European Xbox 360 price cut is official

By Robert Purchese Published 10 March, 2008

Effective from 14th March.

Microsoft will officially lower the prices of all its Xbox 360 units in Europe from 14th March.

The biggest saving will be made on the Premium unit, which drops by GBP 50 (EUR 80) down to GBP 199.99 (EUR 269.99).

Elsewhere the Arcade model will become the cheapest new-generation model at GBP 159.99 (EUR 199.99), while the Elite will fall to GBP 259.99 (EUR 369.99). That's GBP 40 off the current price in both instances.

"Xbox 360 is now mass market in Europe," said Chris Lewis, bigwig at Microsoft Entertainment Europe. "We have reached and surpassed several key milestones that form part of our long term strategic plan to achieve critical mass in Europe; and our portfolio now offers the kind of mainstream entertainment experiences that secure wider appeal for Xbox 360.

"History shows that GBP 159.99 is the price point where a console's audience begins to expand, and with these new ERPs in place we're ready to bring more consumers into the Xbox 360 world."

The announcement comes after the German Financial Times reported that the platform holder would reduce the cost of its console throughout our region.

Hooray.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (128) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #1 4 years ago

    Now Amazon can switch its prices round again.

  • bioreit #2 4 years ago

    Excellent news. Will be getting my Elite on Saturday then. :-)

  • woodnotes #3 4 years ago

    "Now Amazon can switch its prices round again."

    ...on FRIDAY

  • Dizzy #4 4 years ago

    And so it begins...

  • Lutz #5 4 years ago

    Woodnotes: I wouldn't be surprised if they did it sooner. If word gets out enough and sales of 360s drop sharpish, they'll cut early.

  • barat #6 4 years ago

    Sony-loving continental Europe got a more substantial cut. €80 (£62) cut on all versions.

  • darc #7 4 years ago

    XBox 360 hits the casual market. Devs begin work on Halo 4 mini-game collection.

    Seriously, though, Sony is in trouble IMO. The PS3's game line up is very tempting this year, but relative to the competition, it is such an expensive purchase at the onset.

  • syphaa #8 4 years ago

    Nice of em'!
    Been toying with getting an Arcade, just for the HDMI. I currently have a core with all the bits, HD, Memory Card etc etc and run it through VGA. But would like the best of the machine, so have been thinking about seeling current core to get an Arcade...the price cut has made it even MORE tempting!

  • oceanmotion #9 4 years ago

    UK still gets the better deal though.

  • agparrot #10 4 years ago

    At least it will end speculation about whether the 360 has the ability to saturate further throughout the market with a lower price point.... now we get to find out.

    /awaits Live crashing and burning under 'unexpectedly successful' weight of new owners.

  • Goffee #11 4 years ago

    Awaits version with new mainboard/ cooler CPU

  • Les #12 4 years ago

    didn't see that one coming...

  • monkie_king #13 4 years ago

    "Awaits version with new mainboard/ cooler CPU"

    Sure you are.

  • stampax #14 4 years ago

    doh, just bought a ps3 - which i like very much - but may well have gone for an xbox had these lower prices come in a couple of weeks ago.

  • foamy #15 4 years ago

    Arcade is almost as cheap as a PS2. Nice one, LOL.

  • page5 #16 4 years ago

    God dammit I just bought one for €330 a month ago...

  • keyboardmonkey #17 4 years ago

    I would be very happy if i could pick up the Elite around here (Finland) for 369.99€ have a feeling it's going to be more like 390€

    Current price ranges for the Elite 437€ - 533€ :o

  • Les #18 4 years ago

    "God dammit I just bought one for €330 a month ago..."

    Ah well, you played it for a month already, at the time you though the machine was worth the money and in the end it's only half a game... ;)

  • jonsaan #19 4 years ago

    So 260 with the wireless adaptor?

    Is that still 60 quid?

  • Anthony_UK #20 4 years ago

    Not really arsed as i've had mine since launch......

    But as someone else mentioned, all's well so long as we don't get the same live issues we had at christmas with the so called 'large influx' of new 360 owners!

    If live goes down again for another month because of this, i'm gonna climb to the top the the beetham tower here in Manchester and perform the worlds largest drop kick across the pond right onto Bill Gates noggin!

  • monkie_king #21 4 years ago

    You can use any old LAN/Wireless bridge though. Or go old-skool with an attractive bit of cat5 chosen to match your decor, and benefit from lower ping times to boot.

  • sd99 #22 4 years ago

    @jonsaan "So 260 with the wireless adaptor? Is that still 60 quid?"

    RRP is £59, but it's been £29-39 online over the past few months.
    Then again, I use a bit of CAT5 and dont have to worry about signal degradation...

  • miiiguel #23 4 years ago

    One of my work collegues went to my place tyhis weekend, and when he left bought a 360 right away. He's very excited (due to the 20 games he took from my place...), so I'm not going to show him this.

  • Xerx3s #24 4 years ago

    "long term strategic plan to achieve critical mass"

    Can someone translate that to non bullshit english?

  • Johnson #25 4 years ago

    Sure:

    "Oh my god, someone buy these frickin' consoles - our sales numbers are falling year on year!"

  • FullSPecWarrior #26 4 years ago

    Good price for the regular system. Can't believe they're still selling a version without the hard drive though.

