Hasta La Gadget!

Didn’t Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Elite just drop to $299, like, three weeks ago? Yes, yes it did. Evidently that cut just wasn’t deep enough for Microsoft (or else it had a change of heart following the release of Sony’s $299 PS3 Slim), as the Redmond mega-corp has today lit up a new mail-in rebate program to bring the cost down to $249. Consoles purchased between today (sorry, Monday shoppers!) and October 5th are eligible, and it’s anyone’s guess as to what’ll happen to the 360 lineup come October 6th. So, is Santa coming early for anyone this year, or what?

[Via Major Nelson, thanks Logan]

Read – Rebate page
Read – Microsoft release

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment

Microsoft kicks out $50 rebate for $299 Xbox 360 Elite originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sure, it’s not exactly news to hear that the Xbox 360 is the most unreliable console of the big three, but just how unreliable is it? Now there’s a point of contention. The good news for Microsoft, of sorts, is that a new study from SquareTrade found that just 23.7% of Xbox 360 consoles failed within the first two years of ownership, which is actually a fair bit better than some of the previous numbers that topped 50%. The study also found that 10% of PlayStation 3 users reported a system failure, compared to a mere 2.7% of Wii owners. The Wii actually fared the worst when it came to power and remote control issues, however, while the most common problems with the Xbox 360 and PS3 were disc read errors and output issues. For its part, while Microsoft hasn’t responded to this particular study, it has previously pointed to its “best warranty in the industry” to reassure its users and, of course, to its more recently-produced consoles, which are less likely to buckle under the pressure of a marathon Call of Duty session.

[Via InformationWeek]

Filed under: Gaming

New study finds close to one quarter of Xbox 360s fail within two years originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Gaming

PlayOn for Wii beta to be announced tomorrow originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A couple of flyers and an in-the-wild shot (not to mention some discounted Pro models) not enough to convince you of Microsoft’s apparent dual-SKU strategy? Then how about a fresh new listing of a white-boxed Xbox 360 Elite on Amazon? Unfortunately, the console is still listed at the usual $399.99, but it is clearly designated as the “newest version,” and it’s in stock right now. Of course, it may not be the worst idea to wait a bit longer for the seemingly inevitable price cut, or at least consider the also-in-stock Spring 2009 bundle with Halo 3 and Fable II for the same price if you just can’t hold out another day.

[Thanks, Billy Bono]

Filed under: Gaming

Xbox 360 Elite in white box turns up on Amazon, still $399 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yes, we can hardly believe it ourselves, but Sony came a-knockin’ at our door today, and we were more than willing to answer. The PlayStation 3 Slim is now official in-house, and it’s a matte-laden beaut. Enough chitchat — live vicariously through our unboxing and hands-on pics below!

Update: Some details for clarification. The buttons in the front are now physical and actually “click” in to function. The PS logo above the disc drive does not rotate for vertical use, and yes, the hard drive is swappable — as you can see from the pictures, there’s a screw on the bottom, hidden by a panel, that lets you take off part of the front for access. We’ve also lined it up against our standard, fatty PS3, and we gotta say, it’s noticeably lighter.

Update 2: Here’s a more thorough comparison between the slim, the original, and the Xbox 360. Some people were asking about the texture of the matte finish, and compared to Microsoft’s console, it’s just a teensy bit rougher (and on that note, about the same weight, too). It’s still just as glossy as the original on the sides, however. We still gotta compare the noise of the slim, stay tuned!

Update 3: While our tests were far from thorough, the initial results from our quick-and-dirty decibel ratings show some promise. With a baseline of 49 decibels, the Slim averaged 53 to 56 db when in use / playing a game / installing data (in this case, Metal Gear Solid 4), compared to the 55 to 58 db of the original. Blu-ray movie playback is where it becomes noticeable, as the slim peaked for us at 60 db when the original was doing 70 db running the same disc.

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Filed under: Gaming

PlayStation 3 Slim unboxing and hands-on! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 18:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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