360 Core System price is cut

By Tom Bramwell Published 22 August, 2006

But by retailers, not Microsoft.

Microsoft has distanced itself from suggestions that it plans to officially cut the price of the Xbox 360 Core System in the next few days, arguing that retailers have already chosen to do this of their own accord.

"Retail price is set by our retail partners," a Microsoft spokesperson told Eurogamer. "Retailers are already selling Xbox 360 Core System from £199.99, which we believe is outstanding value to consumers."

The Core System, which is a stripped down Xbox 360 sold without a hard disk, among other things, retails in most locations for £209.99, but various firms - most notably Play.com - have recently moved to a £199.99 price point.

The full Xbox 360 package, which includes a 20GB hard disk as well as an Xbox Live headset, retails for £279.99. Microsoft has repeatedly denied that it plans to cut the system's price in the run-up to Christmas.

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 (43) Latest comment 6 years ago

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

  • Aretak #1 6 years ago

    There's really no reason for Microsoft to cut the price if retailers are already doing it for them.

  • Bill_Gates_Bitch #2 6 years ago

    Hmm, so £500 for a ps3, or £200 for a machine which is just as powerful and isn't lumbered with a pointless, expensive proprietary media format, which are consumers going to choose?

  • reality_cheque #3 6 years ago

    There's really no reason for Microsoft to cut the price if retailers are already doing it for them
    Indeed, it's a bit of a brucey bonus for MS this!

  • reality_cheque #4 6 years ago

    Premium cheaper next please, I want a second for the missus.

  • Blerk #5 6 years ago

    Hmm, so £500 for a ps3, or £200 for a machine which is just as powerful and isn't lumbered with a pointless, expensive proprietary media format, which are consumers going to choose?

    PS3, probably.

    That's £425, by the way.

  • Wayne #6 6 years ago

    I'll buy one when the premium pack drops to £200

  • Aretak #7 6 years ago

    Crippled, but not useless as such.

  • JonFE #8 6 years ago

    Hmm, so £500 for a ps3, or £200 for a machine which is just as powerful and isn't lumbered with a pointless, expensive proprietary media format, which are consumers going to choose?

    PS3, probably.

    That's £425, by the way.

    Well, not actually; in the above mentioned Play.com that's £549.99 :)
    Edited by 1 at 22/08/06 @ 09:39

  • UncleLou #9 6 years ago

    Hmm, so £500 for a ps3, or £200 for a machine which is just as powerful and isn't lumbered with a pointless, expensive proprietary media format, which are consumers going to choose?

    So you're comparing the shitty core system noone wants to the PS3, and add 20 percent to the latter. Sounds like you're desparate.

  • el_pollo_diablo #10 6 years ago

    You can get an old Amiga for £20.

    That's cheaper than both of them.

  • Aretak #11 6 years ago

    It's still the best part of £150 even if you take the RRP for the Premium and the RRP for the PS3. Considering that from a technical standpoint they're supposed to be not much different from each other, it's still a hefty price difference.

  • UncleLou #12 6 years ago

    Definitely. No need to exaggerate it out of fanbyoism, though. :)

  • peterfll #13 6 years ago

    Why not dump the overhead of producing the core pack and just get along with selling it with the hard drive etc?

    Never made much sense anyway.

  • Redeye #14 6 years ago

    Wouldn't be so fast to truly assert that, blerk...being doing a bit of a straw poll lately with friends that aren't hardcore gamers, but have bought Sony's machines in the past.

    Out of twenty people, when told of PS3's pricing compared to 360, only one said they'll still plump for Sony's beastie, with the rest either looking at 360 or Wii. Hardly indicative of global sales for PS3, I know, but it certainly surprised me in one or two instances where the people concerned are proper Sony-heads.

  • Carrybagma #15 6 years ago

    Oh good. Hopefully this will dissuade Nintendo from selling the Wii @ £170.

    GI.biz suggested that Microsoft will have the heaviest marketing this Christmas. Do you suppose that a big part of that wil be the promise "available from £199"?

  • Dezm0nd #16 6 years ago

    dont forget your 3 must have (haha) titles, Formula one (wooo), Warhawk ( Uhhh) and singstar (quite good)

    PS3 is expensive, but it'll be good. Can't see why people hate other manufacturers? Get over it.

  • #17 6 years ago

    Weebles wobble but they don't fall down!
    Edited by 1 at 22/08/06 @ 10:01

  • mute #18 6 years ago

    Core packs are a rip-off and negate what the 360 is about: an out of the box HD capable online friendly machine. For that, you need an HD cable and a hard drive (to store all the crap downloaded from the Marketplace, let alone to be able to play some games). Given the price of the accessories, no wonder the premium packs are more popular. So this is just a measure the retailers have taken to get rid of their stock.

  • fletcherr #19 6 years ago

    Surely the reason the core system's price is getting cut is that no-one wants it. Are there any figures on how it's selling compared to the premium?