  • Toothball #27 4 years ago

    I spent the morning laughing at a workmate who bought himself an Xbox last week.
    Edited by 1 at 10/03/08 @ 15:38

  • Wendelius #28 4 years ago

    @ Miiiguel "One of my work collegues went to my place tyhis weekend, and when he left bought a 360 right away. He's very excited (due to the 20 games he took from my place...), so I'm not going to show him this."

    Did he buy it from Amazon? Because they have a price guarantee for 30 days (I think) and would refund him the price difference.

    Wendelius

  • Les #29 4 years ago

    ""We have reached and surpassed several key milestones that form part of our long term strategic plan to achieve critical mass in Europe"

    After we revised them downwards several times till we were sure we'd be able to beat them (our bonuses depend on it afterall)...

  • Xerx3s #30 4 years ago

    "You can use any old LAN/Wireless bridge though. Or go old-skool with an attractive bit of cat5 chosen to match your decor, and benefit from lower ping times to boot."

    As if there is an alternative to cat5e...

  • theindustrialone #31 4 years ago

    " "long term strategic plan to achieve critical mass"

    Can someone translate that to non bullshit english? "

    If I remember my physics correctly, it means that when there are enough 360s out there, they are all going to explode.

    This would explain any RRODs as premature reactions.

  • Stu #32 4 years ago

    "I spent the morning laughing at a workmate who bought himself an Xbox last week."

    If you weren't so mean, you could suggest writing to MS and moaning a little bit. When they first launched Xbox and cut the price after a month or two, everyone who wrote and complained got a free gift. Worth a try, if you're into that sort of thing.

  • Xerx3s #33 4 years ago

    Didn't sega give people their money back + a free game when they slashes the price in half right after the launch?

  • jamie_fear #34 4 years ago

    "lol, i bought my elitle a couple of months back for £299 (console only)... after my launch premium broke :( "

    + 1

  • penhalion #35 4 years ago

    @Umberty

    It's been established that fanboys of both consoles always point out the borked console in the shop. The demo pods have poor airflow and design and often my local HMV have their PS3 off because it has overheated when someone was sitting on the couch playing it. It's acknowledged that the 360 pods have zero airflow and so cause overheating pretty easily. Game in oxford street solved this by putting the pods near the front door and simply switching them off when it's hot.

  • Razorus #36 4 years ago

    I'll have my two free games and a controller now thanks.

  • Gaol #37 4 years ago

    I don't really need one (have a PC and PS3) but I would be seriously tempted at £199 with 2 games chucked in - but the RROD situation puts me off. Really thats the kicker.

  • seasidebaz #38 4 years ago

    "History shows that GBP 159.99 is the price point where a console's audience begins to expand, and with these new ERPs in place we're ready to bring more consumers into the Xbox 360 world."

    that would be great if it were true.

    the console doesn't cost £159.99 unless you don't want to save any games. or download anything. or play with a wireless controller. or use an hdmi cable. or link to a wireless network.

    if you want to do any of those things, the money adds up very quickly. although it does make the elite model look a lot better...

  • woodnotes #39 4 years ago

    @seasidebaz

    "the console doesn't cost £159.99 unless you don't want to save any games. or download anything. or play with a wireless controller. or use an hdmi cable. or link to a wireless network. "

    You're an idiot. The Arcade includes a 64mb memory card and a Wireless controller. So you CAN save games, download many XBLA games and play with a wireless controller for £159.99.

    It also has an HDMI output, so you CAN use an HDMI cable.
    Edited by 2 at 10/03/08 @ 16:39

  • monkie_king #40 4 years ago

    Gaol: it's a pretty safe bet though. You have an x% chance of having your enjoyment of loads of tremendous games interrupted for 3 weeks by a RROD. And you have a y% chance of enjoying loads games and not being interrupted by a RROD.

    The games are a cert either way.

  • mrraspy #41 4 years ago

    desperate

  • Skeletor #42 4 years ago

    The memory card with the 360 arcade is actually 256 MB which means that not only can you save but you can also store at least one xbla game! And yes, seasidebaz is an idiot.

  • corzair #43 4 years ago

    stuth!

    critical mass means new games will be asured for quite a time
    yes rrod is a problem but not a huge one not a deal breaker not with 3year rtb

    i got my 360 on a notebook cooler - its happy i'm happy use it a lot as games machine and mce extender

    £160 for a mce extender is darn good
    i wish ps3 fan bois would get some new material though
    ps3 yes good machine but only a comparble machine at best and good if you want blurray right this second

    for online hd gaming the entry price is just fantastic now tho cant see what the complaint there is to that

  • Peew971 #44 4 years ago

    +1 @ the "seasidebaz you're an idiot" comment.
    The Arcade with Memory Card, XBLA Games, Wireless Controller and HDMI has been there for a few months now. Some people always dig to find something wrong everytime we have great news.

  • seasidebaz #45 4 years ago

    @all:

    meh, the arcade version is half a console for half a gamer.

    256meg isn't really a great deal of space anymore, but i apologize, i forgot there was a memory card in the box :D suppose they needed somewhere to store those free games... lol

  • bioreit #46 4 years ago

    +1 for the seasidebaz idiotic comment vote from here too.

    Uninformed and obviously just wanting to spread some FUD - no doubt he trots out similar party lines to everyone he knows who might be considering a 360...

  • DAN.E.B #47 4 years ago

    Didn't sega give people their money back + a free game when they slashes the price in half right after the launch?


    yes they did! and microsoft gave away games and a controller!
    i bought a PS2 a week before it dropped 100 pounds so I rang sony and what did I get?
    fuck all!

