xzKinGzxBuRnzx

Prices on both the 360 and the PS3 dropped friday! Which now makes the Xbox 360 Arcade edition the cheapest console to buy. Here is what Mike Smith had to say:

Are you still sitting on the fence about the Xbox 360? Here's some news that might make up your mind: as of Friday, Microsoft is cutting prices across the entire Xbox 360 model line-up, leaving the Arcade edition at $199, $50 cheaper than the Wii -- which has been the cheapest way to get into next-gen gaming since its debut two years ago. The Arcade is the least capable of the three Xbox 360 models currently available, and includes a wired controller and a 256 MB memory card rather than the hard drives found on higher priced bundles.

The price drop sees Microsoft taking aim at the Wii's enormous market share, and with stock shortages still plaguing potential Wii buyers, it might just work -- especially when Microsoft is packing an ever-growing selection of family-friendly games, and planning an imminent interface overhaul that'll make the machine's dashboard easier to use. Retail giant GameStop is expecting the strategy to succeed, too, at least in the short term: the company's senior vice-president was quoted in Business Week as saying he expected Xbox 360 sales to jump anywhere from 1.5 to three times in the wake of the move.

Microsoft's other Xbox 360 hardware bundles received comparable price cuts, leaving the Premium edition (which includes a 60 GB hard drive) at $299, and the Elite (which includes a 120 GB hard drive and a snazzy matt black finish) at $399. Meanwhile, Sony's PlayStation 3 remains the most expansive offering, with the cheapest system in its range retailing at $399."

Source

Xbox 360 - You can view the new prices here.

PS3 - You can view the new prices here.

If you don't have a PS3 or a 360 now is the time to buy. There cheaper then they ever been.

__________________

Safinn

Cool, I think the PS3 is still over priced. Only difference is the blu ray and some other minor things.

__________________

MunkyMagikUK

No price drops for Europe though lads.

I don't know, I've kind of been swayed a bit, i mean, when you look at the price of stand-alone blu-ray players, and then look at the PS3 some would say its a bargain! However, i still wouldn't buy one due to lack of games i like.

__________________

Safinn

The only reason I would buy one would be because of the exclusive SOCOM and Metal gear solid.

__________________

InsaneNutter

From looking at the arcade console in the link King posted that would be about £113 in the UK, now that is a bargain! It’s around £150 here which I think for the UK is a reasonable price, still if a price cut comes this way that can only be a good thing.

The PS3 is the cheapest Blueray player however you can get a Blueray drive for your pc now for around £70, If you have a way of connecting that to your telly then your sorted. If I didn’t think q pc can do all of your media needs I would end up getting a PS3 for the Blueray player, the games available for it don’t really interest me much though.

__________________

Slaz

I've tried the PS3 at a friend's home. The console itself is pretty much well done, it doesn't make the amount of noises as the 360 and I love the design. Still the selection of games I've seen in my local retail store is far from great and as stated in the article, it's still too overpriced to 'just' buy the thing if you want to. So it's clear for now, I'll stick to my 360 and Wii, with the upcoming Gears of War 2 my gaming experience can't soon be more fun though.. :p

The Arcade bundle is €199 in The Netherlands now, which comes around $283 in US Dollars. Still a reasonable price here, but I agree cheaper is always better yeah.

__________________
Slaz - T3h K!ng 0f C4rr0tus
Are you playing Jazz Jackrabbit 2? If so talk to me whenever you want so that we can 'roast' a few. ;p
Also add me on Xbox Live if you want to play some GoW, UT3, or Halo3.
Epic and CliffyB, we want a new Jazz3!!
Jazz2Online - Haze's Hideout - Tux Masters

MunkyMagikUK

Having said there are no games i want for the PS3, having seen in-game footage of Killzone 2, i have to say, i really want that game!

__________________

stument

I own both consoles, both bought at launch prices.

I would still recommend the Xbox 360 over the PS3, i do own quite a few blu-rays but that is all i buy for my PS3!

I never actually play it, i always play my 360.

There is also no new releases i intend to buy for the PS3.. id just get them on the 360

Safinn

Now gaming is more on-line. If you don't have on-line its very boring, complete the game and your done with it. But the on-line gives you much more to do so because I think the xbox has better on-line I had to go with that.

__________________

InsaneNutter

I think Xbox Live really helped push the 360, for the first time a lot of people I know who were only console gamers have been able to play online and are doing so. Achievements and gamer cards also turned out to be a bit of free advertising online for the 360 with people putting them in their sigs and so on.

Online has also seen a lot of games implementing co-op play which I love.

__________________