    Wake me up when the premium system + Dead Rising bundle is £250.

  • Xerx3s #20 6 years ago

    Why not dump the overhead of producing the core pack and just get along with selling it with the hard drive etc?

    Never made much sense anyway.

    Makes perfect sense. They bundle the cheapo version with stuff like mobiles to win new souls. With the original xbx, the HDD was one of the biggest cost posts that they couldn't cut. So now they can eventually dump these things onto the market for next to nothing.

    On top of that, the 2 machines are (unlike the ps3 versions) one and the same. The more you produce, the less it costs. the only difference is the box, HDD and content. Thats PP.

  • Steroyd #21 6 years ago

    Hmm, so £500 for a ps3, or £200 for a machine which is just as powerful and isn't lumbered with a pointless, expensive proprietary media format, which are consumers going to choose?

    uhmmm Blu-ray isn't propietry...

    Don't tell me that's why you hate Blu-ray. o_O

  • rhinoxious #22 6 years ago

    Maybe they should in fact ditch the premium and let users select the storage capacity to suit their needs... there is a desire to compete against Nintendo Wii on price a little too. If that thing retails at £150, for an extra £50 you can get a X360. PS3 is an entirely different proposition at £450, lmao.


    That's a pretty good idea, and would simplify the current confusion at retail. You get a 360 with a crappy composite lead for as cheap as MS can do it. Then you make your own choice over memory card/hard disk and component/vga/rgb scart.

    IThe deluxe 360 bundle was perfect for me, but I'm sure many people don't feel the same.
    Edited by 1 at 22/08/06 @ 10:27

  • dredd97 #23 6 years ago

    I understand why MS released the core pack, I do.. but it's not as some have sugguested as a way for casual gamers to get into next-gen, it was purely a marketing gimmik, which in part has flopped because the retailers are obviously awash with stock of the core, and are deciding to get rid of it......

    If MS were serious about this, they'd offer core buyers a rebate off the price of a HDD, now that would work better.. and might shift a few more units for them (well except in Japan where you couldn't give the Xbox 360 away..)

  • killyourtv #24 6 years ago

    'most notably play.com'

    conveniently slipped that in

  • Darren #25 6 years ago

    I think Microsoft should drop the Core system down to £149.99 by Christmas and lower the price of the Premium one to £199.99. That sub-£200 price point is the magic line that has to be crossed in order for a console to reach a mass market in my opinion. Remember how sales of both the PS2 and Xbox really took off when they dropped to £199.99?

  • asphaltcowboy #26 6 years ago

    I'll be getting a X360 at around christmas/possibly just after - ideally if there is this price drop that won't happen! Either way I'll have started my job so I should finally have some disposable cash!

  • chupachups #27 6 years ago

    If they cut the 360 Core price a bit more, it'll probably end up costing the same as a Wii in Europe... That would be a bit of a shocker for Nintendo.

  • ave #28 6 years ago

    "most notably Play.com"
    Do you get paid extra for that?

  • redd #29 6 years ago

    ms would be wise to include a 20gb hd with the core version and a 60gb+ one with the premium package.

  • Carrybagma #30 6 years ago

    Love the way the core pack is described as 'tard' or 'crippled'. It's like saying all BMW 320i owners are tards 'cos they *should* have bought an M3.

    Microsoft have basically found a successful new way of flogging consoles. Sony's adoption of the same idea is proof that it's sound. All they need now are big games and marketing. Presumably, Nintendo will have sufficient margin to cut the price of a Wii to keep it out of the others' marketing targets.

    In terms of how you sell consoles and you get more money out of consumers once they've bought them, Microsoft are really leading the way, with Sony being forced to follow. I'd not have thought that possible a year ago.

  • SergioAguero #31 6 years ago

    I think the Premium pack at £250 would be very attractive too.

    Or if they really want to sell this thing:

    Premium pack + Extra wireless pad + Pro Evo 6 for £279 would do it !
    Edited by 1 at 22/08/06 @ 13:32

  • t8yman #32 6 years ago

    its called the tard pack for a reason, you'd have to be a tard to buy it, thats the only reason the price has dropped- because they cant sell em. I guarantee they wont even be shipping the tard by xmas.

    "Shipping the tard" - great name for a band.

  • thinktank #33 6 years ago

    I think alot of you miss the point about the core system.

    M$ want try and emulate what happend to the PS2 this gen, it really took off after several price drops to $149, a sweet spot for the mass market. Because of the simplicity of the system at that relative point in time (no hard drive) manufacturing cost with regards to the proccessor, GPU, and DVD drive were significantly lowered. Meaning they where selling loads and still making money on them, not much but the point was to reduce the cost of a system with simple harware and get them into peoples houses. This was achieved to a point where it became accesible to people who more than likely don't know what a hard drive is or does or why they need one (chavs). This coupled with a good selection of games sold shit loads and it still is.

    With the core system M$ can hit the same sweet point and will attempt to do what sony did last gen.