    Cunts.

  • seasidebaz #48 4 years ago

    actually, i think the 360's a good console, i had one that never once went wrong (unless you count the noise from the pgr3 disk) needed to sell it to make somequick cash but might get one again now the price has come down. had some good times on that little (big) box :)

  • effinwooly #49 4 years ago

    why are people bitchin about a price cut ?? seriously people........ this is a good thing yeah ?

  • Zomoniac #50 4 years ago

    The RRP of an Elite is and always has been £279, not £299, so it's not a £40 price cut. It's just almost impossible to find a retailer on the high street that doesn't force a bundle bumping the price up at least £20.

  • subtlesnake #51 4 years ago

    "suppose they needed somewhere to store those free games... lol "

    The free games are actually stored on an included CD.

  • bioreit #52 4 years ago

    @ Zomoniac

    Might wanna check your facts - the official UK 360 site has had the Elite priced at £299 ever since the price dropped to that. Most retailers drop the price down to £279 on the Internet because they can take advantage of the benefits of not paying VAT (hence why they all seem to be based in the Channel Islands). But go into any shop (or even look on game.co.uk) and an Elite on its own is £299.

    So, you're wrong, I'm afraid...

    Edit 1 Extraneous 'i' removed. Damn monkeys.
    Edited by 1 at 10/03/08 @ 17:28

  • Xerx3s #53 4 years ago

    "the console doesn't cost £159.99 unless you don't want to save any games. or download anything. or play with a wireless controller. or use an hdmi cable. or link to a wireless network.

    if you want to do any of those things, the money adds up very quickly. although it does make the elite model look a lot better..."


    Erm? As far as I know the 360 comes with an hdmi cable as standard and gaming through wireless really is a step backwards (a wired network just beats wireless hands down). The wireless controller is true but then again it's a budget pack and as far as I know, the arcade pack comes with a mem card nowadays.

    EDIT: According to <a href='http://www.play.com/Games/Xbox3 60/4-/3512999/Xbox-360-Arcade-Console/Product.html'>p lay</a> it actually has a wireless controller, when did this happen?
    Edited by 1 at 10/03/08 @ 17:32

  • bioreit #54 4 years ago

    @ Xerx3s

    Arcade comes with a wireless controller, but no HDMI cable - only the Elite comes bundled with an HDMI cable.

    But it's kind of equal really - wireless controller (which is pretty much standard now) costs about the same as an (official) HDMI cable.

  • RandomTerrain #55 4 years ago

    For some reason I already thought this console was a lot cheaper than this.
    And that they made their money back with charging so much for XBLive.

    They must be raking in a fair bit of cash. Bill Gates is no fool, eh?

  • seasidebaz #56 4 years ago

    hmmmm ok me st00pid, arcade version actually sounds quite good now (didn't know what was in the box, and i only really want to play rpg's on 360 anyway, played a lot of other stuff i was interested in already... gave up at 7000-8000 ish g/p) might pick one up on payday with lost oddysey

  • Kryon #57 4 years ago

    £159 for the most powerful/best games console available, good news. To the SDF response unit, I'd just like to say that your negative posts make me incredibly happy as they inform me of your discomfort, I shall proceed to bathe in the sweet nectar of your tears.

    /coat

  • drumbaby #58 4 years ago

    "159 for the most powerful/best games console available, good news. "

    Eh? PS3 won't be that price for quite some time.

  • Kryon #59 4 years ago

    Edit - I did write out a serious reply but then I realised you were just joshing, LOL PS3, best games console, good one mate!
    Edited by 1 at 10/03/08 @ 18:00

  • Petrarch #60 4 years ago

    Good news indeed for the market - the price of the arcade unit in perticular will probably sway quite a few people that were undecided.

    For the folks saying about a re-designed mobo/CPU - by now, barring any old stock retailers have, all 360's should have the 65nm Falcon setup.
    Edited by 1 at 10/03/08 @ 18:21

  • Dizzy #61 4 years ago

    >Eh? PS3 won't be that price for quite some time.

    He mentioned games. :p
    Edited by 1 at 10/03/08 @ 18:22

  • banjo21 #62 4 years ago

    @seaside man.

    Now that you have been shown to be incorrect for your HDMI, memory card and wireless controller objections to the £160 Arcade which you are no doubt trying to compare to the £299 PS3 or the £199 Premium have you anything else against this absolute bargain?

    It amazes me that this is cheaper than a Wii - the two consoles are absolutely miles apart in quality of games available. And after all these are games machines - lets not kid ourselves of anything else.

    @confounder - I think you are joking.
    Edited by 1 at 10/03/08 @ 18:31

  • Kryon #63 4 years ago

    @Confounder

    While the Arcade pack may not be fully featured, you can still play the best games on it, it still has the largest and most varied games catalogue of all the next gen systems, In retail stores the games tend to be £10 cheaper than the PS3 equivalent even though the 360 versions are better (like DMC4 etc) these are qualities that unfortunately the PS3 does not offer. That's the fact of the matter and there's really not much you can say about it.

  • Skeletor #64 4 years ago

    @Confounder

    FPS titles (or nearly all titles for that matter) on 360 DON'T require a harddisc. DMC4 looks pretty much the same on both platforms because Capcom usually develops on PCs and then ports down to consoles.

