The Mystery Box

Posted under Thrillhouse17, XBL Radio by Thrillhouse17

Going to a store with the intention of purchasing an Xbox 360 must be hell for the average consumer. It’s no longer as easy as walking in, money ready in hand, and throwing four bills on the counter. No, it’s a convoluted, incomprehensible mess. You’ve got four different boxes staring you in the face: core, premium, elite, and Halo edition – plus variables.

“Fine” you say, “I can figure this out.” And you do. Or at least you think you do. You’ve discarded the deceptively low-priced core and the unexplainable over-priced Halo edition, so now it’s down to elite and premium. This is where it gets tricky, and thanks to MS, a little luck is involved. Do you go with the elite, which advertises 100 extra gigs and guaranteed HDMI, or do you take your chances with the premium, try to get HDMI and hope you get lucky?

I find this distinction, or lack of, quite infuriating. Remember how much MS advertised the me-too addition of HDMI when the elite was announced? I remember listening to the Major Nelson show when he not too subtly poked fun at Sony saying, “HDMI cable is in the box”. Well Major, which box is it in? As a consumer, I have the right to know what I’m paying for. This kind of information should be readily available to the public, and withholding it is nothing short of dishonest.

Do it. Pull the trigger. Try your luck. Play 360 roulette.

It becomes even more confusing when you throw processor chips into the mix. Will you be fortunate enough to get a hold of the improved 65 nm chip? Or are you going to be stuck with the will-need-of-repair grandfather chip? What about which DVD drive will you have? Is your family going to be yelling at you in the middle of the night, screaming “Turn that damn buzzing off”, or will you be able to game into the wee-hours without interruption? So many variables to consider.

Hardware revisions are nothing new, and in some cases necessary. They help producers cut costs and improve their product, while passing the savings to consumers and shipping them more reliable products. But why not be honest and up front about it? The reasoning: Well, because consumers won’t by old, unreliable tech, and store shelves will be filled with unmovable goods. Which is the point! It is our right to choose and be informed of what we’re buying.

It just seems funny that almost every other product fully discloses what was in it, where it was made, and what side effects may occur – yet the technology sector seems exempt from this consumer honesty. (Food labels scream “New and Improved”, yet tech tries to hide on the shelf and blend in with the older versions.) So what we’re left with is a 400 dollar grab bag, buy one and find out what mystery it contains.

Side note: It’s also convenient that this revision switch is taking place during the Madden/Holiday frenzy, when uneducated casual gamers buy up now-cheaper consoles in droves, not knowing that there’s a difference. Seems pretty clear that MS is trying to pull a fast one, quickly reshuffling inventory. Hardware revisions are fine, just be honest with us about them!

If you’re going to get a 360 this holiday season I suggest getting it from Amazon. They’ve been honest enough to differentiate which consoles include HDMI, and which ones don’t. Thank them.