X360 Elite

[A Black Falcon]

And then what about the fact that developers aren't required to do anything with PSN? Really, the whole thing is a mess as it is, and it's going to take years to iron it all out. I have no doubt they'll get there, but I wouldn't be so naive to think Microsoft is going to stand still with their service either. In other words, Live will always be ahead.

It's great that you're critical, but you're obviously grossly misinformed how PSN stacks up against Live.

You're wrong. While Sony has no standard for the PSN network, they allow publishers putting games there to have features like the ability to add people you meet ingame to your friends list, to talk to other people ingame, etc... while it doesn't match Xbox Live for sure, it's worlds away from what Nintendo is doing. I mean, currently, Wii games CANNOT have online play. And if they do, there's pretty much no way that they'll allow conversations with the other players, except MAYBE in friends-only games. And as for those friends codes... we'll see, but if they end up being game-specific as rumored, despite the system codes, I would be very far from surprised.

For early adopters, those willing to spend more money for the new consoles, yes, they think it's going to remain the sweet spot. Microsoft obviously hasn't started their effort to reach the masses as the lack of a price drop makes quite obvious. It will happen in time.

Wi-fi is so unnecessary. Online play is the only thing that costs money, using Live for everything else is free. Microsoft recently revealed that nearly 40% of those using XBox Live are using it for media purposes other than online game play. Live has become the number two provider of video and hd content behind iTunes...there's certainly a market that doesn't need to spend that $50 a year.

As a game console, Xbox 360 still pummels the PS3 in value.

It will happen in time... the point is, the X360 is a year and a half old now. They have released a few games aimed at the mass market. Sales won't get up to Nintendo's level anytime in the forseeable future. And they're raising the price? Really, I think that the number one group that this thing is going to sell to is rich current X360 owners who want a larger HDD and a black system... it won't help them win the console war.

Really, they should have both wired and wi-fi. Nintendo is stupid for not having wired, Microsoft is stupid for not having wi-fi... fixing Nintendo's stupidity is cheaper than fixing Microsoft's, but really, in both cases it should have been included, like Sony did.

And as for value, if you mean game selection, you are right. But if you mean price... no, not really. They're both overly expensive, but thanks to Xbox Live costs, the 360 is the more expensive one.