    @Egster
    I'm afraid a lot of people looking for the cheapest way to play GTA IV won't really agree with you...
    Edited by 1 at 10/03/08 @ 19:05

  • Vice.Destroyer #65 4 years ago

    @ Kryon

    Just let it go. You and I both know that the price cut is a good thing. And people are completely uninformed by what the Xbox bundles include, about the fact that reliability is actually nothing like what it was before and that it has almost become fashionabe to just moan about anything that gets done to help consumers. Best thing to do is to just remember that as much as you'd like to spread the good word, people prefer not to hear opinions from fellow gamers, because they don't like to accept the fact that they are not as informed as they like to think.

    The way I see it, it's a good thing not to have people like Confounder playing on Xbox Live. That's a positive to take away from what must have been a frustrating exchange of knowledge and ignorance.

  • seasidebaz #66 4 years ago

    @banjo21:

    you're taking my responses out of context, i don't have an issue with the new arcade pack, it's loads better than the original core pack that was released now that i know the facts, got confused with all the packs :)

    and i'm not anti-xbox in any way, i owned a premium which was one of the greatest consoles i owned, then got a wii at launch, then a 60gb ps3 just before they were discontinued, and the only console i was willing to let go of was the xbox (knowing i would get one again eventually...) and as i said, i gathered around 7000-8000 gp before flogging the xbox. 7580 to be exact (check my profile)

    and @irnchriz: dmc isn't identical, i prefer the temporal aa effect on the ps3 version...

  • penguin_overlord #67 4 years ago

    This is a necessary move by Microsoft by no one should think that this is going to suddenly mean they outsell the PS3 in Europe again. The 360 is a console that is rapidly being made to look last-gen.

  • erp #68 4 years ago

    New me in place! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

  • thomastantrum #69 4 years ago

    "The 360 is a console that is rapidly being made to look last-gen."

    Huh?

  • Calgon #70 4 years ago

    Confounder & Seasidebaz: DMC4 looks better on 360 to the majoroty(obviously being a none 360 owner and a PS3 owner you will beleive otherwise)... but theres very little in it anyway so its not worth arguing with.

    penguin_overlord haha its really not though is it? 360 is just looking alot better value now... and its another bullet point gone for the SDF to use against teh Evil MS. Best console is now the best value for money again, this could damage Sony's "big year" and if they dont have one this year then thats this gen settled between MS and Sony, Blu-Ray isnt going to do it for them, the games arent either IMO(diversity my ass, and the only titles with the reputation for delivering AAA quality are MGS4 and GT5 the rest could turn out just like those other overhyped PS3 exclusives) but I will wait and see its far from clear cut this year(and you know it, thats why you are here trying to down play it :D haha!).

    Its obvious why the majority of people upset about the faceoffs on EG are Sonybots... it ruins their arguement and reminds them they fell for another one of Sony's hype campaigns.
    Edited by 1 at 10/03/08 @ 21:16

  • captainrentboy #71 4 years ago

    ''256meg isn't really a great deal of space anymore, but i apologize, i forgot there was a memory card in the box :D suppose they needed somewhere to store those free games... lol ''
    Erm, the games are on a disc. Wow you really are quite clueless aren't you?
    Before slamming something positive at least check your bloody 'facts' first.

  • captainrentboy #72 4 years ago

    Why's that Penguin Overlord?
    Is it all those games on the games console that is the PS3 that can't be accomplished on the 360? No of course not, especially considering how much better the 360 performs with multi-format titles.
    Or is it simply because you're talking out of your ass.
    Yes, that's the one.
    The premium at £200 is a very, very good buy. If there isn't a huge increase in sales with these new RRPs then there's something wrong with European gamers in general.

  • Les #73 4 years ago

    "@Egster
    I'm afraid a lot of people looking for the cheapest way to play GTA IV won't really agree with you..."

    Read his post again: he's talking about the price drop. 360 already was the cheapest way to play GTA IV before the price drop so with that group it will have little effect. Might sway some doubters from PS3 to 360 but that's about it. Wii is the Wii, people interested in that machine will not look at anything else. You could argue this is an attempt to even the odds a little against PS3 now that Blu-Ray won the war.

    I don't expect a move by Nintendo anytime soon. It will be interesting to see how confident Sony is in the PS3.
    Edited by 1 at 10/03/08 @ 20:47

  • MeBrains #74 4 years ago

    200 for unstable technology still is a lot, but well. I wonder what Sony will do...

    here's for competition! :D

  • MightyMouse #75 4 years ago

    To be fair there aren't any stats out for the falcon failure rates yet, and given the previous problems the onus is very much on MS to show that mass RROD problems are a thing of the past. Also calm down about this guys - stress shrinks the brain (true story).

  • moggsy #76 4 years ago

    My 360 failed after a year and a half. It went of to MS for a few weeks for repair and it has worked well for about a year. That's two and a half years of quality gaming with a few weeks away for a free repair.

    Reliability really is a big fat none issue. It really is the best console I've owned and I've owned a fair few. Buy one - simple as.
    Edited by 1 at 10/03/08 @ 21:11

  • dfunked #77 4 years ago

    Looks like I sold my old premium just in time then (both before the price cut and before rrod fever!)

  • Penguinzoot #78 4 years ago

    @penguin_overlord
    This is a necessary move by Microsoft by no one should think that this is going to suddenly mean they outsell the PS3 in Europe again. The 360 is a console that is rapidly being made to look last-gen.

