Euro 360 price cut next week?

From GAMER.tm: "Microsoft will formally announce a price cut for the 360 in Europe next week, an industry insider has confirmed.

"Speaking to GAMER.tm, the industry insider – who understandably wishes to remain anonymous – said that Microsoft is to confirm the price cut at a European event the company is due to hold during the week of 22 September.

"According to our source, the price cut was due to be one of Microsoft's major announcements at the event. Although our source added that it may not have the same impact now, following last week's Woolworths leak.

"Our source confirmed that the prices shown in the leaked Woolworths catalogue image – GBP 129.99 for the Arcade, GBP 169.99 for the 60GB model and GBP 229.99 for the Elite – were official.

"Our source also added that the leak had left Microsoft fuming, and that all of the above information came directly from Microsoft."

[dale1]

price cutting again,didn,t MS say there console didn,t need one and it was the longest console not too out there at its entry point. now ps3 and the wi comes out its bargain bin madness no profit this year for MS.

[InfiniteUnfloppery]

Desperate Times call for Desperate Measures,I would not be surprised if they packed in a Zune and a Copy of Vista with their Xflop Console,because as they say,Flops of a Feather Flop Together

[DanB91]

Unfloppery, you officially win the internets

[socomnick]

Well this is good I hope alot of our european friends save some money with this pricecut.

[cahill]

You need games not price cut to appeal to europeans

PS3 has the best library this FAll with MOTORSTORM 2 being the fav game of the europeans

x360 already costs 1/3 as much as a ps3 in europe and still it gets outsold 2:1 by PS3 there
price cut wont have any impact

[PirateThom]

cahill, it's not that the 360 doesn't have games, but look at the pending section for the Spain and Germany charts, lots of PC games.

Europe is still very much PC dominated (console gaming only really took off in Europe with the PlayStation) and the 360 offers nothing to PC gamers.

[Capt CHAOS]

I reckon Wii and PS3 will have to follow suite to keep up in sales this xmas..

[DavidMacDougall]

The ps3 don't need a price cut its a quality piece of hardware that costs money not buttons

[cahill]

Arcade is already at 150 pounds in UK
PRO is 179 pounds
despite the price tag ps3 is outselling x360 in UK and in europe by A VERY BIG margin
price cut wont drive x360 sales in Europe . MS should just give uo on europe i must say

Europeans are looking at games library and ps3 clearly has the edge this Fall --Wipeout HD, Naruto, Resistance 2, Motorstorm 2, LBP , Socom , Bioshock and ES (ps3 versions)

[whoelse]

They have already cut the price in Europe this year so I recon a second will have little impact, as did the first.

[Shadow Flare]

They're dropping the price because they have to. PS3 is alot more expensive then the 360, yet beats it every month in sales. 360 has always been cheaper then ps3 and ps3's beat it every month in sales. 360's cheaper then the wii and the wii smashes it in sales. So they have to drop the price, because basically, no-one in europe (bigger picture: world) is interested in the 360. Because they obviously see more value in the ps3. The fact that 360 is getting into ps2's competitive price range is almost laughable. Lack of interest is whats led to another price cut within 6 months, that's all there is to it.

[thor]

the disagree bandits seem to be out in force today. Oh and lest I forget,

To whoever is reading this, you are NOT a moron.

[PirateThom]

The 360 is already the cheapest console in Europe (and the HDD model is barely more expensive than the Wii):

Arcade - £160
Wii - £180
60GB Pro - £200
120GB Elite - £260
80GB PS3 - £300

Just goes to show how much it's getting kicked around in Europe if it needs another price drop this year.

[Capt CHAOS]

Also, the 180 model needs to come down to match the Wii and the Arcade really is a bit of a naff deal me things, though doesn't it come with wireless controllers now?

[PirateThom]

Yeah, the Arcade now has wireless controllers.

I do think the Elite is way overpriced.

If I was Microsoft:

Pro - £180
Elite - £220

Drop the Arcade entirely

[GameOn]

I think the price range MS should be looking at is:
£100,£150 and £200 respectively.

[Marty8370]

By buying descent console, PS3. It's still has the best value, as you get Blu-ray, Wi-Fi, 80Gb hard drive, free Online all as standard for under £299, and reliable too boot. 360 is just junk at any price.

PLAY B3YOND

[InfiniteUnfloppery]

Educated Human Beings have already made their Ps3 Purchase

[TheColbertinator]

Sounds way too risky.The price for the consoles are closer to the PS2 price rather than the Wii price.Is this a good idea?

[PirateThom]

Heh, it'll be back to competing with the PS2 like it was in its first year of release.

