Xbox360 Elite to drop to $299 on September 1st (updated)
by Brett Walton, posted on 21 August 2009 / 16,014 Views
VGChartz has received multiple confirmations today that the latest sales papers for the week of 1st September to 7th at Walmart, Gamestop and Meijer show the Xbox360 Elite priced at $299 and replacing the current Pro SKU which Microsoft is phasing out. This had been rumored last week with some leaked shots on Kotaku and hints from various analysts but we have been cautious in reporting the story as fact until we've had some direct confirmation for ourselves.
In a move obviously designed to offset Sony's recent PS3 redesign and price drop, the $299 price point will take effect on the same day as the new PS3 launches - September 1st. The Arcade SKU will remain at $199.
We'll have more info when it arrives and an analysis of how we think this will affect the market. Expect an official Microsoft announcement soon.
Update - Engadget has managed to get a leaked photo of the Walmart ad as you can see below:
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I saw the ad myself today... our Assistant Manager was looking through it and I asked him to check for the 360 price cut and it was there... so 100 percent
I've got this funny feeling sony will bunble the Ps3 slim with Uncharted 2: Amongst Theives when the game releases, crushing blow for microsoft in my opinion.
Wow look at all the Sony fanboys on this Xbox 360 deal !! a sure sign that MS have made another good move. Lol at the one who said 55% failure rate, if it even got to 40% UK law demands a recall of all machines let alone 50%. You are reading a so called reader survey not a repair centre survey and people can write any rubbish they want (and did) if they would of had to have proof of purchase to enter the survey then both the Xbox and PS3 failure rate would of more than halved. The trouble is to many people read what they want to belive for whatever strange reason and don't want to even consider that the whole thing was nonsense. @Jordahn What is the point of your post here ? this is about the 360 Elite having a pricecut nothing to do with the PS3 whatsoever and you being being a 37 year old should surly know better.... I was half expecting you to jump to the subject of cars and tell everyone pay a bit more for tinted windows and fluffy dice for the front as it would make just about as much sense as whatever else you wrote....
@dandd When I was a kid in the mid 1980's, I was a huge HeMan fan. I loved it, looked into, and I knew more about it. So I was certainly more hardcore than my parents in regards to HeMan. Thankfully, my parents got me most of my HeMan toy because I was a good kid. My shopping philosophy is why waste money on something I don't want when I can spend a little more on something I do want? Because I've been making my own money for over the past 14 years, i want to make sure I spend it the way I want. Of course if it's something I NEED IMMEDIATELY, I'll make do with something cheaper until I can afford something better. But if it's what I WANT, I'm going to make sure I get what I want when I can get it. So assuming little Timmy knows what he wants (more informed = probably more hardcore) , he's a good kid, and mom and dad can afford it, I can't see why mom and dad wouldn't give him a PS3 whether they understand it or not. If mom and dad cannot afford it, it would be best to give him something they can afford and he wants. One of those items could be an Arcade 360. But it's normally a general and safe assumption that if you know more about something, you could be considered more hardcore. And most kids of their gen are more intune with pop culture than most adults. Thankfully, I'm one of the exceptions in regards to adults being a 37 year old gamer.
....actually... Sony increased their sales by taking BC out... imagine that. So many people wanted it? but they didnt want to pay for it? doesnt make sense. on top of that... if so many peoplle wanted it sales wouldnt have increased with out it. that just shows they want ps3 games and blu-ray
@Euphoria14: I'm not saying the BC is the driving force behind it, but it's one thing that many consumers want in the PS3. By NOT including it, Sony is essentially throwing sales away.
By mentioning that you're not mentioning the bluray means that you really are mentioning it because you didnt have to mention it to prove you point. In fact it makes you look like a hypocrite for taking a shot at people who do when you effectively just did it. ya dig?
Drop the price but remove the games, the HDMI cable, and it's still an unreliable system with RRoD, Disc Read Errors, etc. Thanks, but no thanks. I don't want another 360. I'll wait until the next Microsoft system comes out and then I'll wait a year before buying into their crap. The PS3 is a far better value without mentioning the Bluray player people like to always mention when doing comparisons.
"Limited" probably means there are bundles on the way, just like last year and the year before that and the year before that.
They remove the 2 games (Fable2 and Halo3), get rid of the HDMI cable, and there is not even an component cable like the pro had. I now have 120 gig hard drive, standard av cable and it's still black, some Elite! They could at least give kept something from the real Elite.
