. There's always a demo to make sure I like a game or not. The arcade games on PSN occasionally have free demos, but more often than not, I refrain from buying them because I don't want to flush my cash down the drain if I don't like it. If I were to give PSN a compliment over XBL, I'd say it's the fact that anyone can download retail game demos for free.

QFT!!

This post has been edited by Naquadah: Sep 15 2008, 01:22 AM

[ThaCrip]

"Controllers
Xbox 360 - There is no rechargeable option out of the box - a Play & Charge kit retails for £15, and additional wireless controllers are £30 a pop. That's £60 for two charge kits and an extra wireless pad. However you can save by getting a Wired controller for £25."

dont get the official charge kits as it's a waste of money... just buy a decent charger with your own rechargable NiMh batteries as it's cheaper and works just as good.

"Connecting to the internet
Xbox 360 - Ethernet port only. If you want to get a plug in Wi-Fi receiver, it'll set you back £60."

there's cheaper alternatives to this like getting a cheap router and putting DD-WRT firmware on it and then you can use wireless that way (main side effect to this is that it can be bulky since you got a router connected to it etc etc but where talking about costs so it's worth it especially if you generally keep your xbox360 in one area and dont move it around often)

"When you consider this doesn't include what you actually bought it for - the games - it shows that this hobby is a costly thing indeed. "

maybe , depending on how many games you actually like cause the way i see it is vast majority of games out there aint even worth playing... some are great but most aint... and overall to this day i still pretty much only bought my xbox360 for 1 game which is Forza 2. (GTA4 was nice to but i would rather play that on PC though) ... in general most of the games i play require aiming so obviously i like using the PC in this cause cause of the mouses superior aiming abilities.

This post has been edited by ThaCrip: Sep 15 2008, 03:07 AM