This morning, Microsoft announced that the Xbox 360 Elite bundle will make its way to the Japanese market October 11th and will be priced cheaper than in the US. The black 360 will cost 47,800 yen which translates to roughly $390 US, making it $90 cheaper in Japan. Man, do we want ourselves some cheap Elite love too. Microsoft's reasoning pretty much revolves around the fact that the Xbox 360's performance in Japan lacks stating that "the decision on the pricing was based on the situation in the Japanese market" and that "we are not satisfied with our position in Japan and working to improve it". So, if Americans quit buying Xbox 360 Elites then we too would get cheaper hardware ... we'll have to make a note of that one.
Elite to be priced cheaper in Japan
This morning, Microsoft announced that the Xbox 360 Elite bundle will make its way to the Japanese market October 11th and will be priced cheaper than in the US. The black 360 will cost 47,800 yen which translates to roughly $390 US, making it $90 cheaper in Japan. Man, do we want ourselves some cheap Elite love too. Microsoft's reasoning pretty much revolves around the fact that the Xbox 360's performance in Japan lacks stating that "the decision on the pricing was based on the situation in the Japanese market" and that "we are not satisfied with our position in Japan and working to improve it". So, if Americans quit buying Xbox 360 Elites then we too would get cheaper hardware ... we'll have to make a note of that one.
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(Page 1)2. I want to get an Elite... If I did, I'd send it to my friend because I moved, and we always had a ton of fun playing Halo 2 and Gears online...
Just gotta get and Elite.
Posted at 12:07PM on Jul 5th 2007 by Dragod
3. Despite not doing well in Japan, I like that Mirosoft doesn't give up. It's going to a tough market for them no matter what.
When you think about it, even Sony reduced the cost of their PS3 console in Japan.
Posted at 12:30PM on Jul 5th 2007 by nick
4. So does this mean that with the Xbox 360 doing well here in the UK, they will put the price up as high as poss when they lanch the Elite here? wouldn't friggin surprise me.
Posted at 3:09PM on Jul 5th 2007 by dirt junkie
5. whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?
you gotta be kidding me! they don't even like Microsoft and Bill is rewarding them?
what a brunch of crud. at least we're still a foot taller than most of them.
Posted at 4:56PM on Jul 5th 2007 by brentkailbourn
6. The form of logic mentioned in this article isn't correct, because if it were then the Playstation 3 would be selling for about $200 right now, since nobody in any market of the world is buying the thing!
The day the Dreamcast launched, it had quite a few AWESOME games!
PS3 still only has two games that have won the Gamespot Editor's Choice Award, and BOTH of those games are on the Xbox 360, AND rated higher on the Xbox 360!
Dreamcast ended up failing even though it was only $199 when it launched, and ended up with about 40 A+ games!
PS3 has a library of games that really sucks compared to the competition. It isn't even a good library on its own. Games like NBA 07, Genji, and Untold Legends are some of the worst rated games of all time!
Playstation 3 doesn't have a chance of selling well at that price or any price, because it doesn't have a good enough software library.
The point I'm getting at is price is important, but the thing that matters the most is gaming. Dreamcast didn't have any EA games, and that was probably what killed it in the end.
Now, the Xbox 360 receives LOTS of games from EA that the Playstation 3 doesn't get. Look at how the Playstation 3 doesn't have any Real-Time Strategy games at all, but the Xbox 360 has Command & Conquer 3, along with Lord of the Rings: Battle for Mid-Earth 2. Plus there are THREE MORE Real-Time strategy games on the way for Xbox 360, but NONE for Playstation 3.
Xbox 360 really owns that genre, just like almost every other!
The Sports games from EA and 2K Sports are SO MUCH better on Xbox 360. Look at how MLB 2K7 is SO MUCH better on Xbox 360. And look how ALL of the Football games this year will run at 60 frames per second on Xbox 360 but only 30 frames per second on PS3.
It is logical to conclude that software and third-party support are what count the most toward the influence of a game systems success.
Posted at 8:30PM on Jul 5th 2007 by Spock
7. @ brentkailbourn
LOL. Height advantage FTW!
Posted at 9:33PM on Jul 5th 2007 by Spitkicker
1. they should do a price drop on their premium system as well in Japan.
I'm sure M$ will do a price drop during the xmas season.
Posted at 12:07PM on Jul 5th 2007 by dunnypop