Greenberg: Price cut boost won't last long

By Tom Bramwell Published 21 September, 2009

Plus: exclusives still key to Xbox 360.

Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg does not expect recent price cuts for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 to leave a lasting impression on the console sales race.

"I don't believe the price cuts that both companies have made will impact the market dynamics too dramatically in the long term," Greenberg, who is director of product management for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, told Eurogamer in an interview published today.

"We typically see a month or two of lifts and share adjustments, but then things tend to settle back to roughly the established market ranking."

Sony cut the price of PlayStation 3 to £249 / €299 in Europe last month and introduced a smaller, redesigned console.

Microsoft subsequently cut the price of the Xbox 360 Elite to £199 and retired the old Xbox 360 Premium, although it said the price cut timing was a coincidence.

Both price cuts brought their respective parent companies handsome returns, with Xbox 360 enjoying a 43 per cent sales rise in one UK bank holiday weekend, before Sony was able to celebrate a 999 per cent jump week-to-week following the new PS3's launch and platform price drop.

And while Greenberg is sceptical about the two companies' pricing changes having a long-term effect on the market dynamic, he does see positives.

"We do, however, expect that these new lower prices will bring in more consumers that were potentially a bit resistant to the previous pricing in place," he explained in today's interview, before reiterating that platform-specific content remains a key part of Microsoft's strategy.

"Our focus continues to be on adding more value and more exclusive experiences across games and entertainment, so that consumers will continue to select the Xbox 360 as their console of choice," he said.

Xbox 360 certainly have more third-party exclusive content these days, thanks to mouth-watering deals with Rockstar for GTAIV DLC and Ubisoft for Splinter Cell: Conviction, among others, but Sony is lining up a pretty big counterpunch this Christmas with a string of first-party titles including the imperious Uncharted 2.

To find out what Greenberg reckons to the two firms' Christmas line-ups, and to see what he has to say about the HDMI cable being taken out of the Xbox 360 Elite box, among other things, check out the rest of the interview.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (20) Latest comment 2 years ago

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

  • Gaol #1 2 years ago

    Microsoft didn' t cut their prices. They put the arcarde up and took the HDMI cable out of the Elite. It's now £200 for a 360 with an HDD.

    Stop calling it a cut.
    Edited by 1 at 21/09/09 @ 14:03

  • MrGilder #2 2 years ago

    Greenberg is a cock!

  • MeBrains #3 2 years ago

    ... a pretentious little one that is... :D

  • flaming.carrot #4 2 years ago

    Well, the PS3 has sold over 0.8 million consoles in just 2 weeks, so I think that is pretty dramatic.

  • JahB #5 2 years ago

    Well, the PS3 has sold over 0.8 million consoles in just 2 weeks, so I think that is pretty dramatic.

    not in the long run, so greenberg's correct. the ps2 sold more than 130 million units in its lifespan, +/-1 is no drama for either of the current gen consoles.

    other than that, i just see a whole lotta marketing bla bla. why do guys like him bother giving interview if they just reiterate everything an email to info@ms.com would given you?

  • Goodfella #6 2 years ago

    YAAAAWN!

  • Liamario #7 2 years ago

    He should die

  • Machetazo #8 2 years ago

    It's the Microsoft motormouth again. He's so automated, and predictable, doesn't he ever run out of batteries, or require an oil change? :p

  • Xerx3s #9 2 years ago

    "He should die "

    You should get a fucking perspective and a reality check on what you're saying.
    Edited by 1 at 21/09/09 @ 22:11

  • Calgon #10 2 years ago

    automated, and predictable

    Yeah haha! Kind of like your average Sony fanboy really.

  • 52pickup #11 2 years ago

    The only other guy who talks this much bulls**t is that Michael Pachter guy.

  • sneetch #12 2 years ago

    @Gaol
    Microsoft didn' t cut their prices. They put the arcarde up and took the HDMI cable out of the Elite. It's now £200 for a 360 with an HDD.

    Stop calling it a cut.

    You really think that the HDMI cable cost £30/€50?

  • Xerx3s #13 2 years ago

    "the guy does trash talk like hes in wrestling though. plus he always sees this as a 'fight' against his 'rivals'. he should be more business like."

    Calm down? I'm calm, I'm just noting how fucking retarded it is to wish someone dead just because of his profession. Do you say it IRL? No. Then don't say it on the internet either.

  • sarcasmoidosis #14 2 years ago

    MS guy says MS will win. How surprising...

    He's also saying that the Wii and DS will still kick their asses all over the place, though, right?

  • zedzee #15 2 years ago

    "Xbox 360 certainly have more third-party exclusive content these days..."

    What does THAT mean?

    You either say: "Xbox 360 certainly [HAS] more third-party exclusive content these days..."

    Or: "[MICROSOFT] certainly have more third-party exclusive content these days..."

    Someone at EG really ought to proof read this stuff before rushing it out like that.

  • Mister_G #16 2 years ago

    Don't like this guy, way too smug.

    I also think he under-estimates Sony and the long term effects quality software has.... Look at MGS4, it was in the top 10 sales chart on Amazon.com the other day.

    It's all good though.... the competition between Sony and MS means they're both trying harder than they would normally, so we get better games :)

  • Quak #17 2 years ago

    You really think that the HDMI cable cost £30/€50?

    Does a wireless dongle cost £50?

  • RedSparrows #18 2 years ago

    Quak, the analogy doesn't work.

  • Rens11 #19 2 years ago

    Donnie your stupid you do realise that ff13 is out in Japan in Dec and will easily sell over 500k that month alone!

  • Drakron #20 2 years ago

    Japan is irrelevant as a market but I am going to play along.

    FF XII sold 1,764,000 copies in Japan on the first week (but less that FF X did on its first week) and sold over 2,150,000 on its first five weeks.

    However things are now quite different, the PS3 have 3.4 million consoles sold in Japan ... so it would require HALF of the current PS3 Japanese owners to buy it in order to reach PS2 sale numbers.

    And another thing, FF is big in the west but not so in Japan ... Dragon Quest VIII sold over 3 million in the first week in Japan (Its the fastest selling Japanese PS 2 title ever) as its a FAR more important title that Final Fantasy is and DQ X is a Wii title.

    And that leads me to saying one thing.

    The Nintendo Wii is still nş1 WORLDWIDE and WITHOUT having ANY price cut.