Home Gaming Official – Local Xbox 360 Price Cut

Official – Local Xbox 360 Price Cut

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Well isn’t this a nice suprise… I just received a press release from Microsoft announcing a local price cut for the Xbox 360.

The new RRP for the Arcade model is R1999 (R700 off), The Pro is now sitting at R2999 (R700 as well) and the Elite at R3999 (R600 off)….

I said earlier that breaking the R2000 bracket is a very important psychological mark and I am very happy to see Microsoft put their money where their mouth is.

With the Wii being overpriced since launch (compared to overseas) and the PS3 actually receiving a price increase this is a very brave move by Microsoft which will hopefully force the other players hands a bit.

Last Updated: March 10, 2008

56 Comments

  1. PS3Fanboy

    March 10, 2008 at 16:44

    A price cut is always good, or is it? Has Microsoft realised that the PS3 is catching up and because the hardware has nothing else to offer, a price cut is the only thing to help it compete. Old hardware and old games get price-cuts.

    Reply

  2. koldFU5iON

    March 10, 2008 at 16:47

    wow that really is an intelligent argument, I guess the PS3’s price tag going up must make it a more valuable console?

    have you ever heard the theory about more demand = less price?

    Reply

  3. LazySAGamer

    March 10, 2008 at 16:49

    I highly doubt that anyone is going to be convinced that paying less for something makes it worse 😉

    It is also good to remember that the games on the 360 are still just as good (if not better) than the same games on the PS3

    Reply

  4. PS3Fanboy

    March 10, 2008 at 16:54

    It’s all about the future, not the present.

    PS3 is selling more than Xbox and a price-cut is a clear sign that Microsoft is worried. Its got nothing to do with demand = less price.

    Games are equal at the moment, but in the future, Xbox 720 games will also be equal to PS3 games. And thats 2 brand new consoles versus Sony’s one.

    Reply

  5. darthdad

    March 10, 2008 at 16:58

    I think it’s an excellent strategy. I’m sure there are many PS2 owners out there who have not upgraded to the PS3 just yet because of the price. No matter how loyal they are they will be able to get a next gen console for half of the PS3.
    To me it’s a no brainer.
    I also can’t see how Sony could compete with this just yet.

    Reply

  6. PS3Fanboy

    March 10, 2008 at 17:02

    Just thinking about it, it is actually a good idea. Now people can buy 2 Xbox 360’s for the price of 1 PS3 therefore as soon as the RROD appears, you have a backup.

    Genius!

    Reply

  7. PS3 > XBOX 360

    March 10, 2008 at 17:09

    Well here is an idea,

    Flog all old XBOX360 stock to the gamers who think they are getting a brilliant deal.

    Release a new XBOX360 (PS3 Edition) including Blu-Ray and everyone will need to upgrade again. But I am guessing everyone is going to say they don’t want Blu-Ray but deep down inside you know you do.

    Reply

  8. koldFU5iON

    March 10, 2008 at 17:13

    @ PS3Fanboy: *sigh* “Love is blind” I can only assume the same is true for Fanboi’s

    Reply

  9. doobiwan

    March 10, 2008 at 17:19

    Ain’t that the truth 😉

    Funny thing PS3 fanboys – the exact same strategy work wonders for the PS3.

    And one day in the long distant future, if the PS3 ever wins a showdown with the 360 (yet to happen) then you can crow, until then, eat it. :p

    Reply

  10. doobiwan

    March 10, 2008 at 17:20

    Doh, need food :blush:
    the same strategy work for the … PS2 …

    Reply

  11. abe

    March 10, 2008 at 17:21

    As I wrote in the other thread, lets all remember that for the wonderful price of R2000 you are getting the Arcade or as I like to call it the Gimpedbox, it cant even play all avaible games. So I guess then you should actually get the Pro for R3000, but hey personaly I would much rather pay R1500 extra for a machine with wifi, bluray etc.

    Reply

  12. Kage

    March 10, 2008 at 17:30

    Did not take too long for the Fanbois to come out.
    While Sony is bleeding to death due to bad console sales, Ms is able to drop the prices.
    Hope and pray that MS does not bring out a BR player console, what else will you have to cling to, your sixaxis remote? 😉

    Reply

  13. Kage

    March 10, 2008 at 17:31

    @Abe
    What games are you not able to play on the Arade Version?

    Reply

  14. Nduimiso

    March 10, 2008 at 17:45

    “Games are equal at the moment, but in the future, Xbox 720 games will also be equal to PS3 games. And thats 2 brand new consoles versus Sony’s one.”
    Haha, oh really where did this hypothesis come from? Do you enjoy being brainwashed?

