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Rumor: Microsoft cutting Xbox 360 Arcade price to €199 next week

According to a Dutch blog, Microsoft is planning to cut the price of the Xbox 360 to €199. This would make the Xbox 360 €50 cheaper than the Nintendo Wii. Recent rumors were suggesting that Microsoft was planning to cut the price right before the launch of Grand Theft Auto IV, to win more potential buyers.

According to the blog keeper, he has gotten word from a very reliable source close to Microsoft that the Xbox 360 Arcade will see a price cut to €199. This price cut would go in affect as of February 14. Microsoft decided to cut the price after Sony was reporting the PS3 would surpass the Xbox 360 in total sales about late summer 2008 in Europe.

Any plans for a price cut for the Premium and Elite models are highly likely according to the blog. No mention was given about a American price cut, and it seems this price cut is purely intended for Europe.
Alternative Sources:
Xbox 360 soon to be cheaper... - gaming.monstersandcritics.com | By: mistermostyn
Tommie - contributor
Published: 702 days 18 hours ago | Rumors | Xbox 360
 
 

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Joey Gladstone - 702 days 18 hours ago
1 - Does the Xbox 360 Arcade come with a Hard Drive??
honestly just wondering as the release of Devil May Cry (requiring a HD) is upon us...
....
...
......"The JOEY has Spoken"
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Honeal2g - 702 days 18 hours ago
1.1 - requires a harddrive?
are you kidding me ...plz explain how u have come that conslusion how on earth does this game require a hard drive ....why dont u spread ur propaganda in the open zone you dont belong here
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Joey Gladstone - 702 days 18 hours ago
1.2 - or am I mistaken???
anyone know if it was Burnout or DMC4 that requires it??? ...
....
..
......."The JOEY has Spoken"
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desolationstorm - 702 days 17 hours ago
1.3 -
DMC 4 on ps3 installs on hd, no metion of needing hd for 360 version. You do need a hd for full online play in burnout.
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danarc - 702 days 17 hours ago
1.4 -
It was Burnout's online mode that required a hard drive Joey :D
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celticlonewolf - 702 days 18 hours ago
2 - Devil may cry on the 360 doesnt require hard drive
:0
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mighty_douche - 702 days 18 hours ago
3 -
Keep the price, add a HDD.
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Neurotoxin - 702 days 16 hours ago
3.1 -
That would be more sensible.

Cutting the Arcade/Core will happen in a years time i think as its holding the Microsoft and Game Developers back.
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celticlonewolf - 702 days 17 hours ago
4 - Lol
How did I get three disagrees on my comment lol it doesnt require a hard drive, the ps3 version does lol heck theres a big thread on this very topic in a nother part of this website lol fanboys
4.1 Bladestar | 702 days 17 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show
5 Bladestar | 702 days 17 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show
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mighty_douche - 702 days 17 hours ago
5.1 -
$50 for a 20gb HDD? no thanks, especailly when they probably cost M$ about 5 cents.
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travelguy2k - 702 days 17 hours ago
5.2 - This is more than likely
only going to affect Europe. As Microsoft is no as strong a seller there as it is in the US they need to make it more atractive to prospective buyers. If they do this though i think Sony will follow suit (in Europe only) as it is already higher priced over there than it is here.
6 KILLERAPP | 702 days 17 hours ago - deleted by mod -
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InYourMom - 702 days 17 hours ago
6.1 -
The advantage the 360 has in NA/UK makes up for any loss of sales in Japan and the "other" parts of EU. Sony made some ground up in 07 due to cutting their price and moving around SKU's while MS sat tight waiting for the right time. 08 is the right time, and they are going to drop the hammer on pricing and with the 360's bigger library it will be set to expand that gap even further.
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Lord_Ash - 702 days 15 hours ago
6.2 - @ 6.1
They didn't just sit down and wait, they've cut the prices of all their SKUs last year.
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JohnRico - 702 days 17 hours ago
7 -
If it is over then why is Sony still in 3rd place ?
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KILLERAPP - 702 days 17 hours ago
7.1 -
Because you don’t see the big picture here this year MS is looking bad by next year they will be in third place and Sony in second as simple as that.
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niall77 - 702 days 17 hours ago
8 - would a price cut be "desperate" and a sign of weakness?
or does that only count for sony now?
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InYourMom - 702 days 17 hours ago
8.1 - No.
Because the system is in it's third year and it is due a price cut. While Sony cut's their price in the first year, which could be seen as "desperate".

The 360 has managed to keep its launch price longer than any other prior console.
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cmrbe - 702 days 13 hours ago
8.2 - @inyourmom
Please change your name. Anyways the x360 price was lower than the PS3 only until MS introduce the elite When MS had a SKU more expensive than the PS3's cheapest SKU. MS didn't have to lower their price because it was for the most time last year was 200 less than the PS3 and it had a lot of games. Sony on the other hand had to lower the price of the PS3 because it was out of reach of the ordinay people which show in the first six months sales.
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InYourMom - 702 days 17 hours ago
9 - Nice.
MS needs to do this to open the flood gates on the PS3 and make that gap even wider.

