Xbox 360 Challenges Nintendo Wii With Hefty Price Cut
Published by William Fletcher August 8th, 2007 in Gaming, Nintendo, Xbox 360, Wii.
Ever since Wii launched late last year, sales have been monumental. In fact, Nintendo Wii is very close to surpassing Xbox 360 in sales globally, while Microsoft’s console was released a full year earlier.
To help sales a bit, Xbox 360 has been given a substantial price cut. The standard model has been reduced $50 to $349.99 (U.S.), while the Core System now has an ERP of $279.99 (U.S.). This brings the Core close to the price of Nintendo’s console, which is currently $249.99. The pricier Elite has been brought down to $399.99 (U.S.)
“The fact that we have been able to keep our launch price longer than any other console while retaining our leadership position demonstrates that consumers believe in the value of Xbox 360,” said Mitch Koch, corporate vice president, Global Retail Sales and Marketing Group, Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. “On the eve of the best holiday games lineup ever and the launch of ‘Madden NFL 08,’ there has never been a better time to jump into 360.”
He makes a decent point. On the other hand, with the PS3 price cut in some regions and bundles in others , there’s never been a better time to own a PlayStation 3. So there’s that.
That is a bold move to bring the Xbox in almost direct competition with the Wii but still I don’t think very many people will be willing to spend the extra $30 on a console that only offers better graphics, a clunky wireless controller and free disc scratching. And you only get all these uber cool features if you happen to not be the 1 in 3 that breaks. I personally prefer more thought out and intuitive engineering in the Wii compared to crappy inefficient engineering found in the 360.
Price isn’t the only thing that made me buy the Wii. The controls are innovative beyond anything else ever seen. That being said, if I wasn’t married, I’d buy a 360 at that price. Some of the games do look outstanding. And if Microsoft offered a keyboard and mouse to play first person shooters, I’d buy it in a second.
Good move by Microsoft but this will only serve to further slow down the PS3, not the Wii. As a matter of fact the only reason they cut the price was that the Wii is only .22 million away from outselling the Xbox 360. Yet they try and act like they’re all cool because they can keep the price the same as launch for an entire year. to be honest, that was a really stupid move. At least they’re rectifying the problem. Now just fix the whole 1 in 3 will break thing and I’ll buy one.
I agree,
Microsoft, you will allways send out trash gear without fully testing anything. Then at the cost of the user you will send out patches, updates and repairs.
why not buy a Wii and teach american companies that Asia can build better equipment for cheaper and not have the hot head to over charge the item at first then “Lower” the cost of it because it sucks balls.
Go Microsoft, your the reason I baught a mac.
I love being an IT Master
Now, under most circumstances, a cut like that would make me more inclined to buy a console. Just one BIG problem though: HD-TVs still ain’t worth the price. I’m not going to go and spend 1-4 thousand dollars just to save a bit on a console.
Dono you are not an IT master you are an idiot. with that said the xbox and is not even built in the us and oh yeah…. it was designed by the same team that designed mac pcs…. think before you post dumbass