Xbox 360 Arcade officially US$199After months of rumors, weeks of leaked retail flyers, and days of Japanese news, the Xbox 360 price drop is now officially happening in the US. As of September 5, the 120GB Elite will be US$399, the new-ish 60GB 360 Pro--successor to the 20GB--will be US$299, and the hard-drive-less Arcade will be US$199. The new price point makes the bottom-end model of Microsoft's console the cheapest current-generation console on the US market, undercutting the US$249 Wii by US$50.
Editors' note:According to Microsoft Singapore, the pricing of the Xbox consoles is handled on a region-by-region basis. As such, the latest price cuts are only applicable in the US. There are currently no plans to slash prices of the Xbox consoles in other parts of Asia."I'm not at a point where I can say we're going to beat Nintendo," Don Mattrick, senior vice-president of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment division, told BusinessWeek. "[But] We will sell more consoles this generation than Sony." His sentiments were shared by IDC analyst Billy Pidgeon, who told the magazine, "I expect the 360 to remain in second place this generation. But it's going to be close." IDC predicts 2008 will end with the Xbox 360 beating the PlayStation 3 in lifetime-to-date international sales, 27.7 million to 24.2 million, respectively. That feat is made less impressive, though, by the fact the Xbox 360 launched in November 2005--a year ahead of the PS3, which has been beating the 360 in monthly NPD sales. IDC has both consoles being drubbed by the Wii, which it predicts will have sold a staggering 44.5 million units by year's end.
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dgerard says...
Microsoft Japan is already actually paying people to take the machines, with little success."We hope more people will be able to enjoy Xbox 360," said marketing marketer Takashi Sensui, "and we can stop enjoying quite so many of them. We also have this fine pile of HD-DVD drives ... Wait! Come back!" notnews.today.com...
Sep 04, 2008 20:11
Microsoft Japan is already actually paying people to take the machines, with little success."We hope more people will be able to enjoy Xbox 360," said marketing marketer Takashi Sensui, "and we can stop enjoying quite so many of them. We also have this fine pile of HD-DVD drives ... Wait! Come back!" notnews.today.com...
Sep 04, 2008 20:11
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