You can always add the harddrive to the Arcade SKU whenever you want to take that step. The machine is targeted at the casual gamer who just wants to get into "next-gen" gaming at the cheapest price possible.
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ceedubya9 - 702 days 17 hours ago
10 - Good move if true
But the real buy will be on the premium if they bring it down close to 279. No need to wait until GTA releases. If the price is already there, then people will buy it anyway. Price is Microsoft's main ace right now. They have to use it to their advantage while they still have the time. The longer they wait, the more time they give Sony to gain ground.
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Kareem - 702 days 17 hours ago
11 - Arcades are already cheap
Cut the price on 1st party peripherals instead.
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ceedubya9 - 702 days 17 hours ago
11.1 - Absolutely
The main reason I haven't upgraded my HDD is because of the rediculous pricing. 20 gigs fills up fast, and I can't take advantage of all Live has to offer because I refuse to pay almost 200 bucks for 120 gigs. I'm not even going to get into the Wi-fi adapter...
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ThaGeNeCySt - 702 days 17 hours ago
12 -
I understand the concept of the xbox360 arcade and giving it price cuts so it can kind of compete with Nintendo's price of the Wii.... I just wish they could have somehow swallowed the costs of the HDD and added it (but in different space sizes) to every SKU.
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Meus Renaissance - 702 days 17 hours ago
13 -
Considering the "hardcore" reputation the box has, and the lack of family orientated games, I don't understand why they keep pushing the Arcade to this level. It will not compete with the Wii at all.

Drop the price of the Premium and Elite to fight for Europe.
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KILLERAPP - 702 days 17 hours ago
14 -
What is a shame is that the PS3 at 600 dollars beat the 360 with the best gaming line up and I have a 360 is just the truth.
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ceedubya9 - 702 days 17 hours ago
14.1 - Playstation is a well-known brand
You can't expect company that is fairly new to the market to just come in and completely dominate the previous king of the last few generations. If there had been any other name on that blu-ray console other than "Sony Playstation," it would not have lasted any longer than a year, tops. Initially, the PS3 sold off of brand name alone. The Xbox brand is still making a name for itself. It has caught on in America, and is doing OK in Europe. But Japan just won't accept the console. If the 360 could get at least half the sales in Japan that the PS3 does, the current situation would be quite different.
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cmrbe - 702 days 13 hours ago
14.2 - creeb
Sony unseated Nin as the console king with its first console the PS1.MS already has the xbox. Too say that people buy the PS3 because it has sony's name on it is kinda insulting to millions of people that bought the PS3 because they know Sony delivers the standard of entertainment they expect and more like they did with the PS1 and PS2.
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paul_war - 702 days 17 hours ago
15 -
Its funny, if thats true then the Arcade will be about £175, whereas the 120gb HDD will be £130!

That HDD really needs to come down in price, I want to get one but not at that price.
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KILLERAPP - 702 days 17 hours ago
16 - INYOURMOM YOU ARE REALLY SOMETHING
No gaming console has ever won without Japan and maybe the 360 is wining in the US but by how much 20,000 or 40,000 the gap will close by the end of this year and remember Europe is bigger than the US and even more the 360 is not betting the PS3 as much as the PS3 is beating the 360 in Japan and by the end of the year Sony will be at a par with the 360 in US just like EA said and the analyst. I own all consoles so will enjoy everything but will you.
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Willio - 702 days 9 hours ago
16.1 - @KILLERAPP
I know you were heated and replied frantically, but can you please use some periods? its difficult to read run-on sentences with poor facts. Use spell check... the option is there...

In addition, xbox360 is ahead of PS3 by 6 million console hardware sales. On the other hand, the PS3 on a world weekly sales were outselling the xbox360's by 65,000 to 42,000 according to VGchartz. But i think thats only in Europe.

As for both consoles being *desperate and lowering prices.* Honestly, who cares? its better for us all. its not like both MS and Sony are gonna dissapear.
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Gina-get-u - 702 days 17 hours ago
17 -
I would prefer that they just phase out the arcade and price the premium/pro at the arcade's current msrp. That way, they can finally drop the price of the add-on HDDs and allow everybody who got suckered into buying the core/arcade to upgrade on the cheap. Then they should allow devs to require a hard drive for games if they want to.