[InfiniteUnfloppery]

The Desperation is truly at a High over at the Microsoft Offices

[InfiniteUnfloppery]

Thank you Microsoft for Officially Confirming the Downfall of the Xbox Brand

[Arsenal4Ever]

thats super close to the PS2 price. Why are they dropping the prices so quickly?

[PirateThom]

The 360 is getting destroyed by everything in Europe, both in hardware and software sales.

[Fishy Fingers]

To try and sell more consoles. Simple as that, they need to keep their momentum going, lately the PS3 has been stealing all the 360s thunder.

[jay2]

Ah , this came out early, they'll be a lot of intrusting next week.

[Menchi]

Didn't they have a big price cut not so long ago in Europe? O_o

It looks almost desperate.

[edhe]

It's europe that matters most right now.

Bring it, maybe i could get an elite then. But not until Jasper's out.

[DJ]

They just had a big price cut back in March. Something must be really wrong with their European sales if they're doing two major price cuts within 6 months.

[Bladestar]

"Something must be really wrong with their European sales if they're doing two major price cuts within 6 months." mmm... I don't recall you saying that when Sony did the same... except microsoft waited like 3 years to do it and Sony did it within the first year...

I still think microsoft are not doing it right... they should go for the win... drop the xbox 360 at least to $149.. or GBP 99... forget everything every other company maker... use the money you didn't use to buy Yahoo and get it over with... think about profitability next gen...

[ceedubya9]

to stay competitive. These are the tough decisions that have to be made sometimes. Sony had to take measures soon after releasing the PS3 as well. Fortunately for Nintendo, the Wii has not slowed yet. So they won't be cutting prices anytime soon.

[DJ]

And yes, the 360 has gone through multiple price cuts as well. But having two major price cuts within a 6 month period across all three SKUs is a big deal, especially since the 360 has been cheaper than the Wii since March.

The other thing to take into consideration is that the PS3 has the highest price of any system on the market, $499~599, while 360 was launched at $299~399.

[Bladestar]

DJ you don't get it... it's now about which console is the cheapest... it's all about affordability... the PS2 sold most of it installbase after it was cheaper than $149...

Some people will avoid buying a game console for their kids or even themselves unless is on their $200 or below range regardless of who the maker is or how nice it may be to own one... the prices you are giving is irrelevant to the PS3 cost...

here let me put in a way that your brain can process it...

Just because a Dodge viper cost $85K and a Ferrari $302K does not mean that a person that can only afford or is willing to pay $15K for a car will buy any of those two high performance and obviously better than Hyundai cars.... why do you think the PS2 is still selling relatively well?

So, your assumption that regardless of how low microsoft price is compared to the PS3 will not make a difference is simply stupid...

[cahill]

and yet X360 is the least selling console in UK
Ofcourse in other european territories sales of x360 is almost null or very minimum

dont bring up dodge viper and other crap logic

pro is already 200 pounds in UK and elite is 250 pounds. However u can get PRO with 2 games for as low as 179 pounds from PLay UK

price cut wont do anything to increase x360 sales in UK or other european territories

PS3 will still outsell x360 2:1 /3:1 with the price cut

dont compare x360 to a playstation product when it comes to europe
also in US too PS3 can outsell x360 this Nov/Dec since it has a much better and diverse gaming lineup

[DJ]

Dodge Vipers are still far beyond what most people can afford. Also, we don't purchase software for cars, which leads me to my next point.

Microsoft first said "$300 is the sweet spot" to justify the Core SKU. Then they said $249. Then $199. Unfortunately, no matter how cheap the 360 continuously becomes, very few people want the system.

The PS2 sold the majority of its hardware equal to and below $149, but it also spent the majority of its LIFE equal to and below the $149. Also, its software library didn't really hit its stride until about two years after launch. And the software onslaught really only started to die down last March, with the release of God of War 2.

If price were the only factor, Gamecube would have slaughtered the PS2 with its $99 price point. But it only managed to sell a little over 22 million units, far below PS2's 120 million units. Software lineup, services, reliability, and reputation also need to be considered. The 360 already has a reputation as being cheaply made and unreliable, and the fact that it's priced below an overhauled Gamecube (i.e. the Wii) doesn't enhance its public image one bit.

