360 price cuts official starting Wednesday(joystiq.com)

[7th lutz]

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/07/its-official-xbox-360-price-drop-coming-this-wednesday/

We all saw this coming. Here are the prices:

pro/premium model down to $349.00
Core system-$279.00
Elite system-$449.00

[Anthony1]

Most lackluster price drop in the history of gaming.


If you look at the price drop for the Core and the Elite, it's basically like Microsoft isn't dropping the price at all, they are just paying the tax. You know, like those furniture stores always do. "Come in and buy a Sofa and we'll pay the sales tax!". That's pretty much what this is. If you figure the national average for sales tax is 8 percent, then 8 percent sales tax on $299.99 is $24.00. So with the Core system, MS is dropping the price $20, and that actually doesn't even cover the sales tax. Pretty frickin lame if you ask me. $349.99 for the premium isn't too bad, it's the only price drop worth a damn among the three sku's, but I still think a measly $50 drop is pretty worthless. Obviously, the strategy is to have a small drop prior to Madden and Halo 3, in an effort to get the fence sitters waiting for any reason to "jump in".

Some are speculating that MS could drop the price again in November, but I think that would be too close to this price drop, and I doubt they will do that. Instead, I expect them to help retailers with free game offers, much like they did last year. So, if you can hold out till November, you'll likely get a damn good deal getting a premium with a free game. In essence, it would be like getting the premium for $299.99, which is the way it should have been in the first damn place.

I think the next official price drop will happen sometime before April 08.

Also, it's interesting to see that the $399.99 Halo 3 sku has HDMI on it. I wonder when we will see that HDMI plug trickle down to the other skus.

[swlovinist]

They are going to have to do more than that to keep their market position. $50 price drop is good, but the magic number is $299. Anything more, and the casual gamer and family is priced out.

[MachineGex]

They are going to have to do more than that to keep their market position. $50 price drop is good, but the magic number is $299. Anything more, and the casual gamer and family is priced out.

^That's a fact!

[Oobgarm]

They are going to have to do more than that to keep their market position. $50 price drop is good, but the magic number is $299. Anything more, and the casual gamer and family is priced out.

More or less, the casual gamer and family segments have already been lost to the Wii.

If they're looking to remain ahead of Sony, selling their machine at an even cheaper price(not to mention difference in game selection) is a win.

[hbkprm]

i thought it whould be 250usd w/out the hard drive

[koster]

Any price drop is good news for the consumer. I wonder whether the price drop will boost sales as much as Microsoft anticipates.

[sabre2922]

i thought it whould be 250usd w/out the hard drive

exactly what the core SKU should be priced at $249.99.

even without the HDD the Core should be at that price NOW and at $199.99 within the next 10 months if MS wants the 360 to keep its ever fading lead especially against the Wii and even the PS3 will catch up with cheesy price cuts like this.

[Poofta!]

i wont be as jaded. i think its good news that will certainly bring in consumers. i see this being primarily to sell teh pro units... an elite pricedrop of another 20 dollars might be on the horizon before the year is up.

personally, i own a pro already, but will buy the halo edition in september. 20gb for me is fine and i want teh hdmi. plus it looks so snazy =P

[Overbite]

tax

I live in NH and we dont have a sales tax so hooray!

[zemmix]

I don't own a 360 and seeing this cheezy price drop it might be a while before I do. There's just nothing out for it that really makes me want to HAVE it. Steel Battalion and Sega GT 2002 (loved the original on the Dreamcast) made me buy the first one. Forza is about the only thing on the 360 I have any interest in. I have no interest in shooters or sports games. I guess I fell into the casual gamer category a long time ago. I bought a Wii and at $250 I feel it's been worth every penny.

I might have gone for the Halo set (looks cool to me) if it was $250. But $399 and only 20gbs... Ehh....

[misternick]

For me the price drops aren't exactly what I was looking for. However, for the Mom that has heard nothing except "OMG MOM HALO 3 COMES OUT IN SEPTEMBER!!!!1! I WANT AN XBOX!1!" it sits pretty nicely.

I think Microsoft will draw a few more customers with any type of price drop.

EDIT: I just noticed that the premium and elite models have had a huge jump in sales on Amazon since the announcement.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/movers-and-shakers/videogames/ref=pd_ms_pg_1/104-9776942-3739957?ie=UTF8&pg=1

[Niku-Sama]

just thought i wopuld let you guys know for those of you lookin for a cheap xbox, i nabed a refurbed one earlier for $287 shipped from geeks.com

it says its in box with eery thing i am guessing its a factory refurb but this is a system i dont trust used from another private party to another so i am thinking being refurbised is better.

heres the link.
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=XBOX360-PLATINUM-R

sale ends tonite then its $299 for this version.

watch the classified for a while intellivision set up cause i gotta get rid of some stuff to pay for it

[FlufflePuff]

Realistically, why would they drop the price very much? They have the best selection of games, currently the lead in hardware sales, and some amazing titles coming out. They are simply trying to steal Sony's thunder after their price drop. They don't need to drop prices to keep the lead through Christmas, but they are trying to boost those numbers going into Halo 3. I wouldn't be surprised to see another drop (which they have given themselves room for), if Wii supplies firm up.