randomwiz

Contributor
CRank: 6Score: 30820

How Microsoft rips you off

Ok, i'm making this because I'm so mad. I'm ran out of space on my 20gb(Only games, all my media is on my ps3). Now I have to replace it. I get so mad at the price of microsoft's accessories. For me, ethernet is not an option, I have to use wifi, so I had to churn out another $100, and now I have to spend crazy amounts of money to buy an HDD.

1. The 360 Hard Drive.
Oh how Microsoft rips you off here. You know to buy a 250gb hard drive for the ps3 is extremely cheap. I got mine for $70. But Microsoft makes you pay $150 for a 120gb hard drive.

I wondered why the 360 HDD was so expensive. I did some search online, and what I found astonished me. Inside the guts of the xbox 360 hard drive was a 2.5in laptop hard drive, which I can replace with my own. Except, I couldn't replace it with any 2.5'' hard drive because that hard drive actually had some important OS files. And for some stupid reason, the 360 only recognizes 120gb, 60gb and 20gb hard drives.

So all this time, Microsoft is using a regular laptop hard drive and they are charging so much just for it.

2. Wi-Fi Adapter
This has been one of my biggest complaints since day 1. The Wi-fi adapter costs so much, and it doesn't include wireless n for that price. How much does it really cost to add wifi. This is one of Microsoft's devious tricks to make you think its more expensive than it actually costs. You can get a wireless N usb adapter for a pc for anywhere from $39.99 and up.

3. Rechargeable Battery
Ok, this one is not as bad, but its still pretty expensive for rechargeable batteries. I don't think it costs $15 to put 2 rechargeable AA batteries in a case.

In conclusion, Microsoft overcharges greatly for their accessories. Like the rebel soul I have within myself, I found a workaround for all of these problems and saved myself so much money.

Lets look at how much I saved.
------------------------------------------
HDD - Saved $90
I bought a 2.5in SATA 120gb hard drive. I did some stuff and formatted it with some simple tools I found online. And I was ready to go.

WiFi - Saved $60 , but what a hassale.
This is what I did.

Rechargeable Battery pack - Saved $15 per controller
I just put some rechargeable batteries in there. Yes its kind of a hassale to take them out and charge them, but it works

Total Savings that didn't go to Microsoft - $165



Cajun Chicken5380d ago

Yeah, I hardly have 4gb left on my 20gb 360 and they make it hard to transfer your games.

hoo_mook5379d ago

no dispute about 360 hdd price gouging.

don't go wifi. you already know the issues associated with wireless gaming so i won't list them. best options in order are:

1. hard wire
2. powerline - http://www.amazon.com/gp/se...
3. wireless

and yeah rechargeable batts are not really an issue. my nyko batts can sit on a charger with the 360 off and last longer than my 6axis.

Anon19745379d ago

I moved into a new house and had to buy a Wi-Fi adapter for my 360, which is still an unbelievable $100. Now with the Pro console I bought at launch, 2 controllers, extended warranty from MS (which thankfully saved me from a disk gouging unit they sent me that I would have had to pay for), charge and play kits, more batteries when they stopped charging and 2 years of XBL I'm over $900.

They also charged me an extra $340 in repairs for RROD, which eventually, and after a long fight, they refunded back to me.

My PS3, which has been running great, cost me $500 at launch plus $50 for an extra controller. That's it.

a_squirrel5365d ago

Good to hear a sucess story :)

And ouch, 2 disagrees to above?

Some people don't like it when someone makes a point, aka. fanboy

thor5379d ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

In the 360's case, the 360 is the razor, and Live, Xbox 360 games and peripherals form the blades.

It's a simple business tactic. Many people will feel cheated once they realise how much they've actually spent, and Microsoft will be laughing because they've got $900 from someone who intended to spend $300 on a console. By breaking down the cost into small chunks it appears manageable to anyone. "Only $299! Only $50 a year! Only $100 for wi-fi! Only $15 for controller batteries!" Most people won't add it up in their head.

