Xbox 360 Price Drop And 60 GB Model Confirmed
The worst kept secret of E3 has finally been confirmed by Microsoft, as they have announced a $50 price drop on the 20 GB Xbox 360, otherwise known as the Pro model. The price drop applies to both the US and Canada, and it sounds like the $299 price will only stick around until they sell out their inventory. If you want a Pro at a discount, best get going soon before they all run out. The lower price should be effective right now.
As an aside, doesn't that last bit really make this a clearance sale, rather than a price drop? I suppose that doesn't sound quite as sexy.
Microsoft also announced that they're replacing the current Pro with a model featuring a 60 GB hard drive for $349. No other changes to the hardware are mentioned. The Arcade (with no hard drive) and Elite (with $120 hard drive) are staying put at $279 and $449 respectively. There's no silly name for the 60 GB model yet, but I expect that it will either be the new Pro, or they'll saddle it with something sure to confuse grandmothers later, like "The Authority" or "The Hard Core." They also haven't mentioned anything about selling the 60GB hard drive separately for current Pro and Arcade owners who want to upgrade. The 60 GB Xbox 360 will be in stores at the beginning of August.
Was this what anyone was waiting for? Microsoft definitely has a solid line-up for the fall and winter, and it looks like this is a pretty decent shot over Sony's bow. Check after the break for the full word from Microsoft, and expect to hear more Monday after their E3 press release.
Redmond, Washington--Microsoft is giving consumers more gigabytes for their buck. The company today announced an Xbox 360® console with triple the storage space of the original console, but for the same price of $349 (U.S.) estimated retail price.Available in retail stores in the U.S. and Canada starting in early August, the upgraded Xbox 360 will include a 60GB hard drive for storing the growing wealth of digital entertainment available for the console, including music, movies, television shows, and game content. In addition, Microsoft today dropped the price of its 20GB Xbox 360 console in the U.S. and Canada to just $299 (U.S.) (ERP) while supplies last, a savings of $50.
"We know consumers need more and more space to store the amazing digital content Xbox 360 offers, and we're giving it to them at no extra charge," said Albert Penello, Xbox director of product management at Microsoft. "No one device offers the depth and breadth of entertainment that Xbox 360 can deliver, and now you'll have three times the storage to manage all that great content."
Xbox 360 is just one of three Xbox 360 gaming and entertainment systems Microsoft offers. Microsoft's Xbox 360 Arcade, which comes with a 256MB memory unit and five Xbox LIVE Arcade games, is a value for the whole family for $279 (U.S.) (ERP), and the premium Xbox 360 Elite console is available with a 120GB hard drive for $449 (U.S.) (ERP).
Dawdle
Posted to Hot Stuff, Video Games on 13 July 2008
Other stuff like this: confirmation, price drop, price-cut, xbox 360
