There have been rumours circling the internet for a couple of weeks now hinting at a price cut for the Xbox 360. They first appeared after Japan recently received a drop in price for all three ranges of the Xbox 360. As usual with console cost reduction rumours, the leading company – in this case Microsoft – denied all leaks. This is obviously so people don’t stop buying the console until the price cut has arrived, which is completely reasonable.
Microsoft has officially declared the price cut now though. At this point it is only for the US, but a European reduction will surely follow. The new prices are set to start from this Friday, September 5. The prices are shown below:
- Xbox 360 – Arcade: $199
- Xbox 360 – Premium: $299
- Xbox 360 – Elite: $399
These new prices mean that the Xbox 360 Arcade will officially be the cheapest current-gen console from September 5. The price also makes Microsoft the first console company from this generation to go below the 200 retail price. Don Mattrick, senior vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft, had the following to say:
“We are thrilled to be the first next-generation console on the market to reach $199, a price that invites everyone to enjoy Xbox 360”
[...] Xbox 360 has hit the significant milestone of six million sales, helped recently by the price cuts, which put the lowest tier Xbox 360 SKU at a cheaper price than the Wii. This makes the Xbox 360 [...]