    Yes, this is a necessary move by MS, and yes, how the 360 will perform now in (especially continental) Europe against the PS3 is still an open question. But "rapidly being made to look last-gen"? I can only think you are referring to the fact that the 360 does not have an HD optical drive built-in, or maybe because it lacks built-in wifi? Certainly can't be because of the 360s game library. Because if the 360 has a last-gen games library, TBH, so does my PS3 ;-).

    The Premium 360 is now £100 cheaper than a PS3 to offset the fact (in my view anyway), that it doesn't have BD or wifi. The new price differential makes sense to me, although the Elite should still be cheaper IMO. The 360 has been looking too expensive for a long time compared to the £300 PS3.

    @Les
    You could argue this is an attempt to even the odds a little against PS3 now that Blu-Ray won the war.

    Truth is, this year will be Sonys big year, irrrespective of BD. At this stage MS simply need to do more than the competition just to keep pace. As you say, these price cuts may even the odds a little. It may work, it may not. FWIW, I don't expect either Sony or Nintendo to follow suit. I think Sony can be fairly confident of selling well this year. And with demand still outstripping supply, Nintendo simply have no need to drop their price.
    Edited by 2 at 10/03/08 @ 21:39

  • Vic #79 4 years ago

    Its great that the Premium is £200, but the Arcade/Core has always been a tard pack.

    It wont affect the Wii though, because the Wii offers something different and reliability.

  • CHAZBIGPOTATO #80 4 years ago

    Goodness me, its slow for games at the moment...

  • CHAZBIGPOTATO #81 4 years ago

    "200 for unstable technology still is a lot, but well. I wonder what Sony will do... "

    I had an Acorn electron which broke a Nintendo NES which broke, a megadrive which broke I had a Dreamcast which broke, a mate of mine had three PS2s which all broke, My Xbox broke twice and my Xbox 360 broke a couple of months back. This reliability thing is starting to annoy me as it just happens all the flippin time with all consoles, pcs, mobile phones etc. Don't think that PS3 and Wii are gonna last forever without breaking, they normally last out until warranty runs out and then the "bricking chip" kicks in. Tick tock tick tock...
    Edited by 1 at 10/03/08 @ 22:48

  • Rash' #82 4 years ago

    I'm with the extra's crowd, here. Like many wireless is important to my set up. Add in plug and play and the £35 for online play and the price becomes unappealing. Still, at face value it looks like a good deal. Will be giving the competition sleepless nights, no doubt.

  • Drakron #83 4 years ago

    "Truth is, this year will be Sonys big year"

    Truth? no ... that is not truth because there are no facts, 2008 so far been the Nintendo Big Year as it was last year.
    What Sony have in 2008 is MGS4, I heard a lot of claims about Sony and 2007 and we all know hoe THAT turned out.

    I hate to go Wii360 but despite claims of Sonytards (and of so called "HARDCORE";) its the Wii that is 1st place GLOBAL ... right now the PS3 is fighting for the Silver.

  • Grayvern #84 4 years ago

    All of this conversation is moot the most important thing is that all three companies continue for the forseable future. Competition prevents the prices from staying high for too long and is kinda important to the games market.

    Also consider that microsoft could have played its cards too soon because if the wii sees continued sucess nintendo may very well decide to hold back on producing their next generation of console till sales begin to slow down significantly, casual consumers after all aren't part of this generational cycle most gamers are used to.





  • Miths #85 4 years ago

    "Seriously, though, Sony is in trouble IMO. The PS3's game line up is very tempting this year, but relative to the competition, it is such an expensive purchase at the onset."

    Can't say I particularly agree with the last part. I paid around €370 for my 360 Premium around October last year (cheapest Danish price I could find now with a price search was around €330 (but I'm assuming we'll get the price drop here in Denmark as well). Add to that an overpriced, and in many homes much needed €80 wireless network adapter and you end up at over €400.

    In January I bought a 40 GB PS3 for around €380 - which obviously includes wifi. And of course the features you're free to ignore if you don't care about them (I very much do) - the Blu-ray drive, really good DVD upscaling and much lower noise levels from both fan and drive than the 360.

    The initial PS3 models certainly did come with a pretty hefty price tag, but I don't really feel that applies at all to the newer 40 GB model - and certainly not if you do happen to belong in the group of people who can find a use for a Blu-ray player as well as a gaming console.
    But along with my PS3 praise, I'll then also happily admit that it is unfortunately still far behind the 360 when it comes to the games lineup - so I won't be throwing out that noisy white box just yet :).

  • dsmx #86 4 years ago

    You forgot having to pay for p2p servers on xbox live in your price calculation, xbox 360 becomes even less appealing then.

  • Kryon #87 4 years ago

    @Confounder

    What games? You mean all those FPS which require a hard disk and are available on my PC.

    FPS that require a hard disk? erm...what are you talking about? Anyway, I'm not a shooter fan tbh, I was actually referring to games like Lost Odyssey, GTA IV (with exclusive DLC), Virtua Fighters (with online play and better graphics), 99% of multi-platform titles that are better on the 360 (I could continue...)

    Btw, DMC4 is better looking on the PS3. Get your facts right!

    Not according to EG (or anyone else who isn't biased) and visuals aside, the last time I had to wait half an hour to play a game was in 1986 when I owned a C64 with tape drive...

  • Les #88 4 years ago

    "Seriously, though, Sony is in trouble IMO. The PS3's game line up is very tempting this year, but relative to the competition, it is such an expensive purchase at the onset."

