UK Xbox 360 price-cut is official, Pro model discontinued
It’s finally official. Microsoft confirmed today that as of tomorrow (Friday 28th August), the RRP of the 120GB Elite Xbox 360 will be dropping by £30 to £199.99 in the UK. This maintains the 100% success rate of Ars Technika’s mole, who predicted this months ago.
On the flipside, another rumour has turned out to be true, as Microsoft is also increasing the RRP of the Arcade model 360 by £30 to £159.99. They have yet to confirm whether anything extra will be included at that price, but if not the Arcade model will begin to seem pretty redundant. Only £40 extra would get you a 120GB Hard Drive, plus a headset, and ethernet cable and a component cable.
A third rumour was also confirmed today, as the 60GB Pro Xbox 360 has been discontinued and will shortly be phased out of stores.
This is a ruthlessly-timed move by Microsoft, as the £199.99 120GB Elite Xbox 360 will have the headstart of the Bank Holiday Weekend to try and steal some of the sales thunder from the £249.99 120GB PS3 Slim. Doubtless we’ll see some retailer promotions or discounts that take advantage of this even further, as some sites are already doing with the PS3 Slim by selling it at £229.99.
Microsoft have also confirmed that the Elite package will now no longer include an HDMI cable, and the Arcade box will also not include the XBLA games that originally gave that model its name.
6 comments ↓
Seth
August 27th, 2009
I think this is a bit of a stupid move by Microsoft to be honest. They’ve essentially increased the price of their only ‘proper’ model now. The Pro was well priced at £169.99, and now those gamers who might have been considering getting a 360 for the first time will have no choice but to pay £199.99.
Grilled Seabass
August 27th, 2009
Agreed, if I didn’t own a console I would probably now go for the PS3 slim as it’s only £50 more and includes Blu-Ray and free internet/live service.
Seth
August 27th, 2009
Hopefully this means that they’ll be dropping the RRP of the standalone 120GB HDD to something approaching £40. Maybe then I can finally upgrade from my paltry 13GB..
Monkey Rimmer
August 27th, 2009
Having already forked out for the larger HDD unit for my 360, the only thing I’m lacking is the HMDI, which I’m happy to do without until my current console decides to die. Then I’ll just probably buy the cheapest and plug my 120Gb HDD into it.
On a plus side, when my copy of the rather excellent 96% Batman Arkum Asylum arrives I’ll finally have a reason to switch on my phat PS3 other than to watch a DVD/BluRay! Yay for me!
Stevles
September 2nd, 2009
Yet again, Microsoft reminds me why I think they’re shit.
camera bag
September 9th, 2009
i like both consoles but with 360 you pay for wireless adaptor and online, also it has had a lot of hardware failures, as the ps3 is free online built in wifi and less hardware failures. but im not a fanboy i enjoy both consoles i had a 360 for 3 years it broke.