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Xbox Price Cuts Confirmed

Posted by Soulskill on from the nice-timing dept.

Kotaku notes that the suspected price cuts to the various Xbox 360 systems have been confirmed. Xbox Live's Major Nelson posted the new prices ($199 for the Arcade, $299 for the Pro, and $399 for the Elite) and pointed out a BusinessWeek story discussing the changes. The price cuts will take effect on September 5th.

8 of 196 comments (clear)

  1. Place your bets... by AKAImBatman · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...the Wii will still sell better.

    Even at $199, the majority of consumers feel like they're getting half a system when they get the 360 without a hard drive. As a result, they're going to be looking at the higher $299 price tag. The Wii doesn't have that problem (at least not yet) because the system has the exact same fixed storage on all systems. What you get is what you get. You do not miss out on anything because you purchased the cheaper model.

    (Anyone reminded of Henry Ford's, "You can have any color you want as long as it's black"? ;-))

    --
    Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
    1. Re:Place your bets... by Cathoderoytube · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I'm not so sure this is a shot at Nintento so much as it is a shot at Sony. Just a guess though.

      --
      I have nothing compelling to say
    2. Re:Place your bets... by Babbster · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I get that /. is home to those who might be considered (or even consider themselves) "hardcore," but I'm still perplexed by the characterization of the Xbox 360 Arcade as "stripped down." That version includes everything needed to start playing 360 games including a memory card (256MB), and they've even been packing in a wireless controller; the original no-hard-drive unit had no memory card and a wired controller. And this price cut isn't insignificant - the drop from $280 to $200 is 28.6%, which is huge and makes the 360 - even if one goes out and buys new video cables for high-definition - cheaper than the Wii. So, Microsoft is including more stuff than they used to and charging significantly less money. That seems more like "a good deal" than "stripped down."

      Disclaimer: I love the Wii, respect the value of the PS3 for those who want Blu-ray and sold my 360 last year. :)

    3. Re:Place your bets... by MooseMuffin · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Basically the opposite situation here. I'm a Wii and 360 owner and the only game I've finished on the Wii was resident evil 4, which I never played on any of its other platforms but can't imagine it was half as good without the wiimote. I was excited for Mario and Zelda but really never picked them up after the first few days I had them. They were well done for sure, but they just didn't hold my interest like I thought they would. Maybe my tastes have changed since the n64 days. I picked up smash brothers for cheap one day, but it plays far too loose to appeal to my fighting game loving side. Generally, the Wii is now used to show friends who come by who haven't played with one very much. I certainly don't discount the Wii though. RE4 proved that they could definitely utilize the machine in a way that would interest me; They just haven't done it since.

      The 360 gets played all the time though, largely due to the friends list I think. I turn it on for a couple of quick geometry wars games and end up being invited to some other gaming session that ultimately lasts 4 times as long as I planned on gaming. Halo is a big culprit here, not because it's a particularly great shooter (I'm partial to cod4 on PC), but its good enough and nearly ubiquitous among 360 owners. If you know some 360 owners, you probably all have halo and can play that together. Between the friends list and voice chat, I've probably maintained friendships with college buddies who I may have otherwise lost touch with.

      Additionally, soul calibur handles my fighting game fix, putting friends-filtered high score lists on the main screen in geometry wars turned it into an ever-present obsession, and the draw of the online music store within rock band is downright lethal once I've had a drink or two...

  2. Re:Red Ring of Death Now Cheaper! by kcbnac · · Score: 4, Informative

    Microsoft already switched to 65nm parts from the original 90nm parts quite awhile back.

    http://www.google.com/search?q=Xbox+360+goes+65nm

    From what I remember, after that people were liking how cool the systems ran. There also were some obvious ways to check your system, to identify which it was. (I think this was aimed at those getting potential refurbs from the RRoD)

  3. Microsoft's Xbox Fiasco by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Slashing the price of the 360 to below Wii levels isn't going to do anything.

    The first Xbox sold around 24-25 million between November 2001 and June 2005 when it went out of production.

    The Xbox 360 has sold just over 19.5 million worldwide(sorry vgchartz fake sales numbers) with about 9 months left before it reaches the same point in the Xbox's life where Microsoft pulled the plug on the console.

    The Xbox and Xbox 360 are selling at a virtually identical rate.

    Microsoft only shipped 2.3 million new Xbox 360's worldwide for the first half of 2008.

    The Xbox 360 is selling at a virtually identical sales rate in the three major console regions, Japan, US, and Euopre.

    Dead in Japan.
    Dead in almost all of Europe outside the UK
    Almost all the remaining sales coming from the US.

    The Xbox 360 is selling to the exact same people who bought the first Xbox. Cutting prices isn't going to do anything. The demand simply isn't there. Just like the first Xbox there already is talk of the next Halo on the next Xbox being the savior of the platform.

    Microsoft is letting PC gaming die from neglect while they waste their time getting nowhere in the console market. The 7 billion dollars Microsoft wasted in the console market could have been better used to revitalize they dying PC game market and keep PC developers from jumping to the console market.

    1. Re:Microsoft's Xbox Fiasco by philspear · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That's some shoddy logic there. Extreme oversimplification. The 360 has lost a lot of money due to the technical problems. The logical conclusion there is to fix those problems and not make the same mistakes, yet you seem willing to declare a microsoft console as fundamentally a bad idea that can never work. Tell me it's not just because you're upset about the state of PC gaming.

      PC gaming is dying out because people like to play games rather than wasting time on computer maintenece. I know what your opinion of us must be, but I get no joy out of installing new software or hardware so I can play the latest game. I could definitely learn how to do that, but I much prefer plugging my console into the TV, putting the disc in, and playing immediately. I play games to relax, not to do work. MS spending money on the PC market would be a waste.

      I also have to point out that the PS3 is not doing great either. You'd have me believe that the next console is going to be just nintendo out there alone?

  4. Re:Lazy by Samantha+Wright · · Score: 5, Funny

    Think of it in terms of how much porn they can store.

    Arcade: public place; most people don't keep their porn stashes in public. No HDD.
    Pro: somewhat private; maybe you've spent one or two afternoons entertaining yourself on company time. Small HDD.
    Elite: parent's basement; pretend this is spelled "1337" and everything falls into place.

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