    It definitely was when released at €600. But now that it's €400, it's quite in reach for the more hardcore gamers (most around here will have spent well over €400 on their 360 and accessories). Sony's problem however is that the hardcore already have the 360 and there is little reason right now to own both 360 and PS3. If MGS4 and some of the other exclusives turn out well, that might change this year. But if you're strapped for cash and/or time and don't necessarily have to play each and every great game, a 360 will probably give you enough entertainment this year.
    Edited by 1 at 11/03/08 @ 08:44

  • Xerx3s #89 4 years ago

    "You forgot having to pay for p2p servers on xbox live in your price calculation, xbox 360 becomes even less appealing then."

    Get your facts straight sdf zealot. You don't HAVE to pay and it's not p2p only. And "becomes even less appealing "? Gimme a break.

    "Truth is, this year will be Sonys big year"

    I keep hearing that but I can't help but wonder that a lot of the things paraded are not what the sdf pretend them to be. That and the fact that they claimed this in previous years as well and that the ps3 isn't the only machine with an exclusive lineup.
    Edited by 1 at 11/03/08 @ 09:36

  • Rash' #90 4 years ago

    Xerx3s, The point is of the three next gen consoles, the PS3 arguably has the most exciting exclusive line up this year.

  • Dizzy #91 4 years ago

    "Xerx3s, The point is of the three next gen consoles, the PS3 arguably has the most exciting exclusive line up this year. "

    I guess a lot of people do not agree with that. PS3 people have been saying that for ages.

  • Rash' #92 4 years ago

    Dizzy... Well, I did say it was arguable.

  • LHH #93 4 years ago

    Although I admit to being an MGS fan, didn't all the other games in the series not do so well?

  • Les #94 4 years ago

    "Xerx3s, The point is of the three next gen consoles, the PS3 arguably has the most exciting exclusive line up this year."

    True, but the same thing didn't help the 360 much in 2007... Like 2007, 2008 will be the year of the Wii. PS3 and 360 will battle for 2nd place and arguably the PS3 has the better exclusives (MLB 08 alone should seal the deal for anyone interested in baseball of which I know there are few in the EU). But 95% of the games released in 2008 will appear on both platforms.

  • Rash' #95 4 years ago

    Les, Personally, after all the fuss with Blu-ray I'm keen to see how much of deciding factor it is for consumers. We can sit at our computers and pontificate about the various scenarios, but NPDs will speak volumes.
    Edited by 1 at 11/03/08 @ 10:19

  • TheJuriel #96 4 years ago

    Woohoo! Rock. Shame my friend bought a 360 just a week ago... Ah well, he's swedish, he deserved it.

  • Laika #97 4 years ago

    Great. Now Amazon can lower it's prices by £10... whoopee

  • Ryze #98 4 years ago

    Er PS3 this year...? GT5... not till 2009. MGS4... Not really a mainstream blockbuster - more of a hardcore game. No better than Ninja Gaiden II to be honest.

    Er... what else...? Nothing to beat the cross platform GTAIV. Am I wrong here? What Am I missing guys?

    "You forgot having to pay for p2p servers on xbox live in your price calculation, xbox 360 becomes even less appealing then"

    OK, well I'm happily on XBL silver, where I can see who's online and message them - even in a game! I get custom soundtracks, downloadable demos, XBLA, Downloadable Xbox games , Downloadable trailers, Event videos, music videos and movies.

    If I want to play online, I have a big long list of 48hr trial codes that do the business just fine! If I was on my PS3, I'd be waiting for games and having no-one to play online against, not being able to communicate with anyone because they don't have a headset, and I wouldn't be able to play ANY of my PS2 games.

    What am I missing out on by not having a PS3? Please let me know, because I'll buy one when I'm really missing out - honest!

  • agparrot #99 4 years ago

    captainrentboy said "The premium at £200 is a very, very good buy. If there isn't a huge increase in sales with these new RRPs then there's something wrong with European gamers in general."

    This sums up my opinion of the price cut, really. Talk of choosing between the 'tard pack and the elite is a bit daft - the premium at £200 is a fully-featured bargain, and one that anyone who considers themselves a gamer, and who is passing up this wonderful opportunity to play a deep back catalogue of games available at very reasonable prices second hand, before even getting on to the newer stuff, is frankly cutting off their noses to spite their face.

    Reliability is a separate issue - if My xbox is starting to flake a little after only 7 months, so I can take it back to the retailer and get them to replace it on-the-spot within the first year... beyond a year, I would have the annoying option of sending it back to MS to get it replaced / repaired for free within 3 years for an RROD failure. I'm not defending MS on this - it is a very poor show that the onus is on consumers to keep their ability to play games intact - but there has been provision made to try and accomodate the most likely failures. This is still Not Good.

    As for the online - I used to think that £40 a year was a lot, but now that I have bought it and tried it, I have to say that the amount of online gaming joy-happy I have got from what is basically the RRP of a game, I find it difficult to complain about it. Yes, there was a debacle over Xmas when plugging the xbox into Live was asking for trouble, and getting an online game was frustratingly impossible, but for the majority of the time, there is always somebody on playing something you want to play. All this, with the seamless joy of the friends list and comms system, makes the £40 hit much easier to bear.

    I traded up, as a nervous Sony-loving PS2 owner, to the 360 last September, and since then I have had something to play every day, picking up some total bargains from the back catalogue and finally not resenting paying full price for a handfull of new games. 'Issues' aside, as a gaming experience, it has been a thing to make me smile, in a way that I never expected.

