aaron901 Posted April 18, 2002 Share Posted April 18, 2002 Quoted from Australian IT Xbox price slashed Caitlin Fitzsimmons APRIL 18, 2002 MICROSOFT has slashed the price of the Xbox almost 40 per cent in a bid to revive flagging sales. The Xbox, which launched in Australia at $649 just over a month ago, will now cost $399. The dramatic price cut makes the Xbox $100 cheaper than its closest rival, Sony PlayStation 2, and the same price as Nintendo's GameCube, due to launch in May. A similar price cut in Europe brings the Xbox to ?199 or 299 euros. Xbox director Alan Bowman said that the price cut was a "strategic, competitive decision" and one that would benefit customers. "The fact is our pricing here had become uncompetitive and, we felt, an obstacle to the Xbox experience," Mr Bowman said. "Since our launch the market has changed - and will continue to change - and we are now being unashamedly aggressive in changing it ourselves." Mr Bowman said the price drop would take effect on April 26 and any customers who had already purchased the Xbox at full price would receive $250 worth of Xbox products as a gift. Microsoft spent $US500 million ($936 million) worldwide in promoting the console. In Australia the marketing campaign included street spray advertisements, signs on buses, an Xbox-themed helicopter and an Xbox -themed yacht in Sydney harbour. The technology giant said it would ship 100,000 consoles to Australian retailers within three months of the launch. But so far sales have failed to live up to the hype. While a glitzy launch with midnight openings at many stores helped sell almost 10,000 consoles in the first four days, independent figures show the company has sold just 13,000 units since then. Sony has been heavily promoting the PS2 console, offering it as a bundle with the top-selling PS2 game or with an entertainment pack. March figures for PS2 show sales of 30,000 and the console has outsold Xbox three to one for the past few weeks. Inform research manager Phil Burnham said Microsoft had sold just 1500 consoles a week for the past fortnight and if sales continued at that rate the three-monthly figures would barely reach 30,000. "I think they needed to drop it that low," Mr Burnham said. "It's the price the GameCube will be at launch. In the United States the Xbox and PS2 are the same price and the PS2 is still outselling the Xbox. It also makes it less likely that they'll be beaten on price if Sony reacts with a price drop." If the price of the Xbox remained the same in the US, Australia could be the cheapest in the world. Mr Burnham said the price drop was of such magnitude it was almost like a relaunch, but it was a "very good move" that would drive sales strongly. The $250 gift should keep existing Xbox owners happy. "They've been very brave and it's good they've done it now rather than letting it go on for a few more months," he said. "If they didn't drop the price and didn't get the installed base and ended up failing, then they would have lost everything." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaron901 Posted April 18, 2002 Author Share Posted April 18, 2002 hooray! i'm gonna get an xbox tomorrow!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aco Veteran Posted April 18, 2002 Veteran Share Posted April 18, 2002 https://www.neowin.net/bboard/showthread.ph...&threadid=23262 or https://www.neowin.net/comments.php?categor...=gamers&id=4009 or for anyone from the UK https://www.neowin.net/comments.php?categor...=gamers&id=4012 :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faction Posted April 18, 2002 Share Posted April 18, 2002 Wow.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Gates Posted April 18, 2002 Share Posted April 18, 2002 but... what about the US!! dammit!! i want to get xbox for shenmue 2, midtown madness 2, halo, etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DisinfectedDuck Posted April 18, 2002 Share Posted April 18, 2002 Wow that's a BIG cut! Does that mean they're in REAL trouble? :D :evil: :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
altezza Veteran Posted April 18, 2002 Veteran Share Posted April 18, 2002 MS finally realised its XBOX console needs to catch up with PS2. Let's see what MS can do to tackle PS2. I think PS2 still wins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaron901 Posted April 18, 2002 Author Share Posted April 18, 2002 yeah i don't think xbox will beat ps2 sony rules! i love sony products! xbox doesn't have any titles that attract me atm. but 399 is really really cheap. stock it first! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanM602 Posted April 18, 2002 Share Posted April 18, 2002 I live in the USA and where I live the XBOX console is only $299 USD :), but I still won't buy one because I play mostly computer games. :rambo: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmuZombie Veteran Posted April 18, 2002 Veteran Share Posted April 18, 2002 Originally posted by Phil Gates but... what about the US!! dammit!! i want to get xbox for shenmue 2, midtown madness 2, halo, etc... just get a dreamcast for shenmue 2 :D they're cheap enough now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
altezza Veteran Posted April 19, 2002 Veteran Share Posted April 19, 2002 DanM602: yeah mostly I played computer games in my computer anyway. PC have much more functions than XBOX. XBOX is just a gaming machine....no more no less and it have similar PC parts. Nah I still choose PC over XBOX. And yes, I want to get PS2 and PS2 is different gaming beast machine. MS have failed to deliver XBOX to be the top console gaming machine. PS2 still the one! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Dorr Veteran Posted April 19, 2002 Veteran Share Posted April 19, 2002 ps2 all the way. great games. great graphics. great price (after e3 ;) ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
velocity3k Posted April 19, 2002 Share Posted April 19, 2002 Most people who boast about how good the PS2 is and how much it is better than the XBox, are just biased. They obviously haven't had the chance to experience the difference between the consoles. I got the PS2 when it came out (I was one of the lucky few who pre-ordered it), it didn't have many games at the beginning but after about a year it started to have some great games and even now GT3, GTA3 are amazing games. I also got the Xbox on launch(midnight, pre-ordered also), and when i have them both running side by side, i can see the visual performance of both consoles and the Xbox does come out on top. I thought that PS2 would win the race as it has built itself an amazing game base and also hardware wise it was cheap, but after hearing the pricing for the hard drive and the modem i was quite shocked, it would cost an absolute fortune to buy the extra hardware for me to get my PS2 online + the subscription for some games. After this i do believe that the Xbox will come out on top in the long run, as the facts show it is just as cheap as the PS2, here in the UK (?199) and also for the fact it works out cheaper when considiring the PS2 and the Modem+Hardrive price. It may not have many titles now but neither did the PS2 when it launched and especially when Microsoft launch their online service with a line-up of great online games. I am trying to be impartial here but on the long run i have a feeling that the Xbox will do better, i maybe incorrect but this is just my opinion (So don't flame me:DD . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuarterSwede Posted April 19, 2002 Share Posted April 19, 2002 I have to agree with velocity3k. It would cost you more to buy the PS2, hard drive and modem than it would cost you to buy an xbox that has all of that included. Shoot you even get much better graphics and there games are not bad at all. (RalliSport challenge, Halo, etc.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ab1225 Posted April 19, 2002 Share Posted April 19, 2002 PS2 "WAS" good, now it is all Xbox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StOnD Posted April 19, 2002 Share Posted April 19, 2002 I never did like PS1 or 2 very much. I haven't bought any consoles since my N64 and probably won't buy any more, I'm mostly a PC gamer. If I were to get a console it would be Xbox hands down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savestheday Posted April 19, 2002 Share Posted April 19, 2002 ps2 is a great console.....but it was a great console for a year and a half ago.....xbox is the future of console gaming....just give it another six months with all the games coming out and its gonna cruel ps2 ...IMHO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaron901 Posted April 20, 2002 Author Share Posted April 20, 2002 aiks another console war here hey people, console itself is really nothing as long as it has good title, it's a good console.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willywonka69 Posted April 20, 2002 Share Posted April 20, 2002 XBox all the way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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