Gue15379d ago (Edited 5379d ago )

Weak

Those that still don't understand this simple fact to this date and age will never understand at all. You need to make a blog with more facts than the obvious 3 things you have there...

potenquatro5379d ago (Edited 5379d ago )

The HDD and WIFI are really the rip-offs. But you don't NEED the MS WIFI unit. The rest is non issue for me. The HDD being so expensive really gets to me. They can sell a gig for a buck and still make money. Yet they totally rips(arbitrages lol) you off on this. Live HAS to go down. It's gotta be $20 a year.

EDIT: If you don't mind having wired controller, get it for 360. The D-pad is really good, better rumble and it's non issue for fighting games. It's like the perfect controller....only wired :(

Every company rips you off, we have to call them on it.

randomwiz5379d ago

for me, ethernet is not an option, its hard to describe, but because of my set up, I would need a 100ft cable running through my home down the stairs.

hoo_mook5379d ago

you definitely dont need MS official add on.

randomwiz - did you see my recommendation for powerline ethernet?

randomwiz5379d ago

yeah i saw that, but I already have my own solution

110°

Skull and Bones’ “tremendous response” to Season 1 may surprise you

Yes, Ubisoft's divisive pirate RPG Skull and Bones appears to be sailing on the tides of success, as Ubisoft prepares to launch Season 2.

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theloadout.com
kenpachi10h ago

I wonder how much Ubisoft payed for this article to be written.

RhinoGamer881h ago

Does anyone have accurate gameplay numbers from Steam or PSN? I smell snow job...

S2Killinit1h ago

If true, it goes to show that the negative press response was not reflecting reality. I personally thought omitting land traversal was a huge miss. But i also thought there was some things that were great about it. Lets see which story was true and which was made up (or worse, paid for)

Friendlygamer1h ago

No data just pr talk. The same site has an article talking about how the price of the game was slashed quickly post release, these sites treat us like fools lol

InUrFoxHole1h ago

What exactly is you're arguement? Did you read the article?

jjb19811h ago

They're right. There is no argument either. The game is a turd and Ubisoft is doubling down on that turd. It's all fancy PR talk with no actual substance. I don't know what "argument" you're looking for. I read the article. It sounds like Ubisoft asked for a redo on their "AAAA" "game". Trash game and trash company.

Friendlygamer25m ago(Edited 22m ago)

Price decrease articles are typically made to make it seem like a gaming is flopping, they're often poorly researched and meaningless.
The article about the game thriving is also meaningless because it contains no data, it's basically corporate propaganda, even suicide squad is getting a season 2

In resume, not only this site plays both sides, it does it lazily and cynically because they don't care about quality, what they care about is clicks from us ( fools )

InUrFoxHole13m ago(Edited 10m ago)

@ jb
🤣 all it says is thanksfor the support. It's not like they're saying hey it's better than what you've seen come buy it. Lol you guys will whine about anything
@ Friendly
Gotcha when you referenced the other articles was like... uh doesn't that make it non biased? Basically you prefer stats with these articles or some sort of metric. I'm tracking. All I can say is... not everything is an amazing read or comment on n4g, lol. Game on!

TheColbertinator53m ago

Another paid AAAA article from Ubisoft

60°
7.0

The Bridge Curse 2: The Extrication Review - Cinematically Haunting - Games Horizon

The Bridge Curse 2: The Extrication was incredibly scary, and would be considered a cinematic horror because of how well everything is done visually. There are many faults with it, but at least it's very scary.

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70°

Ghost of Tsushima PC Optimized Settings & Performance Guide

Ghost of Tsushima has launched on PC with a long list of graphics options for you to tweak. Developed by Nixxes, it’s another well-optimized port integrating the latest upscaling and frame generation technologies from AMD, NVIDIA, and Intel. We took the port for a spin across several systems, and have compiled our performance optimization guide below.

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pcoptimizedsettings.com