Bill Gates Owes Me

posted by papi blez

Wed Aug 02, 2006 at 02:04:51 PM EST

In the past two weeks, I've helped sell two Xbox 360s.  First, I talked my best friend into getting one simply because I've always wanted to play more games with him from a distance.  Now that he's got a large HDTV, there was a reason to talk him into it.  He's a bit of a different kind of gamer than I am, loving RTS games and RPGs.  So naturally I told him about LOTR: BFME and Oblivion.  He bought both.

I treated him to his copy of Halo 2 so we could play a little online.  As I mentioned before, I haven't really played on XBL before so I finally have someone who is as ignorant about the multi-player maps as I am.  We're learning as we go.

The other 360 I helped sell was yesterday at EB Games.  I was there with my daughter and a woman came in with her son looking to buy him a PSP for his birthday.  Apparently the PSP he got for Christmas had unceremoniously died.  

I overheard the conversation and stuck my nosy ass in there and told the woman that she shouldn't waste her money on a new PSP especially with the tiny library of crappy games.  I suggested that she should get him a cheaper DS Lite that had a lot of games.  He got excited when he heard me and started with the, "Yeah, Mom, I've been telling you that!  The DS is so much cooler than the PSP."  

We also wound up discussing consoles.  She said she had been waiting for the PS3.  I told her there's no reason to wait to pay $200 more for a system that looks about the same as what is currently on the market.  I found out that they happened to have a 55 inch HDTV, so that was a good selling point.  The kid also loved racing games, which the 360 has plenty of.  She obviously had a lot of money and decided to go ahead and buy him both a DS Lite and 360.  I also tell anyone who will listen that the PS3 is not worth waiting for when there are plenty of 360s on the market right now.  It's also a system that doesn't try and force a technology down your throat.

Why would I do this?  Well, I wanted to have my best friend on XBL so he and I could play like we were 11-years-old again.  My wife was cracking up at me because I was laughing my ass off playing Halo 2 the other night.  Second, I honestly believe that the 360 is a much better bargain than the PS3 and I have a feeling a lot of unsuspecting parents are going to be caught off guard by the $600 price tag for the PS3.  This is the second parent I've run into in a month who has said that their child wants the PS3 and they didn't know the cost of the system.  When I told them $600, they both said that their child will be getting a 360 instead.  I'm not saying that I won't one day own a PS3, it's just got to drop about $300 for me to get to that point and I'm not anticipating that happening any time soon.

Yeah, it also benefits me to have the potential 360 Gears of War fanbase as large as possible so I have folks at my skill level.  But it's just my little way of helping people understand that they shouldn't just blindly assume that because it's PlayStation it has to be good.  The funny thing is that the clerk at EB Games was also trying to convince the woman that a 360 is just as good and cheaper than the PS3.  You know you have problems when the guys who work behind the counters are taking sides.

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  •  Hit it right on the mark (none / 0)

    Microsoft should pay you :)

    I love my PS2. But lately, i really have become a xbox fanboy in a way. I am constantly correcting people when i hear them talk about the PS3 and its "superiority" to the xbox 360. They somehow think the graphics are a lot better just because Sony gets up on stage and throws up numbers.The up coming titles for the PS3 are really looking no better than the original launch of xbox 1 ports. (And the PS3's are not ports!)And even more frightening, the games dont even look fun. There are only 2 PS3 games i want right now. MGS4 and Heavenly Sword. The rest of good games are also coming out for 360 or PC. So i really dont have a reason to throw down 600$ for a blu-ray dvd player.

    Everytime someone doesnt believe me about the 360s power i show them GEARS OF WAR. Though some tell me that the gameplay vids have to be pre-rendered :) Most see the light through this game alone. And this isnt the only AMAZING looking game. But  more importantly they are fun games. Microsoft had an excellent showing at E3 because they didnt throw out numbers or gimmicks or pre-rendered "the wanted visual bar" videos. They came with real gameplay and put less emphasis on graphics (which were better than any other system) If 360 gets UT2007 and the rest if the rumored PS3 games (assasins creed) i feel it safe to assume that Sony is going to have to drop the price of the 360 quicker than they wanted.

    Not all who wander are lost

    by Zoso Fan on Wed Aug 02, 2006 at 02:51:38 PM EST

    •  The thing is (none / 0)

      if I truly want superior picture in my movie watching at home, I'll sooner or later just get the HD-DVD add-on for the 360.  Yes, it will probably ultimately be the same amount as a PS3 but the point is that MS has given us, as gamers first and foremost, the choice!

      I know a lot of people don't like add-ons, but frankly I do if it lowers the price of the console $200 and then gives you the chance to upgrade later.

      by papi blez on Wed Aug 02, 2006 at 03:53:35 PM EST

      [ Parent ]

  •  haha. (none / 0)

    Bill Gates & Allard owe me Microsoft stock.

    I've converted literally, 40+ people to Xbox 360 since it's launch or Wii60 since E3, for their Next-Gen console purchase(s).

    14+ of which have already purchased a 360.

    Good Old Influence & Word of Mouth.

    Not to mention every single person i've converted, I also put on to Gears of War, hyped it up real nice too.

    Cliffy & Rein owe me too!

    by Chris. on Wed Aug 02, 2006 at 11:26:59 PM EST

  •  I'd buy that for a dollar......... (none / 0)

    Back in the day I converted about 10 people over to the Xbox, and all but one of them wants a 360, the one hold out seems to have crawled up Sony's butt and died! I'm with you 100% papi! The Ps3 is asking to much from people.Having a family and bills, doesn't leave much in the way of extra cash and thats alot to dump at on time. It looks like alot of the games that I'd want to play on the Ps3 are coming over to the 360, except for MGS 4, damn you Hideo!

    Dirty Filthy Rotten!

    by Corpse Grinder on Thu Aug 03, 2006 at 12:44:27 AM EST

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