However, if the Arcade allows them to actually undercut the wii on price, I can see why MS would want to keep it around. The Arcade is is a way for the 360 to hit mass market pricing (below $200) as early as possible. With the way things are going, price may be the most effective competetive advantage MS has left against the PS3.
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Teabag Sony - 702 days 17 hours ago
18 -
How come the PS3 hasn't outsold the 360 yet? I was just wondering because it's 2008 and all of last year all the PS3 boys kept on saying "wait till 2008".
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mighty_douche - 702 days 16 hours ago
18.1 -
well if im right, its out sold the 360 every week of 2008.

i dont think 4 weeks is really enough time to sell an extra 8 million consoles.
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karlostomy - 702 days 17 hours ago
19 - a xbox360 for less than a wii?
Hot damn!
How silly would you be if you bought a wii instead now?
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travelguy2k - 702 days 16 hours ago
20 - i'm sure Microsoft will
allow developers to make HDD mandatory. Thats how they will be able to keep saying "we have the highest accessory attach rate this gen.".
the main reason it higher than anyione else is because they don't include anything, and then they spin it saying "we give you choice." Thans like saying: batteries not included give you the choice of what kind to use.
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Greysturm - 702 days 16 hours ago
21 - It be interested to see if they managed to renegociate...
The deals with the outsorce producers of the the components so as to lower prices or if they are gonna bite the bullet in an effort to keep the second market which is key to either their sucess or downfall in the console wars. So far the data this years show the ps3 gaining to much ground in europe for them to be feeling confortable since that is the market that mainly defines who sells more worldwide which since the end of last year it has been on sonys side.
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kewlkat007 - 702 days 16 hours ago
22 - @ceedubya9 14.1
Now there is a smart thinking fella....

This is what it has been all along...MS struggling to make a name for itself while sony have been selling on name/loyalty for the last 6 years, as well as Nintendo for the last 20. tough uphill battle.

Some are right, they should be cutting the price of some of their peripherals.(They are raping gamers fo sho).

A $200 + GT4 bundle xbox 360 would go a long, long way...
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whoelse - 702 days 16 hours ago
23 -
lol, how 'reliable'
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name - 702 days 16 hours ago
24 -
How come when the PS3 drops it's price it's desperate, but no one here has mentioned this about the 360?
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kewlkat007 - 702 days 16 hours ago
24.1 - "name" Did you miss InYourMom's 8.1 comment>?
In response to "niall77's" comment.. See!!!....it's that simple.
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KILLERAPP - 702 days 16 hours ago
25 - Kewlkaat007
The PS3 was sold at 600 dollars so of course they will drop the price faster is just simple is not science. And the 360 is been put longer as well if the PS3 and 360 had launch at the same time the PS3 would be wining.
26 idontcare | 702 days 16 hours ago - comment has been reported as SPAM -
27 LaChance | 702 days 16 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show
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Raptors - 702 days 14 hours ago
27.1 - @ LaChance
Don't bother. This website is finished and should be renamed News for Sony Gamers. The amount of price drops outnumbers the amount the 360 has had and I'm not gonna even start with the amount of system revisions (1.9, 2.0, 2.1 etc). I was reading the other thread about the DMC 4 install to HD for ps3 taking 22 mins and they were still trying to make the 360 look negative somehow. This site is filled with the most ignorance I've ever seen anywhere.
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cmrbe - 702 days 12 hours ago
27.2 - You guys must understand that the situations are different for MS and Sony
with reagrds to price drops.

MS don't need to drop the price more so than Sony because.

1. PS3 was for most part of last year was more exppensive that the x360 even up to now with their most expensive sku as well as their least expensive ones.

2. PS3 sales was dismal in its first few months before the price drops so Sony was intelligent to drop the price unlike the x360.

3. The arcade is low as is and with heaps of games for the x360 compare to the PS3 40 gig.

Here is the thing. With the arcade 120 cheaper than the cheapest PS3 and with all the major games the x360 has. It is more resonable for people to say that MS is desperate in this situation. I on the other hand don't think so. MS wil be doing this as they know how important europe is and that fact that the PS3 is closing in fast.I would say that this is a smart move by MS if true.
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Marriot VP - 702 days 13 hours ago
28 -
it was understood that the next wave of price cuts would be in the 2-4 month of the year after the Christmas price cuts. Since they only cut half of what it should be.

360 Arc. - 280 to 250
360 Pro. - 350 to 320 probably
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gnothe1 - 702 days 13 hours ago
29 -
if the PS3 pass the 360 in overall sales this gen buy 2 million systems, does that REALLY make sony the winner!! one thing I know wont happen, there wont be that 120 million PS2 to 24 million xbox 1 userbase gap like it was las gen!!so therefore MS has successfully succeeded in taking away ALOT of sony userbase!! even MS stated early in the 360's life that they dont EXPECT to outsell sony THIS GEN but by the next they EXPECT to beat them. an who knows, with the developer support that MS has gained an the online aspects the system supplies anything can happen!!
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