[Why o why]

maybe this is what the 360 needs in europe because its loosing ground fast out here.

here let me put in a way that your brain can process it...

nice one bladestar great way to start stupidness ....tut tut

Theres a lot of double starndards here. When the most expensive console, i.e. the ps3 had a price cut we were told it was out of desperation alone by the fanboys like bstar et el; fast foward a few months and the cheapest sytem i.e the 360 is slashing its price again and it cannot be out of desperation according to the same fanboys. The horrible truth is that the 360 is being outsold by a more expensive sytem and it only just managed to beat the ps3 by 10k units (NOT INCLUDING BUNDLES) in its home turf. This price cut will make the holiday sales more interesting for sure out here as the credic crunch sh!t is affecting many people. The last 360 price cut didnt move too many extra units but this one may be more significant due to timing also. Time will tell. Not everything in this world is meant to be cheap just to sell. When thats the only drive for sales then the product is on a slipery slope

[4cough]

The peoples champion offer extreme value for money with more triple AAA titles than all the competitors put together......A true bargain.

[cahill]

did u mean AAA RROD

cuz ps3 has a better lineup of AAA titles this Fall --Wipeout HD, LBP, Resistance 2 and perhaps Motorstorm 2

vs just Gears 2 on x360

[azmanmanz]

Go microsoft and soon microsoft will bankrupt follow Lehman Bros company..

[cahill]

yea Lehmann and Meryl both are now bankrupt
Ford,GM to follow

and then MS

[jerethdagryphon]

in the short term the cut will boost sales expect 30% rise over holiday season. however as ive said before many 'sales' oftern are exchanged for somthing else..... 2006 my dad bought me a 360 for xmas... when i found out i told him i didnt need one and would rather have something else or nothing as the flight was enough.. he wasnt mad and returnedit

i ended up with a duel core laptop :)
either way that 360 'sale' adds to the books but what wasnt added was it was exchanged towards my laptop
25 million units sold does not equal 25 million units in residence.

[cahill]

do u see x360 in any HW/SW chart of europe except UK?
Not to mention that PS3 has overtaken x360 in LTD sales there (last territory that fell was australia)

the price cut might boost sales by 20% in UK but as for other PAL regions it wont just matter

PS3 will very likely beat x360 2:1 in europe during Nov/Dec.
MS should just concentrate on US. PS3 might beat x360 in US too but MS can do better there atleast

[jerethdagryphon]

if they packaged a 40gig+ zune iwth it id buy it i need a 1.8inch hdd for a project ;)

[power of Green]

MSFT cut the price in Europe so that they were not spending more on the console over there vs NA.

In the end what does it matter what the motivation is?

The sales trackers and media do not make excuses on why a product has made the turn around after the move as time goes by.

The media simply talks about a products success(lack of it) and the sales trackers simply report numbers.

The media and sales trackers did not accuse Sony of being desperate when Sony removed hardware from the PS3's to make it competitive or lower the price 2 times in the PS3's first year. Sales trackers simply reported the numbers and most media simply praised the move.

Strange how Sony fanatics enjoy the benefits of so called desperaion move made by Sony and do not remember or they ignor the reason why PS3 made the turn around yet they bash MSFT's 360 at the same time.

Who will be talkig about why MSFT made the drop 3-9 months from now?(Who mentions in the media why PS3 has made a temporary turn around now)

[jerethdagryphon]

my comment refered to world wide . and if you read it carfully it says why

[Tone]

It seems that none of you seem to realise that the UK is in the middle of a credit crunch just now and bordering on a reccession... big time! People dont have the spare income to splash out on much luxurys at the moment, let along buying consoles.

Hence probably why the price cuts.. expect the other consoles to follow soon.

I have a few friends whom work in Game and Gamestation and they have said that hardware sales over the last moth or two has dropped faster than a man falling without a parachute.

Also, to touch on what someone said.. sorry to burst your bubble.. but the 360 is selling way better than the PS3.. and thats a fact, straight from the guys who sell the consoles.. enough said.

Saying that.. as usual the Wii is kicking everyones ass in hardware sales!!

[Shadow Flare]

360 is selling way better then ps3 in europe?

ANYWAY.....

[TrooGamer]

Okay mate...lol

What about Sapin, France, Germany, Italy

Good one!!

[etownone]

wow....

Its obvious now, if Sony doesn't make a price cut, it will get smashed in European sales as well this holiday season.

I know the ps3 has better value for what it has, but that is seriously cheap especially when compared to the PS3.

To all the sony fans, am I the only one that believes Sony should have kept the 20 gig, take out the wi-fi, and put the price at a reasonable $299? (USD)
I know the ps3 NEEDS a big HDD with so many mandatory installs, but at the new 360 prices, ps3 is going to get slaughtered this gen.

[silverchode]

129 euros already, that kinda seems they just want to sell their hardware by any means neccesary.