    As I always maintained with the PS2, if you are in the position of having to choose between consoles, then it should come down to the games. If you absolutely have to choose, and the Sony franchises are the reasons you are gaming, then I understand a PS3 purchase - I certainly plan to get one myself for all the games that haven't arrived yet, and most definitely when I've got my HDTV installed some time in the late summer of this year.

    If there is any True Gamer in your heart, though, and you have ever considered the games of the 360, I cannot do anything but recommend it. A Premium at £200 and a year of Live at £40 is going to be some of the greatest £240 you have ever spent on gaming. As somebody who never trusted the MS Brand, and who only (very) reluctantly went 360 because most of my gaming friends have one and I wanted to play games with them, I have been very pleasantly surprised by what I have found here. "Jump In" is always bandied about with such cheese, but it really sums up my very positive experience of it, and a these prices, there is something wrong with the wiring of your gaming heart if you aren't a little tempted.

    I'm as surprised as anyone that I feel this way about it.

  • Xerx3s #100 4 years ago

    "Xerx3s, The point is of the three next gen consoles, the PS3 arguably has the most exciting exclusive line up this year."

    This is what I'm saying. Certain people harp on about how good it is but I fail to see how it is much better it is than anything else.

    EDIT: Not saying that it's bad, just disputing something certain people seem to think as truth.
    Edited by 1 at 11/03/08 @ 12:00

  • nakke #101 4 years ago

    Now I feel a bit bummed out for buying a used (assumably) non-falcon 360 for €230. Oh well, at least it came with forza2 and almost full warranty. "Hopefully" the retailers here in Ye North o' Finland won't drop the price by the full €80 so I'll feel a bit better :rolleyes:
    Edited by 1 at 11/03/08 @ 12:27

  • Les #102 4 years ago

    "EDIT: Not saying that it's bad, just disputing something certain people seem to think as truth."

    Probably because it's not your truth though but it can certainly be for them. Claiming PS3 is the best console is just as ridiculous as claiming the 360 is or the Wii. The best console is the one that best suits your personal preferences, not the one some salespeople on internet forums are trying to convince you is best for you...

  • Xerx3s #103 4 years ago

    "Probably because it's not your truth though but it can certainly be for them. Claiming PS3 is the best console is just as ridiculous as claiming the 360 is or the Wii. The best console is the one that best suits your personal preferences, not the one some salespeople on internet forums are trying to convince you is best for you..."

    Then we agree.

  • monkie_king #104 4 years ago

    agparrot: amen, brother. So glad I took the next-gen plunge and went where the games are, 360. I don't understand why people continue to deny themselves a 360 because of FUD over reliability, or it doesn't have blu-ray, or some other oath of fealty to Sony Corporation. It defies logic for any self-respecting gamer not to be indulging in all the gaming goodness that's just there for the taking. Seriously, what's the better choice, swallow your pride and shell out £200 down Game at lunchtime, or wait and wait and wait some more for those mythical PS3 exclusives that may or may not come out this year, and may or may not actually be all that good? Anyway, those won't go away just because you're raiding the 360 bargain bins -- at least give yourself something to play in the meanwhile =)

    Live is really great these days too, so much more to it than in the Xbox days. I'd never used the "join session" functionality until a few days ago and it blew me away -- on the dashboard with COD4 in the tray, noticed a friend was playing online. Hit "join", hit "confirm", about 20 seconds later I was spawning on Backlot mid-way through his Domination match. Totally seamless. No question that it's worth paying for.

    I only got the 360 in December, but I don't remember when I last had this much fun with a console, 1997 probably. Faced with a somewhat difficult struggle to catch up everything I need to play, though, last year was such a gold rush. I'm sure PS3 will find its feet eventually, and I'll happily hop on board the bandwagon then. But to miss out on a 360 now in favour of a PS3 just seems such a waste.

  • lambtron #105 4 years ago

    Good post Les.

  • Xerx3s #106 4 years ago

    COD4 is a bit pants imo. Frontlines is so much better once you get into it and the dev team seem much more devoted to the gamers wishes than IW (taking 4 months to patch some minor issues while kaos does massive patches in a matter of hours).

  • Les #107 4 years ago

    "You have to be deluded if you think EG are not biased."

    You have to be deluded to think non-biased people or organisations exist in the first place... Anyone that claims he's not biased is.

  • Xerx3s #108 4 years ago

    "Anyone that claims he's not biased is."

    0/`

  • ED209 #109 4 years ago

    I had an Acorn electron which broke a Nintendo NES which broke, a megadrive which broke I had a Dreamcast which broke, a mate of mine had three PS2s which all broke, My Xbox broke twice and my Xbox 360 broke a couple of months back. This reliability thing is starting to annoy me as it just happens all the flippin time with all consoles, pcs, mobile phones etc

    I have a C64, SNES*, Megadrive, Amiga 500, N64, PS, PS2, Gameboy Advance, Nintendo DS and Numerous Mobile Phones that have never ever broken, despite regular use (in their days). So the reliability is an issue for me. As is the bulk, cos i literally can't fit that crate in my TV stand. And this isn't a biased fanboy rant cos I actually want to buy one, cos the games are AWESOME (TM), but my head says wait. So when will it be redesigned then?

    *It still works, although it's a bit yellow now.

  • HarryB #110 4 years ago

    £200 for a premium is pretty nice, and arcade is still decent since it's now with wireless controller and the 256mb mem card... noyce!

