This should make up for some of the shit people across the pond have to deal with... well at least a little...

Hmmm, MS must be worried about their ground there, it would seem.

I suppose with the PS3's lineup catching up with the 360's and the Blu-Ray victory, I could see why.

Well, at least consumers win in this case.

Yay, competition!

The "rationale" is that microsoft is getting they're ass kicked by a €500 console in europe.

Some gamers had already predicted that MS would announce a price cut just before the launch of GTV IV.

Now, when would we see a price cut for Wii? Not anytime soon, I'm afraid.

umm yay?

Of course it doesn't mean Britain; we have plenty of money and don't mind being exploited.

Hm.... I wonder how this'll affect sales of Wii, since people will see there's a cheaper alternative...

And, will Nintendo finally drop the price of Wii to retaliate?

It'll probably go up for Britain.

Premium is €349.

@NessD12: There's no bloody way that will happen now... I mean... Seriously. Microsoft may just win this one.

*tips hat*

Touché, MS.

The rationale = Sony is kicking ass in Europe and Microsoft is worried about their worsening sales. They are making a price cut to counter Sony's momentum at the timely Anniversary of the PS3's release in Europe

@bobtheduck:

You're nuts. This is exactly what Sony has been waiting for. By Microsoft making the first move, it means Sony can counter have have the better momentum. Expect Sony to drop the price of their console in Europe within the next few months.

Europe = Playstation Land. Microsoft isn't winning shit

Why is Europe (and NZ) so loving of the PS3? I mean sure now there are decent games etc but on launch... all games were better on 360... and 360 was half the price... people still wanted a Playstation just because they had a PS2... :/

Not that big of a deal, with the Euro 1.5x the dollar.

Seeing as how the 360 is, to my mind at least, for the hardcore gamer and the onlne play fanatics, the price drop of the Arcade to below Wii levels is completely irrelevant anyway. Buying a 360 without a HDD cripples your ability to try out demo's, get additional content (even in something like Guitar Hero) and all the other fun that the Xbox Live system brings. Factoring in that the 360 Arcade is only £10 more in Britain anyway (price taken from play.com) and since both come with a cheap bundle of games (The Arcade pack vs Wii Sports), it's still no contest to buy the Wii in order to play with your "real" friends even if the 360 Aracade takes a price tumble. The only significant detail is if the Premium also crashes down a significant amount, making it seem a worthwhile alternative. Perhaps if retailers gave you 2 decent games and a years Gold membership instead of 4 mediocre to rubbish games with the 360 in terms of bundles, the Premium would have no problems selling like hotcakes.

The argument is to me, nothing to do with price. The Wii remains the ultimate party accessory and all round insta-fun while the 360 is for online play and perhaps tag-teaming your way through GoW and Halo 3. This is the divide. And the solution is simple. Live in a flat with people who bought the other console. Hasn't failed me yet :D

360, especially in Europe, would benefit more from a redesign than a price cut. Make it more reliable and quiet.

@LittleBigPlaneteer: PS3 is selling OK right now in Europe. There is no other reason to cut its price ... I doubt Sony is happy about this.
This "better momentum" ... well, MS could cut the price again within few months after Sony.

@nzapster: Thats exactly what it is. Sony does nothing short of dominate the EU market. Ask any European mother what her son likes to do in his off time and she'll say "play his playstation" when she actually means "he likes to play video games." Just like the South in America uses Coke to order a Sprite, EU uses Playstation synonymously for video gaming. Sony did an amazing job by planting it's name in Europe and they have to do very little to change that.

The Xbox 360 is going up against a name... not a product, and in marketing thats all that matters.

@uzivatel:

Sony doesn't want to do just OK though, they want to secure second place as quickly as possible and the only way they're going to do that is by making the PS3 more affordable. A price cut is almost inevitable in my opinion.

It's not like it's the WIi or DS over there. Nintendo has no reason to truly make a price cut, but Sony's system is still viewed as being overpriced by many.

@uzivatel: They wouldn't do it a few months after. They really couldn't do that. However even with a price drop from Sony I doubt we'll ever see the price near the price of the Arcade. Even if Sony wanted to be bastards and drop a PS3 sku near 199 it would be again another year in the red for them and right now they are trying to make the PS3 profitable. MS has nothing to worry about with pricing, they have everything to worry about a gimped console that doesn't sell very well to begin with.

When it comes to Europe, Sony really isn't scared.

I still hate David Reaves though...

But this is still not official. "From sources that are familiar to the scheduling"? Its another hint, but for me still no prove...

Very interesting. It's probably a bit of a desperate measure seeing they're getting their ass kicked by both competitors. I curious to see what happens now. I don't think it will affect Sony that much so I don't see them responding very soon. Nintendo however is in an odd situation. There is no need for them to cut the price at the moment because they can't handle demand anyway. If they do, it will be even worse. If they don't people might buy a 360 instead but somehow I don't see that happen. People who want a Wii mostly want a Wii and not a 360 so one can't substitute for the other in a lot of cases. Still, this cut is probably meant to compete against Wii. What if Nintendo keeps going strong? That will definately not look good for MS.

