This MS announcement is like a direct kick to Wii's balls: the X360 gets a new MSRP of $199. Microsoft has announced that it will drop the price of the "core" xbox 360 gaming package to only $199 -- a drop from the previous $299. Was this price drop in Microsoft's business plan? Probably so -- but the company may have had to accelerate the drop based on how well the Wii is performing in sales compared to all the competition. So there you have it -- the Microsoft Xbox 360 is now at $200 and the Nintendo Wii is at $250. I doubt Sony can even drop the PlayStation 3 price without completely losing its shirt, so I don't see any price drops on the PlayStation 3 in response to Microsoft's price cut, unless Sony is fond of kamikaze pricing schemes. So far, estimates have the Nintendo Wii selling 360,000 units per month, the xbox 360 selling 174,000 units and the PlayStation 3 selling at an 82,000 per month clip. Even with this new price is still cheaper to get a Premium or even an Elite than a CORE with all the extras from the other two SKUs. I'm still waiting for the 65nm chips... Source
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/795/795525p1.html Not happening (yet). Seriously tho that would be a kick in the jewls. Nintendo will either drop wii sports and go $150/$200 or keep wii sports and go $200. Of course they might wait it out a while first since they will be greedy to keep raking in cash at $250. There is strong word sony is re organizing so the ps3 can see a hearty price drop this summer/christmas time.
"Yeah, I think you guys got some bad info. The story you linked to was posted on the 9th, but there's no MS press release and no other site has picked up the story. If there really was a price drop every video game blog would have reported on this when the original story dropped. Also, why would try drop the core without dropping the other SKU's." I'll wait for an MS press release myself. Thanks for putting me on alert though -- this is something I'll be sure to check out to see if its real. If you have any other links, that happen to be substantiated, give them a posting.
So MS is waiting until the shit hits the fan, I see... About the Wii, nintendo could sell it for $150 with Wiisports and still make a profit since the GC was sold at $100 two years ago also with a profit. But yeah, $250 is the bees knees so I doubt they would go commando when the Wii is still hard to find in some places...
Also, Nintendo could technically leave in Wii Sports for as long as the system lasts considering that a lot of the R&D that went into it is now being used elsewhere... though I could be wrong. Japan paid for it, but then again, Japan has no problem paying for stuff (like this)..
Umm Everybody is paying for Wii sports. Japan just happens to be the only country its not forced on consumers. At launch a japanese Wii retailed for about $200-$210 USD. Japanese wii also was the same price all other nintendo consoles launched at which also end up selling in USA for $200. Nintendo could technicaly leave wii sports in since it was not a very expensive game to develope in the first place.
Speculation, it's a wonderful thing and gets everybody wondering what Sony, MS and Nintendo might do in the coming months. As far as Sony having a "game plan" I don't think they do. They've seriously arsed the released of the PS3 and overestimated the interest in such an expensive item. I am not going to slate Sony. The PS3 appears on the whole to be a rather good system, poorly supported, overly priced and with few titles to make consumers excited. All of these things could change at the drop of a hat. In all my years I have never known Sony to be realistic with their prices, you've always had to pay extra for the brand name, but consumer confidence in their products is low. To cut the costs of the PS3 Sony would need to take an even large dump, which would immediately reflect in their market shares. I can see the headline now "Sony drops PS3 price as market slumps!" That's not the sort of headlines Sony needs right now. They need to appear confident in their product and its success. So, personally I wouldn't expect a drop in price until the unit has been around for a while longer. The 360 core dropping to $199? If it were true then it would actually be a rather wise move. The Wii is stiff competition in the entry level for new console owners. I think Microsoft can afford to lose out on the console for a little longer than Nintendo, but I think MS will be wanting to capitalise. On the otherhand I doubt that MS will want to put too much distance between the Core Edition and the Premium as one customer reaction most manufacturers rely upon is the "well, it's only a few more $ for the better model". Who knows? It an interesting situation however (if consoles are your thing) as this is exactly the sort of political climate between manufacturers that generally benefits consumers. One thing I noticed in Gamestation the other day was a pile of budget 360 games titles selling for about £20 each whilst on the shelves above were the original titles for £30+. You used to wait years to see games titles considered "classics" and reduced. Something tells me it's a great way to attract yet further console owners. How long will we have to wait before any PS3 titles are considered "classics" I wonder?
I can't really see this hurting Nintendo. People aren't buying the Wii because of the price point. They are buying it because of Wii-sports and because it is the current "in thing" to buy. What this might do is push the Core system into a lot more homes, which could change HDD support in future titles. It will also force the PS3 into a price drop, which is a great thing.
To be honest, if they wanted to let it go for $250 then they would've already done it. Like, its too late (almost 2 years since release) to make such a small price cut. Remember, both PSX and Saturn got 50% price cuts in less than 2 years after launch... And taucias, look it like this: Steven goes to the store to get a Wii so his son will STFU about it, and since its $50 less than the barebones X360 he decided to buy the Wii. But, if the X360 was $199 you can bet he would think it twice before buying a more expensive console with graphics than look clearly inferior even to the untrained eye.
I have to disagree. Alot of people are buying the wii because it's acceptable at $250 with a game included. I bet you if the unit was $300 or $400 it would not be selling so hot right now. Cheaper consoles always sell well in the states. The Ps2 still sells by the but loads at it's current price. Sure the wii is the new IT item and that does help (if it wasnt then gcn would be selling well also) but again if the 360 core was on par or cheaper then the wii you can bet parents wont jump to by the wii so easly.
It'd be awesome if this happened. You can get a used 20GB HDD off of Amazon for about $60. :thumbsup:
If theres something I wouldnt buy used is a HDD... Anyway, now that theres a 120GB I think its possible to replace the 20GB 2.5 drive in the X360 HDD for a 120GB one, which is far cheaper than buying the one from MS...
That's different though. Obviously such a high price would stop many people buying the Wii, but as you say - it is a reasonable price as it stands. I haven't heard anything about that hack. Do you have a link? I thought the HDD in the XB360 had a custom chip onboard.
Very nice, thanks for the link. Shame it uses WD drives, I didn't realise that. All the drives I have ever had fail so far have been WD. GRRRRR!
Really? weird, I've used WD since 1999 and never had a problem. But a lot of my friends had some nasty issues with Maxtor and Samsung drives...