    Reply

  15. abe

    March 10, 2008 at 17:56

    Kage PS3’s are actually selling very well and especially so when compared to xbox’s during the equivalent life cycles, even with the steep price!
    As far as I know Bunrout paradise as well as Crackdown are gimped on the arcade due to no hdd!

    Reply

  16. LazySAGamer

    March 10, 2008 at 18:04

    Burnout single player is perfect on the Arcade, it needs a HDD for multiplayer however.

    However the Arcade can play true 1080p games for R1999, it can also stream movies from your PC in HD and upscale DVD’s perfectly. I would hardly call it gimped and at it’s new price it is competing (financially) with the PS2.

    No competition. Honestly the PS3 is going to have to do something to compete. Oh and the vast majority of people really don’t care about Blu-Ray.. honestly..

    I want a stand alone Bu-Ray player and now that those are coming in around R2500 it makes more sense to get a Xbox 360 Premium and a Blu-Ray player for less than a PS3.

    Reply

  17. ManesanZA

    March 10, 2008 at 18:04

    “PS3Fanboy said”
    “It’s all about the future, not the present.”
    Why? Ive been gaming in HD for 2.5 years, how long should we wait for Sony to get their act together?

    “PS3 is selling more than Xbox and a price-cut is a clear sign that Microsoft is worried. Its got nothing to do with demand = less price”
    No, a price decrease has been on the cards for a while. Incidentally, they didnt have to “gimp” the console by removng features to reduce the price. Infact from the core to arcade features were added.

    “Games are equal at the moment, but in the future, Xbox 720 games will also be equal to PS3 games. And thats 2 brand new consoles versus Sony’s one.”
    Im still scratching my head over that comment, please drag me down to retard-land and explain.

    Reply

  18. Darthdad

    March 10, 2008 at 18:04

    @abe, “Bunrout paradise as well as Crackdown”
    LOL, there is something very wrong with that slip!

    Reply

  19. abe

    March 10, 2008 at 18:20

    Lazy you have long known my views of the arcade, I think its a piece of crap, uno indeed!
    I hate this war. Im gonna go play my console of prefrence now and Im going to enjoy it too 😉

    Reply

  20. evilredzombie

    March 10, 2008 at 18:23

    im a ps3 fanboy… but since ms is giving them away at 2 g’s il buy a second hand one for 1 g… just for the exclusives like bioshock 2 and gears 2

    Reply

  21. Fox1

    March 10, 2008 at 18:25

    @Lazy- Wooooooo hoooooo! I told you so it’s coming. From Friday I have been raving this was coming! You just made my Monday 😀

    Mondays like these are good to come by.

    @PS3 Fanbois- Bwwwwwaaaaaahahahahahahahaha 😉

    And as for the Blue Ray thing, Ms could just release it as an add-on drive.

    Reply

  22. Darthdad

    March 10, 2008 at 18:26

    @abe, I also agree about the war. And will now go and play my preferred console as well.

    Reply

  23. evilredzombie

    March 10, 2008 at 18:32

    @fox… just go and look what a blu ray drive costs… do u realy think they will give one for MS? no… It will cost almost same as a ps3

    evilredzombie’s last blog post..Asta La Vista 3rd party

    Reply

  24. Messiah

    March 10, 2008 at 18:33

    I think Monday’s should be renamed “FanBoy Mondays, Xbox 360 and PS3 Fanboys unite!!!!!” Mwaahahahahaha

    Reply

  25. Darthdad

    March 10, 2008 at 18:34

    It’s the PS3 by the way.

    Reply

  26. Naudran

    March 10, 2008 at 18:37

    This price drop doesn’t really touch me, I don’t need another XBox… can’t they rather just bring down the prices of the games with R 100? 😀 That would mean a hell-of-va lot more to me.

    I only need to buy the PS3 still… and that’s definitely not going to happen as long as the price is way up there.

    Reply

  27. Fox1

    March 10, 2008 at 18:39

    @evilredzombie- I see you see the logic in this price cut. Yeah, I guess the Blue Ray Drive will be expensive.

    Reply

  28. ManesanZA

    March 10, 2008 at 18:56

    Abe, why is the Arcade crap? From tomorrow its an excellent value option. At R1999 Id grab it. i dont really need a hard drive as downloading a 1GB demo is too damn expensive. What exactly is gimped on this console. Compared to the Wii you are getting exceptional value and I think this is the area were alot of casual gamers will look into.

    Reply

  29. evilredzombie

    March 10, 2008 at 19:10

    jip.. will def buy a 360 fro 1 g

    evilredzombie’s last blog post..Asta La Vista 3rd party

    Reply

  30. doobiwan

    March 10, 2008 at 19:37

    double lol at all the berieved fanboys.

