Xbox 360 Arcade price cut makes console cheaper than Wii
- March 10, 2008 06:55 AM PST
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Watch out Wii: After a confirmed Xbox 360 price cut happens this Friday, the Arcade SKU will be the cheapest console in Europe.
How low can they go?
Multiple sources from across the Atlantic confirmed today that the Xbox 360 Arcade SKU will be on the receiving end of a substantial 79 Euro price cut in regions across Europe.
Other SKUs, including the Core and Premium versions of the console, were also rumored to have pending price cuts but that information had not been confirmed at this time.
In one March 14 (this Friday) advertisement from Dutch retailer Intertoy, the Arcade SKU price was listed as 199 Euros. Other unconfirmed reports allege the Pro model will drop from 349 to 299 Euros and the Elite will drop from 449 to 399.
Further adding legitimacy to the Dutch ad is Microsoft itself, which was confirmed as the source of the price cuts via a report in the UK-based Financial Times.
As was noted at Spong, the price cut will put the Arcade at 50 Euros below the price tag of the Wii, while the Pro will be within 50. The Elite, meanwhile, will cost around the same as several PS3 bundles currently available.
Low cost of entry was a big part of the Wii's value. However, even with the looming Xbox 360 price cut, Nintendo still has a packed-in Wii Sports to fall back on as justification for a higher price point, as well as the "all-inclusive" branding that Microsoft simply cannot offer to consumers. The bigger play was actually against Sony, which could potentially see the boost from its own series of PS3 price cuts and the Blu-Ray victory evaporate as quickly as it started. Console wars, indeed.
