Microsoft Officially Slashes Japan Xbox Price

securitas writes "Reuters' Daisuke Wakabayashi reports that Microsoft will 'cut the price of its Xbox game console by a third in Japan, undercutting rival Sony Corp's recently reduced PlayStation 2 price ahead of the holiday shopping season.' The price cut takes effect on Nov. 20 when it will be reduced to 16,800 yen (US$155) from 24,800 yen (US$228). The cut comes a week after Sony's 20 percent cut in its PS2 price to 19,800 yen (US$182), which takes effect Nov. 13. (Gamespot brief) Does this hint at a holiday price cut for North America, too?" We mentioned price cut rumors for Xbox in Japan a couple of weeks back.

Comments

MS is nervous

[scumbucket]

Nintendo is turning up the heat with it's GC price cutting.....

Re:MS is nervous

[metallicagoaltender]

If MS is worried about Nintendo, they have their heads farther up a dark cavity than I thought. Nintendo fills a niche market, and fills it quite well. The only company MS is battling for console supremacy is Sony, and they've been getting their asses handed to them.

The only way they're going to make a real gain (even if it's shortlived) is a decent sized price cut compared to the PS2.

Re:MS is nervous

[Matrix272]

The only company MS is battling for console supremacy is Sony, and they've been getting their asses handed to them.

If you think the point of the Xbox was to become the dominant console on the planet, you're far more naive than I would have guessed. Microsoft isn't stupid, they know that the PS2 outnumbers the XBox by the tens of millions. The point of the XBox was to show that Microsoft COULD make a worth-while console, and to gain momentum. The XBox 2 won't even try to dominate the market... but it'll make more in-roads for Microsoft. I'd guess the XBox 3 MIGHT start really giving Sony a run for their money.

The XBox is already pretty obviously the most powerful console in the world, but it doesn't have the great games... because it doesn't have the great developers yet. The XBox sent a message to the developers that Microsoft was a very real force in the video game industry. The XBox 2 will send an even greater message, being that the public supports it. Around the time the XBox 2 reaches its 2nd or 3rd birthday, you'll see a massive influx of developers making XBox games. When the XBox 3 is released, Microsoft will clearly have enough developers to make Sony nervous.

The XBox was never going to take over the world... not even close. That was never the point anyway... Just watch out for the XBox 2 or 3.

Re:MS is nervous

[Acidic_Diarrhea]

The market strategy you are describing is indeed Microsoft's strategy but it's also important to note that no console manufacturer has ever used this model before. Mainly because no company has been willing to operate at a loss the likes of which Microsoft is currently seeing. When Sony jumped into the market with the PSOne, they didn't have a long term plan to slowly take market share away from Nintendo and Sega - they aimed to corner the market for that generation and move on from there. I think that you're overstating the future for the XBox - it certainly could go down the way you describe but it's not as likely as it seems you believe.

I don't think Microsoft is going to be a company that gets a devoted following (like Nintendo) since they have not really been a great first person game developer (outside of the third party companies that they've bought) so they're not going to have a guaranteed base they can work from.

And my final point is that you didn't hear all this talk of Microsoft planning not to win this generation of hardware with the XBox until after the XBox had lost. There was a program on G4TV regarding the making of the XBox and at the time of the launch, Bill and company seemed quite excited about the prospects. It's easy to say now that MS had planned all along that they wouldn't be able to win but I am sure there was quite a bit of disappointment in the sales department. The first console generation Sony entered, Sony won.

whatever happened to the redesigned xbox?

[*weasel]

the smaller, lighter, cheaper one that's been rumored?

if MS is going to beat Sony's ps3 to market with their xbox next, they're running short on their window to release a refresher product.

particularly with their less-than-dominant market share, one wouldn't expect it to be worth the investment to redesign the thing if it's only going to be on sale a few months ahead of the xb2.

i'm thinking that the redesign is the only hope for further US price cuts.

Re:whatever happened to the redesigned xbox?

[buffer-overflowed]

Even if we see developer support shift to the GC, there is a 1-2 year lead in on games development. Any gains in that area aren't going to be realized until just around the time of the next console generation.

So, this holiday season will probably determine who finishes at number 2 at the end of this generation.

Er --- isn't $155 less than the cost of the HD?

[Snafoo]

How big is the hard drive in the X-Box? How much do hard drives of that size run for these days?