    Oh abe don’t be a raving flaming tool again. The arcade is perfect for people who have no intention of connecting to Live, it can do absolutely everything the pro and elite can offline. EVERYTHING, so you can FUD right off. 😉

    And, should the urge grab you at a later stage to go online you can, with almost no issue unless you want to get DLC, then all you need to do is buy the harddrive, easy peezy, no issues.

    Unlike a 40Gb PS3 if you ever decide you want BC to say experiece MGS 1-3, well, you’re stuffed like a haggis ain’t you now.

    Reply

  31. Thomeval

    March 10, 2008 at 19:49

    Amazing how this news has so many people interested (or furious), but are there really that many people that are affected by this? Those that want an Xbox probably already have one, and those that don’t (Wii, PS3 fans or console atheists) aren’t all that likely to change there minds. As Naudran said, I’d much rather see a drop in game prices than the main console.

    On a side note, I think this site needs more of these news posts. 30 posts in 3 hours is pretty damn impressive activity (if you count meaningless fanboy trolling as posts).

    Reply

  32. LazySAGamer

    March 10, 2008 at 19:53

    @Thomeval, I will get on the phone with Microsoft and ask them to drop prices on a regular basis to keep the comments coming 🙂

    On a serious note, I am very suprised at the ‘anger’ that is coming from the PS3 side. This is good news for everyone in my humble opinion. The larger our gaming industry the better for us all…

    I am now really hoping for a PS3 price cut.

    Reply

  33. boredhousewife

    March 10, 2008 at 21:51

    Also not sure why this should upset the fanbois – its called competition and its good for consumers. This will drive up the sales of the Xbox – which will prompt Sony to sell off a few assets to fund a pricecut – which will result in a broader installed base which allows for developers to bring out more games etc. So it should be something we all should celebrate rather than lament. If anything is lamentable it is that high launch price of the PS3 has allowed MS to sell at an inflated price for this long , 30 months into the life cycle of the PS2(the first to launch in the previous gen) all three consoles were priced below the USD 200 /EUR 200 RRP.

    Reply

  34. Fox1

    March 10, 2008 at 22:48

    Just when Sony announced the PS3 price increase…

    Reply

  35. Lupus

    March 11, 2008 at 08:14

    Yeah well Sony wants to try cover their losses. MS can keep it up for a while longer.

    Reply

  36. DarthPenguin

    March 11, 2008 at 08:38

    @ Lupus…. MS have covered their losses… they been making profit since shortly after the launch of Halo3… it doesn’t matter if you didn’t like the game… it sold like hotcakes and sparked a huge increase in worldwide sales. MS are smiling at the moment.

    Reply

  37. SlippyMadFrog

    March 11, 2008 at 08:48

    Look at all the PS3 fanbois doing damage control. This is hilarious!

    @evilredzombie
    Props to you for not acting like all the other kicking and screaming PS3 fanbois. If the PS3 cost R2000, I’ll be all over it.

    Reply

  38. bokka1

    March 11, 2008 at 09:01

    I can’t believe that there are actually people posting here that sees this as a bad thing. If you don’t like the console don’t buy it, but don’t criticise a company if they lower the price of their products. I think the only time you can start criticising is when they increase their prices or sell their products at exorbitant prices.

    Reply

  39. abe

    March 11, 2008 at 09:03

    Bleh!
    Think im just gonna sell all my worldly posestions and move to nepal!

    Reply

  40. Milesh Bhana

    March 11, 2008 at 09:33

    I’m tempted to agree slightly with the PS3 fanbois.

    Agreed, MS is doing well, the 360 is profitable and the fact that they’re dropping the price means that they’ve managed to get the manufacturing process sorted nicely. Afaik PS3 is still making a loss, so despite beating 360 this month, not enough units yet, GT5 and MGS4 will change that like Halo did for MS.

    Anyway, my guess, MS could have dropped the price earlier but enjoyed the profits, this price drop is a reaction to the “death of HD-DVD” news.

    But hey, getting an xbox for slightly more than a PS2 is awesome news. In SA, the Core Group are a bunch of idiots, they just launch the DS for R1899! And the games are d@mn expensive too. (Same price as PSP).

    Reply

  41. Milesh Bhana

    March 11, 2008 at 09:34

    “Games are equal at the moment, but in the future, Xbox 720 games will also be equal to PS3 games. And thats 2 brand new consoles versus Sony’s one.”

    Please send me the stuff you’re smoking, looks like it’s the good stuff, been stuggling to find decent drugs here.

    Reply

  42. Kage

    March 11, 2008 at 10:07

    LOL!

