Xbox 360 price cuts announced

Microsoft announced that Xbox 360 prices will drop to $349 for the 20GB model, a $50 price cut. A basic console without a hard drive or wireless controllers will retail for $279, $20 less than its current price, while the Xbox 360 Elite, a black version with a 120-gigabyte hard drive and high-definition video support, will drop $50 to $449.

The new prices will be effective tomorrow, almost exactly a month after rival Sony slashed the price of the PS3 $100 to sell the remaining stock of first generation models in preparation for the launch of a newer version.

Microsoft says the cuts aren't related to Sony's move. The official announcement specifically mentions the release of Madden NFL 08, which it notes was the top selling console game last year.

"There is nothing too shocking about this," said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at JupiterResearch. He said it's normal for companies to cut console prices between one and two years after launch.

The analyst added that the $50 price cut will bring in a whole new group of customers who ruled it out at the higher price, and that Microsoft should enjoy increased sales immediately - even though the official holiday shopping season is still months away.

Microsoft also said that the green and gold "Halo 3"-themed console, will go on sale in September for $400.

Sources:
Associated Press
Microsoft

Written by: Rich Fiscus @ 7 Aug 2007 7:56

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23 comments

emugamer

Ok, I can swing $405. (I happen to have a Best Buy coupon for 10% off games and gaming hardware ;-) )

I don't care how many people say this is pointless....the fact is, it's cheaper and I like the direction they are going with their hardware. That's all I care about.

7.8.2007 08:07 #1

herbsman

Again it seems that only america counts , can't see anymore consoles being sold in Europe because U.S of A has a price reduction going on.

Bill Gates can kiss my ar$e :�

7.8.2007 08:28 #2

BIGnewb

xbox 360 has won north america over but its missing 2 more markets.europe and japan which both play a vital role too.wii and ps3 do own asia(wii more than ps3) and europe is completely forgotten by microsoft,sony is rumoured to produce a 120gb ps3 for europe which is great because europeans rather see value than price cut from what we've been hearing.if xbox wants to seal it they can do it by not just doing stuff on their own turf they need to challenge themselves.same with the zune which no one knows wat the hell that is other than in america and even here not many know.

7.8.2007 08:37 #3

21Q

If the eliete cost $480 and the price drop is $50 how will it cost $450?

7.8.2007 09:48 #4

NexGen76

I'm sorry but 50 bucks not going to get it.The 360 is almost 2 years old & thats the best they can do is 50 bucks.Microsoft got to do better than that because they still have the 30% failure rate hanging over there head & 50 bucks not going to get anyone motivated.If i was Microsoft i would have scrap the core version drop the 20 gig & Elite 100 bucks each.There is no excuse why Microsoft shouldn't have drop more money off.

7.8.2007 09:58 #5

maxsixer

Whats going on here? how come Europe is never mentioned? anyhow 50 dollars is nothing it doesn't even sound like its dropped in price

7.8.2007 11:05 #6

djeazyg

This is a joke. The first game you buy is probably going to be more than $50. So why not just give a game away for free. People say Sony is greedy, Microsoft is worse. At least Sony is upfront about it. MS tries to hide it.

7.8.2007 11:36 #7

rihgt682

I'll buy xbox 360 when it's $5

7.8.2007 11:53 #8

Z3120

After another price cut for the 360 and a better selection of games to my liking, then I'll consider buying a 360. But until then, I'll be gratefully sticking to my PS2 for the time being.

7.8.2007 12:14 #9

b18bek9

sounds like alot of sony fans here but i think its a start for Microsoft they've given a 3 year 3ROD warranty on the consoles sicne they admited the problem and now have cores for 279$ which is in reach of what the wii costs all i have to say is its a start and why would u pay 600 for a console when u can get one for half that price? just my two cents....

7.8.2007 12:44 #10

hughjars

At least it's a real price-cut.

Once the $499 60gb PS3s are gone & it's back to a $599 price point with the 80gb version it's not going to be looking good for Sony in the USA.

(and if rumours are to be believed they'll do exactly the same next year with a $599 120gb version and a $499 clearance sale on the dead 80gb version)

I'm still just waiting to see 65nm XBox 360s and what sort of money they'll be looking for them here in the UK when they show.

7.8.2007 12:55 #11

ZippyDSM

Originally posted by hughjars: At least it's a real price-cut.

Once the $499 60gb PS3s are gone & it's back to a $599 price point with the 80gb version it's not going to be looking good for Sony in the USA.