  • seasidebaz #111 4 years ago

    yay someone more misinformed than me!

    and there i was thinking i was the only person in the world who didn't know what was in the arcade pack...

  • stampax #112 4 years ago

    No matter what ms do, the reliability issues will always come back to haunt them, and will always stop the console going mass mass market. I hope it continues to be a success, but the reality is it will be overtaken by the other consoles. As a ps3 owner I'm pleased ms are still trying to aggressively push their machine - i want as much competition as possible as surely that will make Sony try harder?

  • Xerx3s #113 4 years ago

    "Do you own Microsoft?"

    /hides shares

    What makes you say that?

  • Xerx3s #114 4 years ago

    Vondur, stop acting like such a brainless socially underdeveloped prick.

  • seasidebaz #115 4 years ago

    Go stick your podgy little finger in a dyke

    what kind of dyke is he referring to?

    our survey says....

  • _Price_ #116 4 years ago

    Bundle the Premium with two good (not necessarily recent) games for 199.99 and they've got themselves a customer.

  • Kryon #117 4 years ago

    @Confounder

    Are you saying that EG are not biased? They are the biggest Xbox fanboys on the planet.

    Come off it, if you believe EG to be so biased, why do you frequent the site? I simply don't visit IGN or Gamespy because I think they're crap sites with crap (and often biased) journalists. I believe EG give as fair and considered opinion as possible in most cases, I strongly disagree with some of their scoring (they gave Blue Dragon 5/10 when it clearly deserved a better mark imo) but I didn't cry like a girl and call bias. They are just people and can't cater to my personal views every single time they put out a review, that doesn't make them biased. They scored Gears of War lower than most other sites with an 8/10 (although I agree with this score) but if they were soooo biased, it would have got a 10/10 (like many other places gave it). In short, calling a site biased because you don't like the truth is pretty weak mate...

  • Melan #118 4 years ago

    mostly I need a hair cut.

    Guess ill wait to buy either a ps3 or a Xbox 360 when they are smaller, less noisy and uses less energy. Price is importent but so is the aesthetic, when your married. The dartvader sounds and looks off ps3 and the xbox doesnt appeal the the female demographic, and their scandinavian designer furniture.

    I got a wii. Its small, its quiet, its Ipod white.
    Edited by 1 at 11/03/08 @ 18:46

  • Xerx3s #119 4 years ago

    "Go stick your podgy little finger in a dyke you humorless fuckface."

    How did you know that I'm dutch?


    Being socially underdeveloped != being funny. Also, learn to spell.

  • GamerG #120 4 years ago

    At £199 the premium is the bargain of the decade (if you have an HD TV).

    I had never played Xbox when I went from PS2 to the 360 after Europe got delayed (and I feared it was going to get delayed again) but I always imagined I'd flog it and buy a PS3 when it was released. How wrong was I! I'd rather sell my Grandma to a Bulgarian whore house (if she were still alive).

    The 360 had reignited gaming for me, thank you Microsoft!

  • Moonprince #121 4 years ago

    What's microsoft got to do with it?

    The games I've worked on and released on the console weren't made by them... How about you show some love to the devs!

  • Xerx3s #122 4 years ago

    /facebums moonprince

  • GamerG #123 4 years ago

    Well moonprice I feel that MS gave the devs the online infrastructure and tools to make the games they have, and its the ability to turn my xbox on see what my friends are playing and jump is what really has done it for me.

    Plus achievements have meant I have got more out of games than I otherwise would have and completed games that I otherwise would have got tired of, and that again is an MS innovation..

  • GamerG #124 4 years ago

    And did I mention XBLA???

    Actually Fook the Inter/Liverpool game I'm off to play N+ (What a game!)
    Edited by 1 at 11/03/08 @ 21:25

  • Skurmedel #125 4 years ago

    Sweet, now announce that downloadable content like full movies and such will come to the Swedish Live Marketplace. Good boy.

  • Bangaioh #126 4 years ago

    I think this is great news... I ain't gonna buy blu ray movies in a long while anyway so I might as well aim for that Elite sooner or later :)

  • squarepusher #127 4 years ago

    the xbox360 is american so just remember you are supporting imperialism if you buy it just saying

  • SlackMaster #128 4 years ago

    The Arcade pack isn't a tard pack at all. Unless you want to play over live you wouldn't even miss the HDD for most games as it makes little to no difference.

    It comes with a wireless controller, 256MB memory card for save games, a couple of Live Arcade games thrown in and the new smaller motherboard with is supposed to improve reliability and has a HDMI output.

    What's not to like about this for £159.99!?! It's just under half the price of the PS3 40Gb model and if you just want to game is an excellent deal.

    Anything else you want on top i.e. wireless, HDD you can buy seperately if you want but you're not forced to buy it all up front. Personally I think they are asking a little too much for their HDD's but apart from that it's the best deal going on a system with a rather large and good games library.
    Edited by 1 at 12/03/08 @ 10:55

  • Les #129 4 years ago

    "wireless, HDD you can buy seperately if you want but you're not forced to buy it all up front"

    But you are 'forced' to overpay if you do want to add these features at a later time. As for the 256mb mem. card, how many game saves and Live Arcade games can you store on it? Not too much I guess if I look at the size of DLC and save games on PS3. The Arcade might be reasonable/good value for more casual gamers but if you like your games by the dozens (as do most people that actually read these comments sections) it's not.