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Microsoft Announces Price Cut For Xbox

Posted by simoniker on from the more-box-for-your-buck dept.

fjord66 writes "Effective immediately, Microsoft's Xbox videogame console will retail for $179 in the United States." This wasn't the 50 buck price drop expected, but comes hot on the heels of Sony announcing a new bundle for $199 with an updated PS2 and the network adaptor, and $179 for disposal of the current PS2 stock.

3 of 36 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Will a $20 cut matter? by Acidic_Diarrhea · · Score: 2, Interesting
    I don't know if I agree that it will matter. If I'm considering buying a console and weighing my options between the XBox and the PS2, a 9% difference isn't going to be a huge consideration. I'd be much more apt to look at game libraries, support, and expected lifetime of the system.

    If I were already willing to spend $180, I don't think $20 more is going to sway me a lot. Maybe you're right - I'm talking from my own personal vantage point. I just didn't think that consumers were so fixated on price and saving that extra few bucks that they'd make it the only consideration.

    Why did I buy a PS2? GTA III. Why haven't I bought an XBox? There's no killer game that I feel I need to have and can't get anywhere else. Why am I heavily considering buying a Gamecube? Zelda. My train of thought keeps the price point firmly at the back. I mean, all three consoles are in the same general price zone so I don't think the differences make it a significant selling point.

    But Microsoft must have people who analyze the market and I guess they've determined I am completely wrong and that $20 is a big deal.

    --
    I hate liberals. If you are a liberal, do not reply.
  2. Disappointing by AvantLegion · · Score: 2, Interesting
    A price cut that small is definitely disappointing. Better than nothing, sure. But a $50 price cut would probably have sparked a LOT more consumer activity. Obviously, it wasn't going to match the first PS2/Xbox cuts last Memorial Day ($100 cut down to $199). But a $50 cut would have created a good buzz - especially since retailers and consumers were buzzing in anticipation of it. This wimpy $20 cut is just a disappointment to both.

    Time will tell, but I doubt we're going to see much of a spike in sales for either the Xbox OR the PS2.

  3. Re:Will a $20 cut matter? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    microsoft isn't being aggressive enough.

    say wha?! they've spent tons of money marketing the thing and you are saying they aren't being agressive enough?

    half of that marketing money goes to surreptitious campaigns like getting stores to put bigger ads in their catalogs and flyers for the xbox, getting retailers to make more room in their gaming areas for the xbox and highlighting it over its competition, incouraging retailers to have their sales staff sell xbox over the other consoles, giving spiffs to those salespeople, making sure that gaming, scifi, movie conventions have an xbox presence and giving out keychains and id badge loops with their logo on it, among many other things.

    think i'm kidding? do some of your own investigative findings...

    mark my words, i am betting that in a few years there will be a major antitrust lawsuit and investigation about microsoft using even more underhanded (the things above are only mildly underhanded) business practices to further their monopoly into the videogame business...