Microsoft has officially announced that Canada will also be receiving 360 price cut in line with the cut announced for the United States. The Core and Premium consoles are both receiving a hefty cut of $100 while the Elite will drop by $50. That means our neighbors up north can pick up a Core for $299, a Premium for $399, or an Elite for $499. Meanwhile, the Halo 3 special edition 360 is set to debut in September at $449. Frankly, if someone was going to spring for the Halo 3 system, we don't see why they wouldn't just take the plunge and get an Elite. At any rate, the price cut will become official starting tomorrow. Any of our Canadian readers planning on picking one up?[Via Major Nelson]
If you didn't already know, today Sony announced that they've trimmed the fat on their Playsation 3 by dropping the price by $100. Surprising isn't it? Now the obvious question is whether Microsoft will retaliate with a price cut of their own or keep things the way they are. Industry analyst Michael Pachter thinks a price cut will happen and has gone on record to say that Microsoft will announce a Xbox 360 price drop sometime during E3. How Mr. Pachter sees it is that they'll knock of $50 from the Core and Premium and take $80 off the Elite making the price points $249, $349 and $399. This is of course entirely possible seeing that Sony is stepping on Microsoft's price point territory. Also, we're thinking a price cut is overdue seeing that the console has been out for nearly two years at the same price. We'll just have to wait until tomorrow night to see what surprises Microsoft has up their sleeves and if our 360 will get a fat trimming too.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Peter Moore and others discuss the Xbox 360 demographic, how they want to target moms and their kids, and hint at a possible 360 price cut. "If we don't make that move, make it early and expand our demographic, we will wind up in the same place as with Xbox 1" Moore says, and what better way to move more consoles than with a price cut. Director of Xbox product management David Hufford reinforces this thinking by stating that "we (Microsoft) are well aware that the sweet spot of the market is really 199 bucks" and that "when mom walks into the store and sees she can get a console with a game for $250, she sees it as a $300 value". It really sounds like Microsoft gets it.
For those of you wondering if the Xbox 360 will have a price drop coming down the pipeline, our good friend Steve Ballmer has some words of wisdom. "I think every console in the world has had a price decrease sometime in the first few years. I don't know whether we'll have a price decrease in the first few years, and I don't want to comment on that, but I will highlight for you that every console has had a price decrease in the first few years."
Here's an article in the Seattle Post Intelligencer telling the mainstream audience what we have already come to accept: Thanks to the PS3's lofty price tag, a price cut for the Xbox 360 is a long way off.
