It might seem like Microsoft strategically timed its price drop for the Xbox 360 as a direct response to Sony’s recent announcements of a newer, cheaper PS3…but Microsoft says that the whole thing was just a big coincidence.
It’s true that maybe sometimes as gamers we tend to read stories where they aren’t when it comes to industry events. Bobby Kotick isn’t an evil mastermind intent on taking over the world – he’s just doing his job. Maybe. But when a company, say, Microsoft, announces a price drop for its product directly on the heels of its rival making similar announcements, well, it would seem to me that there’s some sort of correlation here, no?
According to Microsoft, it’s not. The just announced cuts on the Pro down to $249 and the Elite to $299 – the same price point as the PS3 Slim – 360 and Xbox Live director of product management Aaron Greenberg says, just happened to coincide with Sony’s news about its new slashed price tags.
“Typically these types of price changes are targeted to drive sales for the holiday season,” Greenberg told G4. “However it is difficult for our retail partners to make these types of changes in November or December so we try to work with them to make these types of adjustments before things get too hectic at retail.”
So what does Greenberg think about the PS3 Slim? “I guess as a gamer, I am glad I got an earlier PS3 console before they pulled a lot of the functionality like backwards compatibility out,” Greenberg said. Ouch.
Friendly jabs aside, Greenberg said that the price cuts are a good thing no matter how you slice it. “”At the end of the day lower priced hardware is good for everyone and good for the industry as a whole,” he said.