It means they only have say 20 Elite Consoles so get your ass to the store to buy them before they sell out. :P
I can't see this $100 price cut costing much if anything to Microsoft, just some profit because I'm sure they made that $100 in profit alone off the Elite.
So they removed the HDMI cable and include... S-Video cables? I don't get that lol. But now this is basically just a arcade with a large hard drive and black. Still worth the $100 more I suppose.
I see the ps3 as the better value. Maybe microsoft should drop the xbox elite to around 249. It still cost another 200+ dollars to get everything for the xbox that comes with the ps3. To me the best reason to buy the 360 is for halo, gears, fable or because alot of your friends own that system. The best choice is to buy both systems which i have done but the ps3 is still the better value.
I really wish what Im about to say wasn't true because I'd like to see a good American made console on the the market but, the X- Botch is not it with a 54% fail rate! After my 2nd RROD I had enough and got a PS3! Anyway my point is even if M$ gave them away for free it still would cost more then the PS3 if you wanted the same features. Add in Wireless Adapter, Controller Batteries, Live service, Blu-ray player, easily already over $300! M$ has maintained its sales spot over the PS3 mainly because of the year its been on the market longer and price. PS3 will show its dominance this year! Maybe Apple will decide to enter the market next gen.?
That is an excellent price for the Elite, I hope they bundle the amazing - Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City (2 game 360 exclusives) http://www.rockstargames.com/episodesfromlibertycity/ Two exclusive GTA games on One disc for around $30 - $35 dollars retail is incredible value.
I would have preferred that they just drop the price of an HDD so I can get an arcade or something and just add my own HDD >.>.
Man, fanboys never fade away, do they? Someday, they'll learn that it doesn't matter if a system has a toaster with bells and whistles, but the games YOU want. Like a previous poster with common sense here said; don't worry about what other systems are doing, but what YOU are doing.
Dont understand the pricedrop in america. the console drops begin this year to €275,- in europe and now has the same price as the ps3 slim and "FAT"( ~ €279,-)
@Jordahn - Once you work for a living and have to spend your own money on yourself and your kids you will understand the point I was trying to make. Being "informed" or "hardcore" or even "more hardcore" (whatever that means) has nothing to do with this thing called a budget and buying the product that is suitable to your needs based on your personal expectations. There are plenty of "hardcore" gamers that will only buy a Wii or PS3 or 360 based on the fact that the system of their choice performs to their expectations and fits within their budget.
This is move one, move two will come eventually, which will be dropping the Arcade $50, I think they may be done dropping the Elite at this point, because it will be like it has been all of this year. The 360's most expensive SKU costs as much as the PS3's cheapest one. I don't know why you guys have the notion that Microsoft cares if Sony outsells them for a few months. They're making money and still have a healthy lead over the PS3, so all this panicking because they didn't drop them to $149 and $249 is a bit dumb.
The best you can come up with is a yawn JEDE3? Booooooooooring....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Touched a nerve my comment did it? Reality starting to kick in?
Sony had to make a slim to get the price down, microsoft can drop the 360 price almost at will seem as it doesn't cost all that much to make one, time to face facts, Microsoft will ALWAYS be one step ahead of sony this gen. As for the blu-ray arguement? Blu-ray players are dropping all the time in price, so if i want a blu-ray player i'll just buy one when the the price is right. The bottom line is this________________ the jump from VHS to DVD was huge, but the jump from DVD to Blu-ray is nothing more than a better picture and better sound.
@pterodactyl Like a Ferrari without the engine? Seriously? PS3 driving force is PS2 games?
$50 wouldn't make much of a dif to but its still something they could brag about. Doing it this way seems like an act of Fear imo.
I'll guess MS's strategy will be to match the price then beat out the PS3 come holiday season with some really nice bundles.
360 = $299+xbox live+battery charger for controller+ wireless adapter. ps3 = $299 + all of the above for free.
@JEDE3: Don't get me wrong, I think the slim + price cut is awesome, but without BC it'll ultimately be in vain for Sony. It's like selling a Ferrari without the engine.
I never really thought of this but with the elite being black and all the talk of the PS3 dropping from $399 to $299 the unsuspecting casual could easily look in the paper and get confused.
lol @ pterodactyl... i thought the meteor (ps3 slim + price cut) killed you
Ooh. It'll either be this or a future $50 price cut that will put Sony back in third.
Like slimbeatst said, $299 isn't enough, they should have went with $249 for the elite, doing this move will do little to no damage to PS3 slims rise.