    The PS3 fanbois are quaking!
    Just accept that you are now able to buy the console that you actually want and play the games that you have been drooling after – GOW, Bioshock & Mass Effect!
    Put a dust cover on your big black toaster and enjoy the wonders of the 360!

    Reply

  43. Codemonkey

    March 11, 2008 at 10:42

    HAHA Milesh, that’s Brilliant. These PS3 Fan boys are just flaming cause they need to make themselves feel better for the Huge amount of money they spent buying the console. This plus the fact that a lot of ps3 game reviews have gotten worse reviews than their xbox 360 counterparts (assassin’s creed and skate to name a few- source: NAG).

    PS3 Fan boys: Stop crying and except the fact that the ps3 is currently a sub par console for the price you are paying. Currently there is NO reason whatsoever to get a ps3 (except BLU ray if that is important to you). Once the PS3 has a significant price drop I will definitely buy it, I have nothing against it. I just think that at this price anyone who buys a ps3 is a sucker. And the R4400 non BC version ps3 is not even an option and is a cowardly attempt by sony to sell more ps3 games.

    Reply

  44. doobiwan

    March 11, 2008 at 11:11

    Oh bugger it, no one reads long comments anyway 😉

    doobiwan’s last blog post..Ranting in my armchair: The 360 Price Cut & Why the Arcade wins

    Reply

  45. Burns ZA

    March 11, 2008 at 11:22

    Hold on here, what were all the PS3 boys saying when Sony had their massive price cut a couple of months ago? IIRC that was a direct result of woeful sales worldwide. Microsoft are making money, this is just going to spur an increase in sales of the console and generate even more interest in the 360. Generally with any electronic device that sells well, price cuts are a natural part of the products life cycle. Once projections are on target and investors happy, the second wave of marketing comes into play with the same product available for cheaper and thereby enticing more customers who provide the cherry or icing on the cake.

    Reply

  46. Kage

    March 11, 2008 at 11:24

    @ Doobiwan

    Its a conspiracy – my work filters allow Lazygamer but not your blog – can you post it in ADSL forums please.

    Reply

  47. Fox1

    March 11, 2008 at 11:56

    The PS3 won’t drop below R2000 as long the PS2 is available.

    Reply

  48. darthdad

    March 11, 2008 at 12:04

    Good to see a fair and balanced response from all the Xbox fanboys. Don’t fall over each other in the process though.:)

    Reply

  49. Fox1

    March 11, 2008 at 12:05

    @doobiwan- I read your blog.

    Here’s a a point to consider: What about future price cuts? Where will that leave the PS3? It will happen as chips get smaller 😉

    Reply

  50. Kage

    March 11, 2008 at 12:33

    Thanks for the post Doobiwan. 🙂

    The major reasos I believe MS made the price cuts:
    1. Loss of HD DVD.
    2. Casual Gamer Market i.e. Wii market
    3. The PS2 Market – the hordes of fresh next-gen meat.
    4. Release of Multiplatform titles such as GTA IV & DMC IV.

    Reply

  51. Eltopo

    March 11, 2008 at 15:24

    I’ve still got a ps2 and no next gen consoles yet.
    But will get the xbox as soon as i see the price cut in a store.

    Yes Mate!!!

    Reply

  52. doobiwan

    March 11, 2008 at 16:46

    Eltopo, it takes affect as of Friday, so you don’t have to wait long 😉

    doobiwan’s last blog post..Ranting in my armchair: The 360 Price Cut & Why the Arcade wins

    Reply

  53. PS3Fanboy

    March 11, 2008 at 17:02

    Raises bat for 50 comments

    Reply

  54. Bio

    June 3, 2008 at 22:28

    South African’s are really STUPID, I’ve heard that a few of them think the PS3 is better because it was released later. People there are technologically impaired, and I really hope the few smart ones get out of that country because it will crash and burn! Before judging a product look at its specs. PS don’t tell me the PS3 is better because it has blueray or cell processors because newsflash the GPU and CPU on the PS3 doesn’t work so well together thats why GTA IV got assraped on PS3. Plus the ATI card in 360 supports DX10 I checked with MS,GT,ATI and EPIC. Now I won’t be awaiting a stupid fanboy’s comment who like Chinese plastic profucts and get too horny over them to think logic, you got served!

    Reply

  55. LazySAGamer

    June 3, 2008 at 22:39

    Possibly the stupidest comment ever… Well done..

    Reply

  56. Messiah

    June 4, 2008 at 06:58

    I could not agree with you more. Well done Bio.

    Lazy, I think we should add a hall of fame on the site for stupid comments 🙂

    This one gets my vote.

    Reply

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