Microsoft cuts price of Xbox 360

Microsoft on Sunday cut the price of its best-selling Xbox 360 Pro model game console with a 20GB hard drive from $349 to $299.

Microsoft on Sunday unveiled an Xbox 360 with a 60GB hard drive. It's expected to go on sale in August.

(Credit: Microsoft)

The company also introduced a new Xbox 360 model with a 60GB hard drive. It will go on sale in stores in the U.S. and Canada for $349 in early August.

Microsoft's announcements, which were widely expected, come on the eve of the start of this week's E3 video game industry trade show in Los Angeles.

Rumors of the Xbox price cut swirled on popular gaming blogs Joystiq and Kotaku last week. The two sites received snapshots of Kmart and RadioShack fliers advertising the $299 price.

Microsoft announced in May that Xbox 360 had become the first next-generation video game console to hit 10 million units sold in the United States. All told, Microsoft said it has sold 19 million Xboxes worldwide.

[benjaminstraight]

benjamin straight writes: It's about time!

[bobmarleypeople]

Question is, will they cut the price here in the UK? I'm thinking about getting one once I upgrade my TV, but I want it to be cheaper than it is at the moment. **crosses fingers**

[Penguinisto]

I figured it would happen sometime... the xbox is falling behind in sales to the PS3 and Wii, and MSFT can't channel-stuff their way back to #1 like they did at their launch (the current economy means that stores can't --and won't-- eat the excess inventory no matter what MSFT threatens).


Also, I wonder if they still sell the HD-DVD add-on drives? The HDD addition will bring it partially on par with the PS3, which is what it's been shooting for (though the PS3 still has the Blu-Ray drive, which the xbox does not).

[DMMedia]

The real question is have they solved the issues of it breaking all the time. My xbox is at the service center right now. This will be my 6th xbox returned from the dead, and I'm beginning to get sick of calling that support number and having the ups guy show up at my house every year. The weird thing is that it happens ever June like clock work. Until they address the poor design they shouldn't be allowed to sell any at all.

[robvme]

Nice move to get the old xboxes off the shelves in time for the launch of the next generaton perphaps? With PS3 struggling to catch up, the flop of Blu Ray so far, and the dismal game selection for Wii, will propel the Xbox further ahead. Now with it more in line with a price point that will tap a whole new audience look to see an expansion for the Online services as well, which are far beyond Sony or Wii. I am glad that we will get an injection of fresh new players right before the holiday season. Also looking forward to the formal annoucement of the partnership between Xbox and Netflix. I expect that by 2011 we will see a game console that is also a fully integrated IPTV box. For those that have Uverse TV you can kind of get a very small sample of how that integration will come about. Woo-hoo!!!

[dakuma]

The Xbox360 will not only win the war but in 5 years it will only be them and Nintendo!

[IsoMedic]

What this article isn't telling: The price drop is almost certainly a clearance. $300 Premium consoles until they sell out. The 60 gig version is taking its place at the $350 price point. Also, Microsoft doesn't count the Wii as a "next generation" console. The Wii sold over 10 million units long ago.

[fuzzywombat]

Despite the price cut, XBOX 360 has lot of things going against them. The question of reliability is a big one. I know multiple friends that had to deal with dead XBOX 360 consoles and it seems like MS is trying to back out of trying to repair them now. I hear MS support staff are asking more questions now and they are trying to charge people for repair whenever possible. I guess MS thinks that by this time gamers have purchased bunch of games and people will just go out and buy a new console to play those games even if MS refuses to repair the broken console. Everyone I know are all ditching XBOX 360 because this and they've been very soured by it. Many of my friends have already jumped ship to PS3 side and I think most will buy PS3 come this holiday. I don't blame them because imagine if you've bought a $60 game and suddenly your XBOX 360 goes dead and you're left with pile of expensive coasters until you have to jump through the ring of fire to get the XBOX 360 repaired or buy a new one which may also die on you.

[Vegaman_Dan]

Ow, Penguinisto. You just got seriously pwned there.

As for Blu-Ray.. that doesn't seem to be actually going anywhere. The market is clearly showing that when you present two versions of a movie out at your local Walmart for $15 for DVD versus $30+ for Blu-Ray, people go for the standard DVD. That's market force economics at work and unless something happens to drop the price of Blu-Ray discs and players, that's simply not going to happen. It doesn't help that after the DVD format war was settled that Blu-Ray players went *up* in price as a result. I don't think we've seen the end of that mess yet. Time will tell.

[Penguinisto]

Dan, Dan, Dan... you have yet to refute the facts: http://vgchartz.com/hwcomps.php The xbox is dead-last in the console wars, as I have stated. Also, "pwned"? ROTFL - 2003 called, they want their petty n00b insults back.

"The market is clearly showing that when you present two versions of a movie out at your local Walmart for $15 for DVD versus $30+ for Blu-Ray, people go for the standard DVD."

I've never said otherwise... you've pretty much just mirrored everything I've said on that subject.

[superbob2122]

Price drop! YAY! it looks like everyone else is selling there xbox 360's for lower as well, i went to www.consumerdepot.com to get mine.