AfterDawn: News

Microsoft: No 360 Price Drop

Microsoft Corp. has revealed it has no immediate plans to lower the price of its Xbox 360 console. This comes after rumors that Microsoft would drop the price on the 360 by at least $100 to challenge prices of Sony's PlayStation 3 console, which launches in November.

Microsoft Europe representative Chris Lewis told Club Skill "We have no plans to make any price adjustment. The last couple of days have reinforced the fact that we have a great value proposition, giving consumers choice, thanks to the core system. We’re not forcing the consumer down a route with HD playback. We certainly don’t think it’s necessary to make any changes to the current price point."



He also went on to dismiss any rumours of an up and coming handheld Xbox console. "We’ve got quite a lot going on," he said. "It’s a hugely significant time for us and for gaming in general. We don’t have any plans to do anything in the handheld space."

Source:
Club Skill

Written by: Ben Reid @ 22 May 2006 16:34

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• 26 comments

• plutonash

  Why would they drop the price to challenge the Ps3 when i ts already cheaper.

  22.5.2006 16:53 #1

• Auslander

  it would make sony fanboys' argument much weaker if the 360's price was lower.

  22.5.2006 16:58 #2

• kaosX

  i thought the price was supposed to drop because of the new 65mm or whatever chips they were going to be producing in the near future.

  22.5.2006 17:58 #3

• ZippyDSM

  Meh there dosnet need to be a price drop right now,mabye when the PS3 hits the stores..mabye... I hope the PS3 gets a 50$ hit when it coems out.

  22.5.2006 19:03 #4

• Ludikhris

  A price drop would help them for sure. As it is right now, the MS owners are going to flame the PS3 price, but lets face it, with PS3 you are getting more things. Given in this situation you are FORCED to buy those extra things, but you are still getting it. When you do add up the better Graphics processing overall and Blu Ray player etc you get a better value with the PS3. Thus far MS's plan (and the fans of XBOX) seem to be to downplay the additions and flame the price accordingly. This is an attempt to circumvent a necessary price drop. Given what exactly the 360 is and what you recieve, it would need at least a 50$ price drop to stay on par with PS3. Flame on if you like, im not a fan boy. I am planning on owning all three systems when I get around to the money. You all know deep down inside yourselves that im right. The PS3 is just MORE. Given you MUST pay for it.
  
  Ludikhris
  
  "Ill be playin with your momma tonight"

  22.5.2006 19:49 #5

• borhan9

  It's just comes out and they want a price drop.
  
  Where do these guys cone from...

  22.5.2006 19:55 #6

• ZippyDSM

  Ludikhris
  plus the PS3 will have more games,the 360 has some games and so dose the Wii altho the Wii will I must have *L* metroid and zelda I have given up on mario *L*

  22.5.2006 19:58 #7

• ZippyDSM

  borhan9
  the PS3 is not out yet it has a small chance to get a small price drop by the tiem it luanchs,altho I'd rather se it drop 100$ , oh well mabye by next year *L*

  22.5.2006 20:00 #8

• johnodd4

  im glad they are not lowering the price tag any bit lower because gamers will look at nintendos wii and microsofts xbox 360 as the way to go in the next gen wars due to the fact that not everyone has a HDTV which means you cannot run the ps3 because the ps3 requires HDTV only no anolog tvs allowed
  
  

  22.5.2006 20:00 #9

• Ludikhris

  It's true there are marketing implications of the price. If they were to lower the price (they wont) it would make them more comparable to the wii, and lets face it, the wii is considered a "supplemental system" or a system geared more "for kids and old people alike!" if the price difference were larger between 360 and PS3 people may (a probably would) begin to see the PS3 as a premium product in comparison to the 360 and wii. The 360 is fighting to keep the same level of exterme as the PS3 by beating up on the extra features, while PS3 is trying hard to justify its choices that it made for consumers. Sony is working hard to carve its name as the "hardcore system". In my mind, theyve made it. I think the PS3 is the most powerful, and will do the most things where the 360 is more in the middle and Wii is more of an innovative product. In my view the Wii has potential but I would not bet all my dollars on just the Wii to satisfy my gaming needs. The PS3 has games more my choice, but I am very interested in owning a 360 to experience more americanized games from today. Whether MS wants to admit it or not, they wish they could have charged the same price for their console too. Sony is doing it for reasons two fold. 1) they need to charge that much in order to keep console sales losses to a minimal and 2) because they know people will pay the extra $$$. Im going to pay it and the majority of the average gamers (18-30) can afford it if they want by working a little extra for about a month.