    Which means its irrelivant of what gamers who post on boards like these think as the core was never intended for you/us lot, that was the job of the premium.

    As M$ refine the manufacturing proccess the hardriveless (is that a word??) Core system will become a mass market product.

    Its what they planned to do all along, I think it was in an interview with EG or maybe IGN where a M$ representative (again i cant remember who) predicts by the end of the 360 life they will sell more Core's than premiums. Especial when they go after the Idian/Chinese/Eastern Europe markets.

    I think the core is far from a bad idea, just remember it was never met for us lot.
    Edited by 2 at 22/08/06 @ 13:59

  • Wobble #34 6 years ago

    "It's like saying all BMW owners are tards 'cos they drive a BMW. "

    fixed.

    /hates bmw drivers and 90% of focus drivers.

  • The_Programmer #35 6 years ago

    'Not really, 360 is all shooters... Wii will be superior for shooter controls.'

    Really. I was playing Table Tennis & PGR3 last night. So where do I find the guns then? The Wii is a Low Def under powered console. It's hardly going to be better at shooters than the 360.

  • Skooch #36 6 years ago

    'Not really, 360 is all shooters... Wii will be superior for shooter controls.'

    Good for me - I love dem shooters!!! :)

    I am really not sure about why the Wii would have a superior FPS control system. Just because you are holding a control pad that is shaped more like a gun doesn't make it more accurate, responsive or playable.

  • chupachups #37 6 years ago

    "I am really not sure about why the Wii would have a superior FPS control system. Just because you are holding a control pad that is shaped more like a gun doesn't make it more accurate, responsive or playable."

    Erm... it's not just shaped like a gun, you use it like a gun. Want to shoot something? Just aim it and pull the trigger. The Wii can detect both where the gun is in 3D and how you're tilting it.

    Regardless of what the finished product is like, surely you can see how this MIGHT be more intuitive than having to aim with a control pad?

    Loads of people say they prefer FPSes on PCs because they prefer the mouse control over a joypad. Well, the Wii offers something very similar.
    Edited by 2 at 22/08/06 @ 18:00

  • captainrentboy #38 6 years ago

    Using my Psychic powers I predict that the 360 premium unit will be £250 with a 60 gig hdd come Nov 17th,or that bundled with Gears of war and a G.O.W faceplate for £280.Mark my words.

  • crashVoodoo #39 6 years ago

    if you listen to the latest 1up yours podcast luke smith tells how MS had been in to visit them, they said they like the core.

    they're hoping to get it down to 150 and see it as their ticket to the mass market sweet spot (as mentioned above).

  • chupachups #40 6 years ago

    "if you listen to the latest 1up yours podcast luke smith tells how MS had been in to visit them, they said they like the core.
    they're hoping to get it down to 150 and see it as their ticket to the mass market sweet spot (as mentioned above)."

    Seems reasonable, it lets them lower the price to reach casual gamers without losing too much money to hardcore gamers who will mostly carry on buying the main pack.

    I bet Sony is kicking itself for putting PS3 games on Blu-ray, it means they don't have the option of releasing a cheap non-BR PS3.

  • yiannis #41 6 years ago

    lol

    the retailers, (see: only play.com so far) are cutting down (mere £10) on the less selling (i guess) half baked 360!!!


    Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!


    Not that 360 is not priced nicely for what it does and that's a lot already, but don't piss in our chow and tell us it's raining... please...


    cheers

  • MasterThief #42 6 years ago

    /thunderous applause for Thinktank's speech

    I really don't understand why people don't get the Core. I honestly believe that game forumers believe that what goes on the internet is a good indicator for what will happen in the 'real' world. Hence all this silly Wii60 talk (most casual gamers will likely only buy one console). Similarly, forumers don't seem to get that MS have purposefully designed two SKU's. One for us. The Live subscribing, content downloading, HD-enabled geeks, to be blunt. And then, the Core is stripped down, bare bones and easy to price, thus making it as appealing to the 'chav' sector as the PlayStation 2 has always been. It ain't rocket science. Two SKU's, one for 'us' and another for 'them'. I welcome the Core. If it helps Microsoft become industry leader, thus cementing Xbox Live as the industry and consumer standard, then I'm all for its existence.

  • thinktank #43 6 years ago

    @ MasterThief

    Cheers.

    Nice to know my efforts arn't totaly ignored in favour of a "My console is better that yours debate"

    ;)

  • animal_mother #44 6 years ago

    "I am really not sure about why the Wii would have a superior FPS control system. Just because you are holding a control pad that is shaped more like a gun doesn't make it more accurate, responsive or playable."

    Lateral thinking is not your strong point, I see.

  • Hughes. #45 6 years ago

    If it helps Microsoft become industry leader, thus cementing Xbox Live as the industry and consumer standard, then I'm all for its existence.

    Yes, what we really need is more monopolisation by Microsoft. Paying a second fee over and above my ISP for online gaming when I'be been able to do it free for years is NOT a consumer standard I would accept.