(and if rumours are to be believed they'll do exactly the same next year with a $599 120gb version and a $499 clearance sale on the dead 80gb version)

I'm still just waiting to see 65nm XBox 360s and what sort of money they'll be looking for them here in the UK when they show.Sony will have to lower their price to under 500 or face slow sales and pilling debt,better to get it over with and set the PS3 to 400$ gain 2-4 billion in debt and sale 10 million+ units in a year,rebuild the brand over night if you will.

7.8.2007 13:33 #12

NexGen76

Originally posted by hughjars: At least it's a real price-cut.

Once the $499 60gb PS3s are gone & it's back to a $599 price point with the 80gb version it's not going to be looking good for Sony in the USA.

(and if rumours are to be believed they'll do exactly the same next year with a $599 120gb version and a $499 clearance sale on the dead 80gb version)

I'm still just waiting to see 65nm XBox 360s and what sort of money they'll be looking for them here in the UK when they show.Actually there is a rumor that Sony has a cheaper 40 gig version without Wi-Fi & card reader in production.It going to sell for 399.When all the 80 gigs version sell out Sony going to drop the 80 gigs version down to 499.

8.8.2007 06:51 #13

hughjars

I know Microsoft commented that they thought a cheap version of the PS3 was likely to be forthcoming......but that kind of flies in the face of the experience with the original cheaper $499 PS3 sku that they already dumped.

I have also been most amused to watch the PS3 fanclub try and talk-up their own rumour/day-dream that a price cut is coming for the 80gb PS3 sku.

To add to the rumours, you might even be right; if the comments reported here are true.....but you'll be waiting quite a while for it.

If the Sony execs Euro comments are to be believesd there will be a 120gb version next year and the 80gb SKU will suffer the same fate as the present dead 60gb version.

But $499 is hardly the 'boost' they need, sure it gave a small spurt in sales (which are now declining again) but when the 60gb is gone that's it, everything returns to hanging around a $599 sku.

8.8.2007 07:37 #14

ZippyDSM

Quote:Originally posted by hughjars: At least it's a real price-cut.

Once the $499 60gb PS3s are gone & it's back to a $599 price point with the 80gb version it's not going to be looking good for Sony in the USA.

(and if rumours are to be believed they'll do exactly the same next year with a $599 120gb version and a $499 clearance sale on the dead 80gb version)

I'm still just waiting to see 65nm XBox 360s and what sort of money they'll be looking for them here in the UK when they show.Actually there is a rumor that Sony has a cheaper 40 gig version without Wi-Fi & card reader in production.It going to sell for 399.When all the 80 gigs version sell out Sony going to drop the 80 gigs version down to 499.
pointless...pointless...pointless...pointless... pointless... pointless...

A core system can not be over 350-400$ a 500$ system is not goign to sale ahell of a lot better than a 600$ system,sony needs to realize that,they would be better off to sale the 80GB version for 450 and be done with price drops and unit "configs" for a long while.

8.8.2007 12:27 #15

NexGen76

Source: Microsoft to launch new Xbox 360 in months
by GamePro Staff | 08/08/2007 | 7:01:56 AM PST

An anonymous Microsoft employee has allegedly spilled the beans on plans to introduce a re-engineered Xbox 360 featuring cooler-running CPUs, quieter DVD drives, and standard HDMI connections.
Microsoft prepping new Xbox 360s?

Microsoft prepping new Xbox 360s?

Ars Technica claims a Microsoft representative told them at E3 in early July, "HDMI will probably be standard moving forward."

According to the source, Microsoft hopes to sell through its current inventory of machines with their newly lowered prices and then "soft launch" a new version of the Core and Premium models in late August or September.

The rumored hardware is said to include HDMI, smaller 65nm processor chips that run cooler, and quieter DVD drives.

"The new hardware will ship in boxes very similar to what we saw on store shelves now, but there will be a small 'call out' on the box so you know you're getting a system with the HDMI connection," reports Ars Technica.

Microsoft was not immediately available for comment

http://www.gamepro.com/news.cfm?article_id=127968

8.8.2007 14:10 #16

ZippyDSM

8.8.2007 14:19 #17

hughjars

Originally posted by NexGen76: Source: Microsoft to launch new Xbox 360 in months
by GamePro Staff | 08/08/2007 | 7:01:56 AM PST

An anonymous Microsoft employee has allegedly spilled the beans on plans to introduce a re-engineered Xbox 360 featuring cooler-running CPUs, quieter DVD drives, and standard HDMI connections.
Microsoft prepping new Xbox 360s?

Microsoft prepping new Xbox 360s? - Of course they are, the 65nm CPU & GPU has been mentioned for ages. 45nm is a little newer but wholly expected.

