Sony slashes PS2 price, Xbox makes pre-emptive strike News
PlayStation 2 Xbox News by Rob Fahey
PlayStation 2 and Xbox are set for European price cuts in the coming days, with Sony to cut its price to £104.99 effective immediately. Microsoft announced a pre-emptive drop in the price of Xbox to £99.99 price this afternoon.
Although announced first, in a move designed to spoil the effect of Sony's cut to some extent, the Microsoft price drop will not take effect across Europe until August 27th.
The announcement of Microsoft's price drop was made this afternoon at 3pm CET (2pm GMT) at the Leipzig games Convention. Sony's announcement was made at 4.30pm CET from the same event.
Retailers will hope to see a significant sales boost for both consoles from the price cuts, much as was experienced by US retail back in June when Microsoft, and then Sony, slashed the price of their consoles within the space of a month of each other.
In the UK, the PS2 has continued to outsell the Xbox by a factor of between 2:1 and 2.8:1 over the course of the summer, with the Xbox shifting around 5,000 units per week while the PS2 hovered between 8,000 and 14,000 units.
Update 14:18 - Microsoft confirms price drop.
Update 15:33 - Sony confirms price drop.
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Someone is forgetting sales tax isn't included in the price in the US states that have it while the UK price will be including VAT @ 17.5%.
ok, lemme do a little math here...with 6% sales tax (in my state), both consoles come to 158.99 USD, which converts to 87.03 UKP...still cheaper, no? /edit...got the math wrong at first :/
Edited 3 times,
most recently on 18/08/04 @ 13:52
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mcmonkeyplc
18/08/04 @ 12:54
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Now that PES is due out on the xbox soon their really is no point in me re- purchasing a PS2 apart for maybe MGS3 or GTA:SA which im sure will make their way to the xbox eventually just like their predecessors.
£105 is still too much for the PS2 considering a memory card still sets you back at least 15 smackers. |
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Homer Simpson
18/08/04 @ 13:09
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I just think PS2 should be cheaper than Xbox at this age, especially because Xbox is a better machine.
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mash the x button
18/08/04 @ 13:15
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Any news on the gamecube? I'll have one for £49.99 with RE4 and a few other goodies thrown in...
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but don't you have to pay the VAT?
Yes you do. if you do, the after tax net price is cheaper in the states... Then that's a difference in tax rates rather than the pre-tax price, Sony or Microsoft can't do anything about taxation! VAT is Satan's own tax; you get taxed when you earn your money then when you spend it the government takes money again! |
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Tweakmonkey
18/08/04 @ 13:24
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"I just think PS2 should be cheaper than Xbox at this age, especially because Xbox is a better machine"
Well according to this article, Sony made the PS2 cheaper than the Xbox, but then Microsoft responded by making theirs cheaper. See? |
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Thamuhacha
18/08/04 @ 13:31
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Xbox. Fable. Jade Empire. Kotor. Kotor 2.
Months of RPG fun for close to £250? Nice. |
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No, VAT is designed to encourage certain purchasing trends or saving. Other countries just tax you more on your earnings.
I'm not sure any government should be telling me what to spend my money on and considering how few VAT exempt things there are I'm at a loss to work out what they're encouraging, more buying of food, kids clothes and books? Also your saving are taxed as income and other countries VAT rates are higher as well with different exemptions, how exactly that's anything than revenue generation I'm stumped. |
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sickpuppysoftware
18/08/04 @ 13:43
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OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
i get it now, they're the same base price, your government just takes the hell outta you. sorry bout that :P Wait until you see how much they tax our petrol by! |
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Nooooooo! I just bought my Xbox two weeks ago for £139 and now they announce this. I knew it! This has happened to me three times in a row now (I remember buying my PS1 at the original retail price, and then they lowered it exactly TWO days afterwards. Grrrr).
Anyway, will the £100 Xbox come bundled with any games? |
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Rhythm: Thanks for the tip! I don't think we have Barclay cards (or anything similar) in Sweden though...
My Xbox came bundled with PGR2 and Top Spin though, and if the price cut is for a vanilla system, well, the difference will be pretty insignificant. [Edit: Sewden is a mighty fine country, famous for it's fine garments and skilled seamstresses]
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 18/08/04 @ 15:36
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