Michael Pachter "The next question is whether the sales increase from PS3 is purely additive or whether it comes at Microsoft's expense. If Microsoft sees sales go down year-over-year, they may have to cut themselves (likely by $50) before too long. I think that they stay at $299 for a while, perhaps till November, and only cut if they see Sony's sales at 2x the 360 sales level." Make sense. Microsfot won't slash the price to $249 unless they really have to. It depends on the the economy and whether PS3 can keep the momentum.
of course this would happen 2 or 3 months after i spend 400 bucks on my elite, although it did come with fable II and halo 3 so i feel less like crap, still not quite the same though
Nice to see the Elite come down in price. Considering that from what I've read in the past, the PRO was the best selling xbox system at this same price point, so it should be safe to assume that the added HDD space will be a great selling point. One question that remains for me tho is what colors will be available? Personally I enjoy the white xbox more than the black xbox. It is a bit dissapointing that they have removed component cables for 1080i users as well as the HDMI cable that used to come with the system. Also I think they should offer a free wireless headset rather than the wired. But heck, a $100 price drop means you can't be too picky.
omg this is like high school all u guys fighting over the "hottest" girl/guy grow up
@Seraphic_Sixaxis They should be! Thanks to the PS3 redesign, MS now lost their biggest advantage which is Unit Costs. With removing WI-FI and replacing the HDD with a smaller 40GB one, Sony could make an even cheaper 250$ish PS3
@Jordahn - "Its not about being uninformed, its about price and what the consumer wants/expects from a game system." You first said: "I still think a lot of parents are going to opt for the cheaper console in the end, especially if the 'must have' game is available for both systems." ...and... "I also believe that MS can sway a lot of parents with a decent Arcade bundle. It may not be the game that little Timmy wanted..." As a general life rule, hardcore = informed, casual = not as informed. Timmy knows what he wants because he's more informed than his parents. But then again as the exception, his parents could be as informed as Timmy. But this is a present for Timmy (what HE wants), not mom and dad. Timmy has a more interest in the product (most likely more hardcore) than his parents. Because also those who are more interested in something than others can also be seen as more hardcore. Just is.
they should try to get down the price of the arcade model at least 30 dollars
I wanted to know what makes the 360 so "elite". The PS3 has tech that is considered "top tech".
It seems to me this whole forum is a breeding ground by ppl who dont play video games. I've read all of you guys post and most are just retarded. All I have to say is the PS2 is my favorite console of all time. It was the least powerful last gen. It was the most supported. Yes i had a Gamecube for RE4 and Mario and yes I had an xbox for Halo, Strangers wrath(my favorite game), Ninja gaiden etc. But the PS2 was the most well rounded when it came to the games. I just hate this fanboy slap fight for ppl who dont own a next gen system or just stuck on talking point but no substance......ugggg, im out!
apples to oranges. HD format? My PC does just fine for not having a "HD" format. I didnt know you needed to have bluray to play hd games.....thats because you dont. God of War 3 looks great. However just about every new game out looks great. For instance Rage demo. cross platform looks great. Splinter cell conviction....looks great. The last Guardian looks great. Mass Effect 2....wow!!! You can name system exclusives if you want and claim thats a pilliar of why a system is better but it is just rubbish. It's only exclusive because it's being developed or published by the company. i.e. no god of war for M$ cuz it's owned by Sony. If Assassin's Creed 1 0r 2 Stayed exclusive you'd name that is why the ps3 is better. Now we know both system is capable. Both are already limited to what they can do compared to say.......Crysis. Does that matter? Only if you are a fanboy. If you guys love bluray so much why arent you buying movies for it.....sales are kindda flat now-a-days
@waron, wow you have the most post on this and every post is defending the 360, why are you so threatened by the ps3, are you fucking your 360 or something.
There's not much that makes the 360 the "elite" console out there. Ps3 is better. Hands down. What I want to know what exactly makes the 360 "elite", elite? It doesn't have an HD format. It still doesn't have built in wi-fi. The controller isn't bluetooth. This is a small list, but the PS3 is just simply better. Software is better on PS3. One look at the new screenshots of God of War III shows that the PS3 is better. Looking at Uncharted 2 that hits this year proves that. I want to know what is "elite" about this 360? This price drop is not as big as the PS3's price drop/Slim.
You listing games is biased. It's as if Ps3 won't have games itself. And I haven't read all the comments yet.
