G-pinions

I should probably warn my readers that I will probably be complaining about Microsoft offering two different Xbox 360 packages until the Xbox 3 finally comes out. This is the first time in the history of gaming that a company has willingly segmented their user base from the get go. While Sega was punished for their catastrophic mistakes with the Genesis and their endless release of useless peripherals, the damage this will ultimately do to Microsoft is not yet known. I was going to post yesterday to inform my readers that Gabe Newell, instrumental in the creation of Half-Life 2, has gone on record as saying that MS is making a huge mistake. "It's like, Xbox 360 doesn't make my life any better, and in fact, it makes it a lot worse, as you're telling me I can't count on having a hard drive." Developers don't know if they should develop with a hard drive in mind and offer their product to a smaller number of consumers, or dumb down the game to have a wider sales base available to them. Clearly, this will severely limit the potential of this system... and it's not even out yet!

Anyway, while one company is desperately trying to screw up the industry, Sony seems to be taking a much more sensible stance. While Phil Harrison, the VP of Sony's European branch, is certainly not the final word on PS3 pricing, he has stated that it would be ridiculous to follow Microsoft's path. Creating confusion is a very, very bad idea, especially in regards to technology where most people are quite ignorant anyway.

Before Sony makes a firm decision one way or another, I need to get my thoughts on potential packaging out there: please don't repeat the same mistakes you made with the PSP. Charging $50 more by including a bunch of worthless accessories is a lousy way to pad your wallets. While MS's error is sheer stupidity, Sony's mistake is fueled solely by greed. I understand that Sony as a whole doesn't suck in the cash like they used to, but their PlayStation division essentially prints its own currency at this point. Everyone is going to buy a PS3 anyway, just offer the system, one controller and the needed cables like you always do, and let consumers decide what accessories they actually want.