We better have a price cut in Britain! I'm going to be seriously pissed if not. Not that it would affect me, since I already have one, but, geez, the principle? Besides, Xbox is actually doing all right in Britain (AFAIK it's not doing so hot in the Continent) so it'd be pretty stupid not to tweak the price here just before the MGS4 bombshell.

@TrekVogel: What I see is those few aces up Sony's sleeves this year. They are banking on MSG4, LittleBigPlanet, Killzone 2, GT5, GTA4 (I know it's not exclusive) and just a few other blockbusters to carry them through 2008. Those are system sellers almost world wide and I also know that EU loves them some Singstar for some odd reason. With this being the "largest" year so far for the PS3 they are praying that this huge push will help plant them in 2nd place in the console running. Aka: a profitable year for them.

Maybe just maybe if these games don't help them out as much as they hope then we'll see a price drop. But I expect to see the PS3's price stay right where it's at for at least another year maybe year and a half.

@LittleBigPlaneteer: Europe Loves Sony

@Fadobo:

Trust me, it's as good as fact right now.

@Balance_In_Life (PSN): Yeah, I know many people who say "PlayStation" when they mean video games. The PS1 and PS2 were so good that everyone expects the PS3 to be automatically as good. Although Xbox is getting a better name here (NZ) and many of my friends have a 360 and hold Halo 3 Lans etc... Though that is probably the reason being they are either Hard-core gamers or Halo lovers.

The only country where Microsoft isn't in last place is America lol

Its surprising when you look at it like that. The PS3 has caught up with it, only America is left to come back to the Playstation brand.

"Can't see the rationale behind this, myself. Not like price has ever been the 360's problem in Europe."

That rationale is that PS3 is outselling the 360 in Europe, and with the current price the 360 has yet to make a significant lead here.

This is a move to hopefully sell more units, gamers beware 08 is the PS3 Year :D

In the Netherlands a Toy store has the XBOX 360 ARCADE with 5 arcade games, 256 MB memory cart and wireless controller from 279.95 Euro for 199.95 Euro. Pretty impressive!!

@Kum0: Yeah, but see, the price-cit won't help. Because it wasn't the 360s price was never the issue. It's the 360 itself. MS could drop it to €1499 and it would probably still have trouble shifting units in most countries in Europe.

britain? Nah, we'll get a price increase to offset the costs of a price reduction elsewhere in the world.
You want a GPU? That'll be the MS GPU pack for an extra 30 quid!

Official confirmation or denial should come soon enough.

The 360 doesn't have the Wii's hip factor or the PlayStation brand's notoriety, nor does it have a considerably superior lineup than the PS3's anymore, so the price is really the only place where it can distinguish itself with European customers.

And anyway, whatever the rationale behind this move is, price drops are always good for gamers of all stripes.
I'm waiting for a black Wii and a price drop myself before I replace the Wii I "got lost" (don't ask...).

@TrekVogel: Nintendo has no problem handling demand in Europe. Apart from the first couple of months, there haven't been any serious shortages here (except maybe around Christmas, but then only in the UK - shops elsewhere were more than sufficiently stocked).
We have plenty of consoles, but games are systematically delayed; North America has the games, but not enough systems... Funny, innit?

At the current exchange rate, the 360 still costs $450. If you then consider that the price of a PS3 in Japan is roughly $370 you can see that this price cut is not what it seems. Microsoft makes no loss on this, they just stopped being too greedy with the exchange rates. Sony can do the same should the need arise.

The 360 is failing miserably right now, go to European stores, look at the sales at ebay and you can see that the PS3 market is far more active. Microsoft's biggest problem is the large PC market in Germany. Those users just don't make willing customers for subscription online services. Playing online on the PC is free of charge, it's impossible to tell the people now that they are supposed to pay something.

@And after this our exile: Now I have to ask. How did you manage to lose your Wii?

No adult jokes here people... curiosity on how he lost a console! Although... the "Wii" jokes that could stem from this would be priceless.

Now this is strange. If the Arcade is 199 and the Premium 299, you'd actually save money by buying the Arcade and a seperate Harddrive as that would amount to roughly 298. So You'd get a memory card and some arcade games for free. Then again the 299 might also be a bundle and the arcade is lacking an HD cable.

@smallwang: "Not that big of a deal, with the Euro 1.5x the dollar."

That's a moot point, considering wages in Europe are generally higher than in the US.

amazon.co.uk have already lowered the prices...

@LittleBigPlaneteer: "OK" like they are already second in Europe. PS3 is viewed as overpriced, but it outsells 360 anyway. Sony does not need to cut the price right now - it would not help them against Wii and they dont need any help against Xbox 360 here.

Dont get me wrong - I do believe this price cut could get the 360 some extra customers, since most "gamers" only play multi-platform games like FIFA, NfS or GTA.

@Balance_In_Life (PSN): How did I lose my Nintendo-videogames-system-called-Wii (just so we're clear...)? Well, I was stupid enough to think that when you register luggage at the airport, you get it back when you land... Silly me.