  22.5.2006 22:45 #10

• vdojunkie

  i think more ppl will buy the wii. i know im thinking about buyn it . its cheap. n plus its more interactive. just think about it. yeah the ps3 is also interactive but the price!!!!!!!!!!!
  

  23.5.2006 02:51 #11

• vdojunkie

  m not interested n watchn movie on the ps3. afterall it is a gaming consol
  

  23.5.2006 02:53 #12

• diabolos

  The problem with the PS3 is that it already isn't living up to expectations. They went with a diffrent (possibley cheaper) video proccessor. Sony through out the HDMI ports on the cheaper version (for $499) altogether, no wi-fi, and only 20GB of memory. What is premium about that?
  
  Have you guys seen the new specs from this years E3?
  http://www.gamespot.com/news/6149552.html
  
  Ced

  23.5.2006 03:19 #13

• ZippyDSM

  vdojunkie
  neither am I ,but the new format wars have started and sony yet again is going in head frist in the long run I see little diffrance in the newer formats.
  
  diabolos
  The game pads are wifi,they could eaily make a wifi thign for it,besides HDMI is not a problem not with converters all over the palce,the system itself is powerfull enough to paly with the 360 and no one douts it was built around power,however they might have bit off mnroe than they can chew going Blue ray thats 250-300 all by itself,so the real price of it is more 350 around the price of 360,so it all adds up in the end,add the fact the PS3 will simpely ahve more games the 360 will have a nice but small selction of games,and any gamer must have a nintendo console,your simpley a fanboy without one *L* j/k
  
  I'd also liek to add the PS3 is thinking of the future the 360 is towing the thought for today,and the Wii is fousing on NON teens *L* but then isnt metriod teen rated? ok I am confuseing myself *L*

  23.5.2006 04:22 #14

• DamonDash

  LOL, how can you say PS3 has not live up to its expectations when the system has not lauched yet...Hmmmmmm.People, when you buy a cheaper version you not going to get things that the premium system have there has to be a price difference..lol I hear this all the time what person think they going to get the same features as the premium system.Sony said almost a year ago they was going to build a entertainment console not just for video games.So they are not forceing anything on anyone.

  23.5.2006 08:36 #15

• sukhvail

  will hdmi and the card reader be an option later on down the road? if not i think they made a huge mistake because the 360 allows you to upgrade the core if you want to a premium but the ps3 will just shut the door on the lower priced model if you cant add the parts.

  23.5.2006 12:13 #16

• Ludikhris

  the HDD will be expandable and there will be an add on for the card reader. That being said, HDMI (as sony says) will not be available in the future to those that do not buy the premium version.
  
  diabolos (Senior Member) 23 May 2006 7:19 _
  The problem with the PS3 is that it already isn't living up to expectations. They went with a diffrent (possibley cheaper) video proccessor. Sony through out the HDMI ports on the cheaper version (for $499) altogether, no wi-fi, and only 20GB of memory. What is premium about that?
  
  The problem with this arguement is that while the 499$ version is missing some components the true "premium" system offers, it still offers vastly more than the 360. The standard HDD alone provides a great opportunity for programers to bybass long load times by cacheing data. Plus the extra graphic power, and the blue-ray player etc etc. So in turn, the arguement actually almost defeats itself. Yes, for $100 you do lose a few options, probably making it worth the premium system, but in pointing out the benefits of the overall system for a mere $100 over the 360 premium price, Ill take the PS3.
  
  To answer some questions preemptively...
  
  No, im not a Sony fanboy. Im a realist that is objectively looking at the positives and negatives of each system.
  
  Yes the PS3 has problems, it is being pushed to be released (underdeveloped), and the price is something to choke on based on the amount of features that you MUST buy.
  
  Yes, I will own all three systems in this order PS3 Wii 360.
  
  Currently I own a PS2 and a Gamecube though most my gaming is done through my magic PC.
  
  Ive alreaedy owned 2 360s but sold them for a substantial profit last christmas season.
  
  Ludikhris

  23.5.2006 23:05 #17

• Ofnir1

  How many wanna bet people will buy the PS3 on eBay for $1,500 plus?

  23.5.2006 23:57 #18

• ZippyDSM

  Ludikhris
  So 360 devs cant use its HD for gameing?

  24.5.2006 00:02 #19

• Ludikhris

  ZIppyDSM
  they can but are unlikely to do so. Remember the PS2s HDD add on? Because publishers knew not everyone had it they didnt write the software to utilize it. How many games thus far utilize it for 360 today? I havent heard of any, but im ready to be educated. Of course there are no PS3 titles to compare it to, but based on the fact that the Bluray drive loaded in the PS3 is actually slower than the 12X DVD drive (despite the fact that bluray is constant speed and DVD are variable, 12X DVD is faster in almost all cases against 2X Bluray) publishers will want to write the programs to utilize the HD to not piss people off with huge load times. Not only that but you can bet your @$$ that PS3 games will be more content filled due to its Bluray advantage and will have more data to sift through. So in short, yes they can, but in most cases, no they wont.

  24.5.2006 00:28 #20

• ZippyDSM

  Ludikhris
  Mmmmmmmmm you have a good pointaltho I see MS puting HDs in every 360 in 2 or 3 years in order to compete with the PS3 ,but without it in there I guess most devs would rather not use it,less seems to be more in teh game industry *L* unless its graphics *L*
  
  Uhgg I thought the main diffrances between the PS3 500 and 600 were the HD sizes,so its not that that are makeing a low end version of the PS3.....No wonder the high end costs more they had to go thru all the trouble of makeing a low end >< whats wrog with haveign the PS3 60GB at 500 with a adapter thigny that plugs into it and puts out analog and the HDMI ports wont have to be fooled with >< *sigh* they made it more pricey by makeing 2 diffrent versions how off am I?
  
  At least the 360 is a simpel HD or no HD....I think..themore I ind out about the newer systems themore I want to say I'll fool with them in 4 or 5 years ><
  

  24.5.2006 01:12 #21

• Ludikhris

  If youre really interested in a possible flaw in the Playstation versions, go to IGN and look for the article on HDMI between them. Im too lazy to link it for you, but its a good read, and a scary possibility for those that choose the 499 system.
  
  Ludi

  25.5.2006 00:31 #22

• ZippyDSM

  Ludikhris
  I know you stop and think abotu it and it feels like they are tryign to sell hi def TVs with the BR dvds and crap ><
  
  I dont like it,its as much as MS tryign to sell broken 360s ><

  25.5.2006 01:43 #23

• Sophocles

  Sony has gone insane. Although the PS3 has technical advantages their only that, in the real world the PS3 offers only it's particular flavor of games that are currently not available on the Xbox. For picture quality there will be no real difference. In fact HD-DVD was the chosen format by the DVD consortium now the DVD Forum. Blu Ray has a storage advantage but not enough to translate into better picture quality, there they will be the same. Sony's has definite benefits that unfortunately can't be realized in the real world enough for it to sway a purchase decision.
  
  Where Sony has screwed up is in these constant delays to get their product to the market. This has been further hampered by a lack of communication with game developers and their not having supplied them with developer kits to even porting any games they've made to the PS3 system. Game developers are going to defect to the system that can allow them to market their product now. Probably millions of Xbox units have already sold and even when Sony does start selling units they're going to be too expensive for early adopters.
  
  Like someone said earlier on, I'm going to have them all but the Xbox is cheaper and already available so I have one right now. I'm convinced that in a year or so PS3's are going to come down and then I'll be ready to buy, but by then Sony will have lost huge shares of a gaming population that they once largely owned. Remember the Sega Genesis was technically better than Super Nintendo and the BetaMax was better than VHS but look at who won those battles. If possession is 99% of ownership then format adoption could turn out to be 99% of winning the console wars.

  27.5.2006 14:22 #24

• nfatoys

  Frankly, it doesn't matter what they charge for the Xbox-360. Microsoft has pulled such a dirty trick on owners of previous xbox game systems, I wouldn't buy it if they dropped the price $200.
  
  Many people have been really screwed by the "tuff luck" attitude the Microsoft has with all the people who bought their product, and are now left standing in the dust with an obsolete game system and hundreds of games that are not supported on the 360. Sure, MS says they are "working on it"; geting older games supported. But the compatibility list hasn't changed in over 6 months. I doubt I'll ever see DooM 3 on "the list".
  
  Until they can say they support ALL previous xbox games on the 360, I'll hold off buying anything from Microsoft. The same will be true when they change processors in the 360 next year. How many of today's xbox 360 games (or the few xbox games they do support) will become obsolete and un-supported when that happens?
  
  All I can say to MS is "Your credibility has been shattered. What do you intend to do about it?".
  

  30.5.2006 05:09 #25

• Aenygma

  If there were to be a price drop I would not expect one till the holidays, or even 1st quarter next year.

  31.5.2006 18:45 #26