@JEDE3 says: xander - most biased comment i've read here so far. **************************************** I would say that GameAnalyser comments was more biased. My comments was just realistic. The PS3 will sell well, but it's not going to outsell the competition by 200-300K units each week. I already said previously that PS3 sales should triple the first 2 weeks. So from 80K to 240K after the PS3 Slim gets released. I own all 3 systems, so I have no reason to be biase.
... I wasn't aware parents buy a game console for Modern WARfare for little timmy and johnny
lmao @ dandd. I agree to a point. When I talk tech or specs to an avg person they act like i'm speaking French. They love to hear me talk about it but they just dont understand. Fanboys will be fanboys. Arguing w/ fanboys is like winning the special olympics, you may win but you are still retarded. One more thing. Just because you (avg poster) like a set of games dont mean everyone else will. I mean I hear ppl talk about exclusives like a desperate heave for attention. i.e. Gundam games?!? R u serious? I hate to hear people talk about unannounced games and exclusives like they are definate. When ff14 was announced multi platform Heads exploded. Then there was a backlash talking about loyalty. Really? Then you guy would have stayed with Nintendo if that were the case. Be confident in your purchases and not worry what the next system is doing. Me personall I buy the best version of particular games. Hail PC. lol
GameAnalyser says: ps3 slim is going to smash it.. ******************************************** I don't think so. That's like saying the PSP and going to smash the DSi. The PS3 will have it's surge of sales, but so will the XBox 360, especially after HALO: ODSY gets released. Next the 360 gets Natal and HALO: Reach, plus FF XIII, Splinter Cell Conviction and Alan Wake. I don't think the PS3 is going to do much smashing. It should sell well, but don't expect it to sell 2 million units in a month or something. A new XBox next-gen system will be long out before the PS3 catches up to the 360.
I think you guys are forgetting about the new rumored 360 comming out in 2010. The Natal 360. I think that will be slimmer and Natal-less 360's will be avalible too. btw what happened to M$'s old plan so you could record shows etc. Think they were just waiting for a onslaught by Sony?
@tenma501 - You can get online with a 360Arcade and play MW2. If nothing else go to monoprice and buy 100ft Cat5e for $8.01. @Jordahn - Its not about being uninformed, its about price and what the consumer wants/expects from a game system. Are you uninformed because you bought the Panasonic Plasma instead of the Pioneer Elite Kuro? Or did it come down to the fact that you didn't want to spend $6000 on a television? People here need to take off their gamer glasses once in a while and realize that we are only a segment of the gaming population. Look at the games that get incredible buzz on this and other gaming sites. How many of those games are chart toppers and multiple million sellers? There are plenty of people out there who prefer games like Madden, Nintendogs, Generic FPS X, Generic Wii Shovelware, etc. A ton of people are still playing games on a SDTV and a whole lot of people don't even have their system hooked up online. I stated before that the PS3 price cut is a great thing and Sony's sales will go up. But, the PS3 is still more expensive than the 360Arcade and Wii. Unemployment continues to rise almost everywhere, taxes have recently gone up in many places, commodity prices have held steady and even risen in some areas and consumer spending is down. The 360 and PS3 both have great exclusives, but they also share the other 90% of their library. Mom and Dad just want the cheapest gift to keep little Johnny happy and don't really give a crap whether its a 360 or a PS3. People like us who frequent gaming sites get into things like HDMI, BR, HDD, etc. But most consumers of these systems aren't like us, they only know that they want new game X.
@Snake612... Halo 3 ODST... Proven IP... Sells systems... Go back and look what happened on Halo 3 release in September 2007. Sales increased immediately and it carried through the holiday season.
This is step one... I predict another step by Microsoft either later in the holiday or early in the new year. My feeling is that Sony will take second on a weekly basis worldwide this holiday season. Next year will be the round of the battle that will determine winners and losers.
I can see a huge fight for sales during the first week of September. Their sales will be real close with the PS3 that week.
This is like what Sony did in the early going with PS3. It's a price drop/replacement thing.
This is awkward. The main X360 is dropping to $299, same price as a competitor (SONY) who has: - same price $299 - same HDD 120 GB - hardware re-design Slim - Blue-ray - a more popular brand - better exclsuive library I don't understand how MS can be this confident. Really I believe it's stupid not to drop to $249, because now Xbox is toast.
