Microsoft yesterday confirmed that $50 Xbox 360 price cut we’ve been talking about for the past two weeks, sorta. Redmond will introduce a 60GB Xbox 360 in August that will replace the current 20GB model. The 60GB SKU will retail for $349, but Microsoft will sell the 20GB version for $299 while supplies last. There’s your price cut.
Microsoft’s rationale for adding a 60GB SKU is that folks will need more and more space to put all those game demos, TV shows and movies they’ve been downloading from the Marketplace. For the record, my 20GB launch Xbox 360 (my second one—got the RROD last summer) has only about 6GB left on it.
The full release, if you will:
Redmond, Washington—Microsoft is giving consumers more gigabytes for their buck. The company today announced an Xbox 360® console with triple the storage space of the original console, but for the same price of $349 (U.S.) estimated retail price.
Available in retail stores in the U.S. and Canada starting in early August, the upgraded Xbox 360 will include a 60GB hard drive for storing the growing wealth of digital entertainment available for the console, including music, movies, television shows, and game content. In addition, Microsoft today dropped the price of its 20GB Xbox 360 console in the U.S. and Canada to just $299 (U.S.) (ERP) while supplies last, a savings of $50.
“We know consumers need more and more space to store the amazing digital content Xbox 360 offers, and we’re giving it to them at no extra charge,” said Albert Penello, Xbox director of product management at Microsoft. “No one device offers the depth and breadth of entertainment that Xbox 360 can deliver, and now you’ll have three times the storage to manage all that great content.”
Xbox 360 is just one of three Xbox 360 gaming and entertainment systems Microsoft offers. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Arcade, which comes with a 256MB memory unit and five Xbox LIVE Arcade games, is a value for the whole family for $279 (U.S.) (ERP), and the premium Xbox 360 Elite console is available with a 120GB hard drive for $449 (U.S.) (ERP).
This generation just about halfway finished, right? Better get a 360 while it’s still hot.