Microsoft confirms Xbox 360 price drop in the US

Tom Warren

27 August 2009 - 09:36 Hot!

Starting tomorrow, Friday August 28, Microsoft will be dropping the prices of the Xbox 360 games console across the US.

The new prices will be:

Xbox 360 Elite - $299.99 (was $399.99)
Xbox 360 Pro - $249.99 while supplies last (was $299.99)
Xbox 360 Arcade - $199.99 (same as old price)

Company officials confirmed the Xbox 360 you buy today will work with code-named "Project Natal" and controller-free gaming in the future. "With the holiday season right around the corner, it's already time to start looking for entertainment and gifts that everyone will enjoy," said Shane Kim, corporate vice president of strategy and business development for the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft Corp.

In addition to the new pricing Major Nelson also announced the new Xbox 360 packaging that has been spotted in some US stores this week.

15 Comments

Why can't they drop the price everywhere?

Because the lowered the price in the EU when they didn't in the US. Xbox360 has been cheaper here for a while. Last christmas, MS NL had a cashback promotion lowering the price of an Xbox360 Elite to a mere 200 euros.

Kinda like the PS3. In spain it cost 330 euro before the price drop, and now 300 euro with the pricedrop. Not much of a drop really

"Company officials confirmed the Xbox 360 you buy today will work with code-named "Project Natal" and controller-free gaming in the future."

Hmm this is interesting, does this mean those who brought the Xbox 360 early on won't be able to use Natal? If it does that sucks :-(

No, I think they're just trying to reinforce the fact that Natal will be available for the current xbox 360

Nah, just making sure people know Natal won't require you to buy a new Xbox. Will work with any 360 ever sold.

What they actually mean is any console pre jasper revision will have died long before you get chance to buy Natal.

The price drop has been really considering buying one now.

Even though I have a fairly new PC that can play games though... I dont know what to do. haha

Guess MS will NEVER drop the entry price (arcade).

I think Sony has a better deal. Price drop plus a shrink of the unit.

Project natal apparently will be for the 360 which means that it may launch this year and that the next generation will not be out till at least Christmas 2011.

they should include a hard drive for arcade version 200 its ok

What do the mean by "While supplies last" on the pro version. Do they plan on releasing an updated model or just current stock? Do they plan on raising the price again when they run out?

The pro is being discontinued. "While supplies last" means once gone, that's it for the pro.

LOC said,

The pro is being discontinued. "While supplies last" means once gone, that's it for the pro.

Especially with the Elite going for the same pre-closeout Pro price.

Besides, let's be honest; how many Pro consoles actually sold (out of all X360 sales)?

Haven't most sales (since the advent of the three-tier setup) been either of the base Arcade and top-end Elite (with the Arcade leading by far)?

That's what the new pricing scheme says to me - the Pro didn't sell enough, and the Elite both undersold *and* got overproduced. Throw in the new slimmer PS3 (which will go head-to-head with the chopped-price Elite in terms of price), and we could have a real donnybrook on our hands.

And before anyone says that the PS3 wins hands-down, there's a rather large flaw in that theory - it would be that console buyers (any console) look at things *other* than the games themselves as far as purchasing decision (one console over another) other than price. The Wii (not X360 Arcade and certainly not the PS3, even the new one) has the price advantage locked up (note that X360 Arcade prices went nowhere, which is a concession to the Wii), and every survey of PS3 owners (even those by or on behalf of Sony) has made plain that games, not features (that includes BD playback) are the big dealmaker when it comes to plunking down the money for a PS3.

I'm not a "fanboi" of any console (in fact, I don't even own one). However, I'm certainly capable of reading data accurately. And when it comes to consoles, content (as usual) remains king.

Will the HDD price go down as well. I want to upgrade my 20GB HDD on my Xbox.

Great prices. Too bad the games are ridiculously overpriced.

PS3 games are the same price.

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Microsoft confirms Xbox 360 price drop in the US

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