@Dandd So are you trying to imply that 360 is for the uninformed casuals while the PS3 is for the informed hardcore?
lol microsoft say they aint worried...ha yeh right, they know the phrase: Never Underestamate the POWER of the Playstation
Dandd - you speak the truth. Get Gold for about $5-$6 a month - try it out. Done.
dandd I think most people wanting MW 2 is for online so an arcade unit is useless. Anyways if you want it that way a parent would see Arcade + Call of Duty 4 used even cheaper. Or better yet a new game,or used games for a system they already have.
We can debate BR, HDMI, wi-fi, extra controllers, etc until we are blue in the face, but in the end price of admission trumps everything. A PS3 + MW2 is $360+tax. An 360 Arcade +MW2 is $260+tax. This is what a parent sees. All the other extras are probably not enough to sway them one way or the other. I still think a lot of parents are going to opt for the cheaper console in the end, especially if the "must have" game is available for both systems. Don't get me wrong, with a $299 price, the sales of the PS3 can only go up and Sony should have a good holiday season. But, we also need to remember that the economy is still pretty bad everywhere and consumer spending for the holiday season will probably be pretty low. I also believe that MS can sway a lot of parents with a decent Arcade bundle. It may not be the game that little Timmy wanted, but he's got a system and some games to play, so he can STFU and buy the game he wants with his own money.
At least you can still play Halo and Halo 2 on the 360. BC, FTW!!!!
http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-Elite/dp/B002KJ9XDE/ref=sr_1_31?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1250875406&sr=1-31 New box,AV Cables, no games. Amazon hoping you'll pay $399 until September 1.
If they took out the bundled games I think the PS3 swill trounce them mercilessly. When both systems have no games in the box the PS3 is way better package. If the Elite still had Halo 3 and Fable 2 in the box while the PS3 didn't have anything, i'd go with the 360. At this point in the game, I feel like every console should come with at least one fairly new bundled game or two older games that are AAA quality.
Don't worry this is true. I've seen the new box personally one day when I was working at my Gamestop. And yes all the differences between the old Elite and new Elite are present as well.
Why even bother calling it an elite? It comes with A/V cables now according to amazon.com new fall 2009 120 GB 360.No HDMI cable.Doesn't say it comes with Ethernet cable but I doubt they dropped that. Anyways Microsoft should just plug the Elite, plug the Arcade. 360 60 GB $229.Or even $249. Or 360 20 GB $199. Sell a bigger hard drive as an upgrade. Since some want bigger HDs A hard drive doesn't cost that much. I always thought $100 jump for bigger HD was RIP OFF. Or better yet if you could put your own hard drive in it like PS3.
Weldone ms! It was a given i guess however the ps3slim is a new model o exspect it to do better! However odst will shit a good few units if its pre orders are to go by!
Yawn, if only microsoft would stop selling older falcon/zephyr elites and get on with jasper only it might be interesting. Until then it's a grab bag of potential problems.
sweet way 2 o M$ it will be very interesting to see how sales will play out. I expect the PS3 to take the lead until the holidays where i see the 360 just edging the PS3.
This was a given. I do want my Elite. I wonder if it will still include a transfer kit? I think every system should include a transfer kit just in case you want to upgrade your HDD. As for the sales race. most likely the PS3 will start off ahead, since a $100 price cut on a PS3 is a bigger deal then the Elite going to $299. Still M$ will definitely sell some systems and with Halo ODST just around the corner, watch for another 360 sale surge once the game is released. The holidays will be the the big battle. With the PS3 Slim at $299 and M$ still having the $200 Arcade, it's going to be pretty close for sales overall in the U.S., Worldwide the PS3 will probably lead the 360, as the PS3 has always done better in foreign lands then any American game console. Sony will still have a long ways to catch the XBox 360 and if M$ doesn't like how the sales are going this year, expect the Arcade to drop to $150 and the Elite to drop to $250 next year at this time.
Waron, Final Fantasy Versus XIII is coming out as a PS3 exclusive in Japan between August and Christmas of 2010.
Hah. I knew M$ would do something, and every1 is right, the price wars officially begin. Hopefully, the Wii gets a $50 price cut bcus it seems as though its getting a bit too old.
does this include the game bundles? if it does thats a great deal halo 3 and fable 2
PS3 will still most likely come out on top, because in my opinion you get more out of your purchase.
I don't get this "war" talk. I'd imagine anyone who wanted both systems that badly already bought one by now. Not to mention being cheaper doesn't mean it has the games you want.
Well, if Nintendo drops the Wii's price by $50, we'll have a little war on our hands.
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