And what a great Christmas it was: the Wii, my clothes, the presents for my family, as well as valuable work-related material: all gone.

Easyjet may be cheap, but you end up paying for it... They really treat customers like shit: my suitcase was lost almost 3 months ago and I still haven't seen a penny - it's more than likely that I'll have to go down the legal route, which I'm not too excited about. Bunch o' assholes.
(Wow, it feels so good to vent...)

@BPM is Ready to Brawl!: Espect a Wii 2 anouncement in here since they not losing any money selling at 250€.
Not really. They can lower the price due to the lower manufaturing cost but why? Wii is the new gadget to own. Maybe just before summer season.

@smallwang:
@GMC:
Imagine then if it was 1:1.
Is 1:1.5 and still we europeans are paying for you to get a lower price.
Europe is diferent, and WE love it...

@Fadobo:

Every time theres a price rumour...
-------------------------------------------------------

I think M$ next move will be to free the Live service ;)

I am really thinking about buying an acade now. 200€ is a great price and i know so many people with 360s I wont have to buy a game in a long time.

There are still 2 thinks that are speaking against buying a 360. 1) It wont have Little Big Planet 2) I still have to play so many PC and Wii games...

I'm sorry if this has already pointed out but Amazon (UK) is now selling the Arcade pack for under £150, at £149.99. The retailer is also selling the Premium pack for £189.99 and the Elite for £249.99.

I probably should have put the old prices for comparison, the Elite £279, Premium around £240 and Arcade £199, so quite a big drop.

It does make me sad that the 360 is so disliked/ignored in Europe. Microsoft are an evil company, make no mistake, but European gamers should also bear in mind that NOBODY has abused gamers here more than Sony. Think about that next time you try to import a PSP game for that "region free" console.

@Asbestos_Underwear: Landed costs in Europe are considerably more expensive than in Japan though because of hefty taxes.

It will be interesting to see if Sony counters. How low can they go though? Aren't they just now getting production costs in line? Those things are expensive to produce still I thought.

I don't see Wii dropping price. They are still selling everything they produce.

*crosses fingers for an Australian price cut*

*does not hold much hope, since being assraped by gaming companies is standard courtesy over here*

How successful the 360 is seems to be highly regional in Europe. Saying it fails in Europe as general tends to be somewhat misleading and that the PS3 sells like hotcakes as well. In Sweden the PS3 has been steady available (no need to preorder or anything) since day one, since not enough people have wanted to pay $1000 for Sony's console (and yes, that was what the launch price was here). Even with the cheaper ($735) 40GB gimp machine, Sony has hard to get a grip on sales here... which isn't too odd since they charge us extra premium and get a larger price gap to the 360 than anywhere else in the world. The 360 on the other hand has sold good here since release and have often drained the stocks, leaving people waiting weeks for new consoles.

On the other hand, the Wii just recently became buyable without preordering it in some stores here ;)

From what I see most people here think that everyone plays online or host non-stop game parties. Not happening, guys. The single player is far from being dead and Arcade is just fine for it. I really welcome this price cut.

@hefferj05: Wages are higher in Europe than the US? Maybe for low-paid occupations (we probably have better minimum wages etc), but in general? 1.5 times higher? I dunno...

Anyway, the relevant point here is that Microsoft are based in dollars - they still pay, probably, in dollars for the console to be built (?), and their profits are measured in dollars. So whoever posted the comparison to begin with is correct - the fact that a dollar is worth less (or should that be worthless) compared to what they might have been expecting a year or so back does mean that MS can afford to drop the price when measured in euros.

I don't know whether the same logic applies to Sony and Nintendo as I'm not sure whether they pay in dollars or yen or what for their manufacturing, and their business is measured in yen - I have no idea how the yen's doing against the euro or pound.

Anyway, the price cut is good news, it'll be interesting to see if Nintendo follow it (my bet: not in a hurry).

PS - sorry, Britain, no idea if this means you as well. We'll let you know soon as we hear either way.

And so I will wait! :)

I'm assuming the price cuts will take effect in the UK.
MS has just announced that in South Africa we'll see lower pricing.

The Arcade will now sell at R1999(about $250) down from about R2500($315). The Pro is now R2999 ($375)down from R3699($463. The elite will now retail at R3999 ($499) down from ($588).

@OddSock ZA: The 360 is being sold in South Africa?

The article needs to be revised. Microsoft's press release says that the Premium will be 269 EUR and the Elite will be 369 EUR.

@Candlejack:

Oh yeah, for sure. We have a pretty large community here : www.xbox-360.co.za

Like Europe though, the general populace here believes that anything with the word "SONY" on it automatically (and without question) superior.

South Africa's far more cosmopolitan than you probably realise.

You can just look at the console charts and almost see a mirror image of the PS3 and X360 console sales. What's even more fun is looking at the game sales and amd comparing them to the console sales.

Console Sales:
European console sales:[vgchartz.com]
American console sales:[vgchartz.com]

Game Sales:
Europe-Devil May Cry 4:[vgchartz.com]
America-Devil May Cry 4: