After my slightly frequent Nintendo bashing, I felt that it would be remiss of me not to have a bit of a go at Microsoft for attempting one last 360 shaped pocket-pilfer with the Limited Edition Halo 4 Xbox 360 console bundle that is due out when the game launches this year.
Not that this is entirely unexpected of course, Microsoft have released Xbox’s to coincide with several big game releases, Final Fantasy, Halo 3, Call of Duty and Halo Reach (I actually owned the Reach console) to name the ones I can think of off of the top of my head.
But this latest pillage irks me a lot. They know that people will buy it, because it is shiny and has a Halo-esque lines theme on it. But why do they deem it appropriate to make players pay such a hefty price? £269 is a lot of money for what will soon be ‘last-generation’ hardware.
I kind of feel for the people that buy it. Of course they will love the new machine, but with the upcoming Wii U launch, I don’t really see how forking out for yet another Halo themed Xbox 360 is valid. At least the Wii U will offer something new – even if I personally am not enamored with certain choices they’ve made for it. The same cannot be said of this new fan-exploit of a machine.
320GB hard-drive and everything exactly the same inside. This is just a re-packaged CoD Xbox. At least they could have stuffed a bigger HD in there or a new…something! And that’s not to mention that you get a standard copy of the game with it (plus some DLC to make it seem more charitable) meaning that the ‘true’ fans who buy the machine, will probably want to buy the limited edition version of the game as well to sit alongside the other limited editions of the previous games that sit on dusty shelves.
I understand marketing and I understand the need for a business to turn a profit – video games is one of very few revenue streams that Apple are not yet stealing from MS – but Jesus, give the people something new. I know that I won’t be queuing to get one of these, because quite frankly, i’ll be waiting for the new machine when it arrives next year (assuming it is out next year)
So, Microsoft, for this, you’re on the list now. You pocket raping whoreboxes! And you shall not be getting any of my money…until you show me something NEW and shiny to obsess over…obviously.
cynicalcyclical 