Microsoft confirms Xbox 360 price cut in Europe

Microsoft announced Monday it has slashed the price of its Xbox 360 gaming console by up to 28 percent in the European market, in an attempt to boost sales in a major battleground in the surging industry, and put more pressure on Sony PlayStation 3.

Starting March 14th, the prices of the different variants will be reduced by as much as 28 percent, the company has confirmed.

The cut will bring the cheapest Xbox 360 Arcade version to 200 euros (US$307) and the high-end Elite edition, which comes with a 120GB hard drive, to 370 euros (US$568).

The price of the 20-gigabyte Xbox 360 standard version will be reduced to 269.99 euros, a drop in price of 80 euros. After the price reduction, the Arcade version has become cheaper than a Nintendo Wii that currently retails for £180 in the UK.

“Xbox 360 is now mass market in Europe,” said Chris Lewis, Vice President, Microsoft Interactive Entertainment Business 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. These factors allow us to execute on our strategy to widen the market for Xbox 360, as planned,” he added.

The Xbox 360 Elite comes with a substantial 120GB hard drive, high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) port, a high-definition cable and premium black finish as standard.

Besides a 120-gigabyte hard drive, which is six times bigger than the current high-end Xbox 360 model and twice as big as that of Sony's PlayStation 3 console, Xbox 360 Elite includes a wireless controller and Xbox LIVE headset. The Elite hard drive has space to hold a library of arcade games and thousands of songs, as well as high-definition TV shows and movies downloaded from the company's Xbox LIVE online service.

The Xbox Arcade consists of five Live Arcade games, a memory card with 256 MB storage capacity, and HDMI. The five different games available on the Xbox 360 Arcade are Pac-Man Championship Edition, Luxor 2, Uno, Feeding Frenzy, and Boom Boom Rocket.

Xbox 360, the future-generation game and entertainment system from Microsoft, represents a dramatic leap forward in high-definition gaming and entertainment experiences. Xbox 360 has ignited a new era of digital entertainment that is always connected, always personalized and always in high definition.

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 gaming console is facing tough competition from Nintendo’s Wii and Sony’s PlayStation 3 in the gaming consoles markets. The three biggies in gaming arena are locked in a fierce battle for dominance in the $13 billion U.S. video game market.

Microsoft claims that the Xbox 360 is now the number one next generation console in Europe. It also claims to hold 42% of the video game console market in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, and to sell more games-per-console than its rivals.

According to market watcher NPD, the Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft sold 230,000 Xbox 360 units in January, while Nintendo sold 274,000 Wii consoles and Sony sold 251,000 PlayStation 3 units.