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Xbox, PS2 Get Near-Simultaneous European Price Cuts

Posted by simoniker on from the bam-bam dept.

Thanks to Reuters/CNET for the news that both the Xbox and PlayStation 2 have received price cuts in Europe, as: "Microsoft said it would cut 25 percent off the price of its Xbox in continental Europe, bringing the price to 149.99 euros ($183.70). The software giant also cut the U.K. price to 99.99 pounds ($183.10) from 129.99 pounds ($236.96)." Almost immediately following this: "Market leader Sony cut the price of its top-selling PlayStation 2 console by a quarter to 105 pounds ($191.43) in the United Kingdom and to between 149 euros ($183.74) and 159 euros ($196.05) in the euro zone." Gamesindustry.biz adds: "Retailers will hope to see a significant sales boost for both consoles from the price cuts, much as was experienced by US retail back in June when Microsoft, and then Sony, slashed the price of their consoles within the space of a month of each other."

7 of 22 comments (clear)

  1. Nothing to see here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Sales slow, prices get cut, sales go back up. Happened over here with the Gamecube, then the Xbox, then the PlayStation 2. *yawn*

  2. Re:I might be able to afford the system . . . by MadChicken · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I hate gaming on my computer (OK RTSs are the exception). Installation problems, crashes, driver problems, endless upgrades, being hunched over a desk...

    But let's look at this face value...

    Let's see, for $120 you get Windows, $300 gets you a video card, $100 a hard drive, $100 for RAM... and no actual computer yet. No game controllers, no mouse/kb.

    Then you pay $30-50 per game ANYWAY. I'd say you sure don't know how to bargain shop...

    Or is this computer just for nethack?

    --
    SYS 64738 NO CARRIER
  3. Re:I might be able to afford the system . . . by wakejagr · · Score: 2, Insightful
    If I used my computer for just gaming, you'd be right. Windows, video card, mainboard, etc are going to cost more than an XBOX or PS2. But, install Linux, and I can use my computer for other things as well (music, movies, writing, programming, etc). I spend more time doing stuff like that than I do gaming.

    Plus, most games I play are FPS, and I never liked Halo specifically because of the controller. Too used to mouse and kb. And with the computer, an added bonus: nethack!

    --
    Don't save Windows XP! http://www.petitiononline.com/jjw1xp/petition.html
  4. Excellent news by Sockatume · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Considering how well the PS shifted units at that price point, things should really pick up. One concern is how this will affect the handhelds launched next year, though... the NDS will probably cost more than the GC's current RRP, and the PSP's price will most likely be ludicrous in comparison to the XBox and PS2. Of course, this is hardly new, as the GBA SP currently costs more than the GameCube, and it doesn't seem to have dramatically affected sales of either unit.

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    No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
  5. Bad PS2 by superpulpsicle · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I got a PS2 with a grindy gear near the lens. Or maybe the lens went to hell.

    I am so tempted to buy a new PS2... but only at $99.

  6. Piracy? by Xenex · · Score: 2, Insightful

    But you'd still need to spend money to buy eight or ten computer games.

    Unless you're trying to encourage piracy.

  7. Re:ps2 Vs. XBOX by HeridFel · · Score: 2, Insightful
    There's a number of reasons. Here's some.

    1. PS2 was out first. People bought it, were less likely to buy another console to share their TV with.

    2. PS2 was backward compatible. Kids could say to their parents that it was an upgrade, not a replacement, and that the $$$ they'd spent on PS1 games wasn't a complete waste.

    3. PS2 has a massive catalog of games. Developers might prefer other hardware, but management looked at installed user base and decided a PS2 port was necessary for virtually every gmae made. And because budgets were tight, it would be necessary to try to develop a lot of 'one size fits all' platform-independant games, leaving the XBox versions looking at most a little sharper than the PS2 one, but nothing to write home about.

    4. PS2 contended with the XBox which had, for the first year of existence, a list of must-have games consisting of {"Halo"}

    5. PS2 was made by Sony. A company whose image is (slightly) better that Microsoft's.

    6. PS2 didn't have to create new universes. A great number of games were follow-ups to existing PS1 ones, and sequels had people buying to find out 'what happened next'

    7. PS2 is not so much 2 generations behind as being a hardware platform made by a company that failed to realise that it might be better to produce a new system which behaves something like existing ones. The Gamecube happily proclaims "ATI inside" and we all know that the XBox is a rebadged PC. Also see (3) about multi-platform games.

    And some more biased reasoning I've seen before:

    a) every game people bought for PS2 wasn't pushing BillG further up the rich list.

    b) PS2's controller wasn't big enough to shade large parts of texas.

    c) People would rather play FPSs with mouse and keyboard than console controller, and we know that most Xbox games will come out for PC at some point.

    d) Since XBox's just a PC in a strange case, the games crash a lot.