13% off for those Sony and Nintendo fans

Oct 22, 2007 11:23 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft is ready yet again to battle the rivaling gaming device producing giants, Sony and Nintendo, by using their favorite weapon: price reductions. Have a look at the latest marketing moves of the competing companies and you'll see that their battle has reached a minimal level and that the difference between prices will soon be about $50.

On November 1st, Microsoft will make available its new Xbox 360, priced at $305 and guess what? Ten days later, enters Sony plus their new offer: a $351 PS3. We could have seen this coming, especially since the 360 has not been doing so well till now, at least not in Japan. In the first half of 2007, the Wii held the sales' crown, by selling 1.78 million units, followed by the PS3, which sold 503.554 units and the poorer Xbox 360, with their 122.565 sold units.

Microsoft has yet to announce a US price reduction, but we all know that it's coming, as the low-cost Xbox 360 Arcade is already available in a couple of stores and it costs about $279.99. However, the official launch hasn't taken place yet, so we can't talk about sales figures and the real price, till it happens. Another price reduction for Japanese consumers seems like a desperate move for Sony's rival, as the creator of the 360 struggles to become "big in Japan". If Halo 3 can't help what can?

Of course, a cheaper Xbox 360 won't sell by itself, so Microsoft decided bundle it up with Forza Motorsport and Viva Pinata, some of the most famous titles on the acclaimed console. Let's check out the sad facts and figures once again and this time things look even worse if you go back in time, to the official launch of the Xbox 360, back in December 2006. It seems that from that moment till now, Microsoft has only sold about 400.000 units in Japan... Can anyone spell "Nintendo monopoly"?