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Microsoft Drops Xbox 360 Pricing

Posted by Soulskill on from the more-or-less dept.

Kawahee was one of several readers to tip news of a price cut for the Xbox 360. This comes after Sony dropped PS3 prices and unveiled the Slim model last week. The 360 Elite will now retail for $299, but will no longer ship with HD cables. The 360 Pro has been reduced to $249, but Microsoft is phasing it out. Analysts don't expect this new price point to be a huge boon for sales because the Elite doesn't match the PS3's hardware capabilities and is still more expensive than the Wii. Microsoft has "no plans" for a smaller version of the 360.

7 of 169 comments (clear)

  1. MS needs to be thinking about the 720 by elrous0 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The 360 is nearing the end of the typical console lifespan (which has always been about 5 years, give or take) and is getting a bit long in the tooth anyway. A DVD drive and 4-year-old CPU are already starting to hold it back (several new games are coming out for it that will have to span across several DVD's, versus one bluray for the PS3). They really should be looking at a new generation console soon (for 2010 or, at least, 2011). If they wait too long, Sony is going to start trouncing them with the stronger hardware of the PS3.

    And this time MS, for the love of God, please put some effort into making a hardware design that doesn't cause another RROD fiasco, or take a step BACKWARDS with no standard hard drive. That was just shameful.

    On a personal note, how about making your online architecture a little more friendly to MMO's? The PS3 has several in the pipeline, and you don't have any. There are only so many FPS's and racing games I can put up with before I want some innovation. Backwards compatibility probably wouldn't hurt either. Just my opinion.

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    1. Re:MS needs to be thinking about the 720 by Cornflake917 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      On a personal note, how about making your online architecture a little more friendly to MMO's? The PS3 has several in the pipeline, and you don't have any.

      Wrong.

      If they wait too long, Sony is going to start trouncing them with the stronger hardware of the PS3.

      Sony has had over 3 years to "trounce" them. This hasn't happened yet. Why would the stronger hardware aspect of the PS3 all of the sudden start attracting gamers away from the 360?

      --
      Abaddon: An Xbox 360 Indie game
    2. Re:MS needs to be thinking about the 720 by KDR_11k · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It also seems as though Nintendo has begun to hit market saturation with the Wii at its current price. The sales have been down over the last few months and there's still no word of a price cut. I'm expecting one around Christmas, but they may be running out of steam. If anyone needs to come out with a new piece of hardware it's Nintendo.

      No, they just went without a killer app for too long. Their strategy does not allow for pricedrops that quickly, especially when it's known what needs to be done to restore the sales without a pricedrop (namely releasing more killer apps). Besides, they just came out with a new piece of hardware called the Motion Plus. Since they don't consider graphics and processing that important they won't release a new system just to upgrade those.

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
    3. Re:MS needs to be thinking about the 720 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The PS3 no longer costs $200 more? It also plays Bluray movies? People already have 360s and it seems like an upgrade?

    4. Re:MS needs to be thinking about the 720 by thule · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It also seems as though Nintendo has begun to hit market saturation with the Wii at its current price. The sales have been down over the last few months and there's still no word of a price cut. I'm expecting one around Christmas, but they may be running out of steam. If anyone needs to come out with a new piece of hardware it's Nintendo.

      Nintendo is blue ocean. They are not trying to compete in the red ocean that is Xbox and PS3. MS and Sony have to price cut because they are fighting over the same pie.

      The Wii is finally getting some interesting third party games. The MotionPlus is awesome and makes a huge difference in certain types of games. Less "waggle" and more precision. Nintendo really doesn't need to do anything right now. Sure, they'll have an HD console someday, but for now, the Wii is doing just fine.

      A lot of people think that New Super Mario Wii is going to be HUGE (especially in Japan).

      They likely have plans, but I don't expect them to make any moves until either Sony or Nintendo does something first. My bet is on Nintendo just because they're flush with cash and really lagging behind in terms of hardware, especially with both Sony and Microsoft releasing motion control features in the near future.

      This is exactly why hardware performance doesn't matter. Nintendo *is* flush with cash and has moved many, many more units and they did it with lesser hardware! They weren't fighting over the current "hardcore" market. They were going after expanded market.

      For the "hardcore" crowd, the PS3 is the way to go and MS could end up loosing some share to Sony.

  2. what about the peripherials ripoff...... by Sobakus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The most required price cuts are for the outrageously expensive wifi adapter and the absurdly overpriced 120 gb hard drive. I have an original xbox 360 with 20gb hard drive (only had 1 RROD, hoorray) and I can barely install 1 game, and forget about movie downloads or a couple of demos unless you uninstall that game. Right now in spain a 120gb harddrive + wifi adapter will actually cost you more than the full xbox 360 arcade pack. To all you PS3 fanbois, bless Sony for letting you put any hard drive you wish. Believe me, after years fighting with a ridiculous 20gb drive thats one hell of a feature (...insert envy emoticon here...) WTF Microsoft??!!!!

  3. This is not even really a price drop. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    They are phasing out the Pro model at $250 and dropping the Elite model to $300. However, once the Pro models are gone it's still going to cost you $300 to get a Xbox 360 (the Arcade model doesn't count). So, how exactly is this a price drop? I suppose you could argue that it is a value increase (as you are getting 120 GB instead of 60 GB), but I certainly wouldn't call it a price drop.

    I bought a Xbox 360 Pro a year ago for $300. I've had no problems with it and enjoyed it a lot. However, if I were to do it all over again today I would go with a PS3. Back then a PS3 was $500. Today, however, for the same price as a Xbox 360 you get built-in Blu-ray, WiFi, and a standard hard drive interface. On the hardware front it's not even a contest. Xbox 360 has some great exclusive games, but so does PS3 (I hate exclusive games, but that's the world we live in). On top of that, Xbox Live is $50 a year. Xbox 360 was killing PS3 from the start (and rightly so; who pays $600 for a console?), but now the PS3 is in position to reverse that trend. Meanwhile, half of all Xbox 360s are failing. The future doesn't look so bright for the Xbox 360...