We have known that they are changing for some time now and even the most casual glance at the time-lines common in this industry indicate 4 years or maybe 5 is the maximum until a new unit appears.

If the cycle stays similar to what has gone before then I think we have a brand new XBox to look forward to in late 2008/early 2009 (the mk1 XBox appeared in Nov 2001 and the XBox 360 May 2005).

Is that supposed to be news to anyone?

Is predictable and expected technological progress now some sort of indication of something being 'bad'?

If Sony want to try and give up the technology race and emulate Nintendo (and given the Wii's performance that might be no bad thing) then fine; let them genuinely stick with PS3 for 10 years or simply move back to the PS2 and sell that for another 10 years.
That's a perfectly viable business model.

But if they intend to keep up with the latest console & PC leading edge then they are going to have to be looking to PS4 and beyond themselves pretty soon (which fits in with some comments made a while back that they were looking at what PS4 will be about).

No point crying about it, or trying to make a ludicrous fanboy dig over it.
It's the way it is.
No-one's making you buy anything and when you do no-one gives you a promise it's going to be 'current' for the whole of your life either.

Whatever changes go on I have seen that they are making an effort to make it known that support for XBox 360 will be far greater than that given to the original XBox.
Given that they have sold so many I can see no (serious & credible) reason why they would choose to abandon that position.

......and frankly who cares about HDMI 1.2, 1.3 or 1.3a?
It's already be over-taken.
Give me 'Display Port'!

9.8.2007 06:45 #18

ZippyDSM

hughjars
Price aside the software development is sluggish which was not a huge problem for the PS2 or was it...from what I recall they had better lead time with the PSX and PS2.

9.8.2007 09:48 #19

hughjars

Originally posted by ZIppyDSM: hughjars
Price aside the software development is sluggish which was not a huge problem for the PS2 or was it...from what I recall they had better lead time with the PSX and PS2. - Hmmm, Playstation 1 was launched in Japan dec 1994 & PS2 was march 2000. Still around the 5yr level....and PS3 might have kept to that kind of timetable had it not been delayed until nov 2006.

......and software development?
Do you mean games?
Well I know coding is a problem with the PS3 and things like Cell yields are surprisingly low (tho they say the output of 'medical' grade - ie perfect - Cells is perfectly acceptable @ under 20% - as you may imagine anything headed for medical equipment has to be 100% perfect as does the PS3 chip).
If I was to be cruel I'd mention something about these guys being expert in selling the same game over and over but that's for people to consider & make their own minds up about. ;)

Each gen brings it's own problems to some degree, I agree, but interesting as the Cell idea is (and it is) no-one forced them to try and go down that route when the rest of the industry was making perfectly good progress with multi-core CPUs of a more established kind.

9.8.2007 15:38 #20

ZippyDSM

Quote:Originally posted by ZIppyDSM: hughjars
Price aside the software development is sluggish which was not a huge problem for the PS2 or was it...from what I recall they had better lead time with the PSX and PS2. - Hmmm, Playstation 1 was launched in Japan dec 1994 & PS2 was march 2000. Still around the 5yr level....and PS3 might have kept to that kind of timetable had it not been delayed until nov 2006.

......and software development?
Do you mean games?
Well I know coding is a problem with the PS3 and things like Cell yields are surprisingly low (tho they say the output of 'medical' grade - ie perfect - Cells is perfectly acceptable @ under 20% - as you may imagine anything headed for medical equipment has to be 100% perfect as does the PS3 chip).
If I was to be cruel I'd mention something about these guys being expert in selling the same game over and over but that's for people to consider & make their own minds up about. ;)

Each gen brings it's own problems to some degree, I agree, but interesting as the Cell idea is (and it is) no-one forced them to try and go down that route when the rest of the industry was making perfectly good progress with multi-core CPUs of a more established kind.Ya games,it did not take so long to get a decent level of games(code/optimization wise) on the PSX/PS2 because Sony put a bit of forethought in development (at least with the PS2),the PS3 is overhauling things and starting from scratch code wise.

So far we have 1 maybe 3 games using the storage space of the PS3 it will be interesting to see if more openly use it,but even still with such a high price on the system its not going to sale well.

9.8.2007 16:31 #21

fitzm

Is srp on Elite 499? As 21Q said, should be @ 230. I have never seen it > 279 anywhere.

10.8.2007 10:59 #22

borhan9

Quote:Microsoft also said that the green and gold "Halo 3"-themed console, will go on sale in September for $400.There is the catch right there for you ladies and gentlemen.

17.8.2007 16:36 #23

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