Xbox 360 now the same price as Wii in Australia

[Zeus]

Microsoft has confirmed that the Xbox 360 is to receive a price cut down under in Australia, which now means the Xbox 360 core system is now at the same price as the Wii. And there is some futher good news to be had for Australian gamers as new Premium units will be shipping with a HDMI port.


Xbox regional director for Australia and New Zealand David McLean says reduced manufacturing costs was the key reason for dropping the Xbox 360's price. McLean says the price drop positions the 360's Pro system favourably against the A$1000 PlayStation 3 in Australia, while the A$399 price point for the Core allows the 360 to compete in the casual market the Wii has cornered.

McLean also confirmed that 360 Pro units with HDMI slots would soon be making their way to Australia, although he declined to give a specific timeframe. "We'll start to see the same thing in Australia. We're just reviewing our inventory position and when that will start to flow into the market. No specific details to give you on it, but what's happening in other regions in the world will certainly happen in Australia," he said.


News Source: <A href="http://us.gamespot.com/news/6176614.html" target="_blank">Gamespot.com</a>

[felixm477]

i dont get it im assuming the wii is pretty expensive over there for the core to reach its price point. and isnt AUS the same teritory as EUR? lol i swear europe is always getting shafted in the gaming world by everyone lol

[chucky_uk]

i dont get it im assuming the wii is pretty expensive over there for the core to reach its price point. and isnt AUS the same teritory as EUR? lol i swear europe is always getting shafted in the gaming world by everyone lol

No Europe is Europe and Australia is in Oceania continent i believe

[karakus]

Too bad its only for Australia,when are europeans gonna get treated equally??

[felixm477]

No Europe is Europe and Australia is in Oceania continent i believe

i meant it as in the same PAL region lol

[finite]

It just goes to show they can manage to bring these updated premiums to PAL regions. Wouldn't want an old core unit though.

[bnolsen]

It's about time for a Wii price drop.

I've started seeing Wiis sitting on the shelf both at Target and Walmart. I was floored since I had never actually seen Wiis in stock anywhere ever before August.

I'm in the US here, I wonder how the Wii stock is elsewhere.

[MaTiAz]

It's about time for a Wii price drop.

I've started seeing Wiis sitting on the shelf both at Target and Walmart. I was floored since I had never actually seen Wiis in stock anywhere ever before August.

I'm in the US here, I wonder how the Wii stock is elsewhere.
Pretty good over here, all the stores I've visited here in Finland have always had Wiis in stock :)

[{{909}}]

just because a few stores have wiis in stock doent mean a price drop is going to happen, 360s have been in plentiful stock and sold under average and have only just got a minor pricedrop.

Even at the same price the 360 will fail to appeal to the same demographic, Plus add to that the fact that the 360 still needs a memory card of some sort and a further game to be purchased before the machine is usable.

[bnolsen]

just because a few stores have wiis in stock doent mean a price drop is going to happen, 360s have been in plentiful stock and sold under average and have only just got a minor pricedrop..

Big part of it is that Microsoft can't afford to drop the price of the '360.
Nintendo is selling for a goodly profit and very likey their profit margins have likely gone up substantially with economy of scale.

Honestly I'm not a big fan of either console. I haven't jumped on the current gen yet, I'm personally more prone to get a PS3, but there is the value/price issue and it's more likely I'd end up with a PS2 now than anything else.

[Discosis]

i dont get it im assuming the wii is pretty expensive over there for the core to reach its price point. and isnt AUS the same teritory as EUR? lol i swear europe is always getting shafted in the gaming world by everyone lol

Territorially AUS and EUR are treated similarly (some would say with similar contempt) because they're both PAL regions, from back when that mattered.

Wii is pretty expensive here. It's AU$399. If it were to be a comparable price point to the US it should've been AU$330 or so. Nintendo has been helping themselves really.

Good god though, as a retro gamer a 360 with XBLA looks more and more tempting by the day.

[Discosis]

Big part of it is that Microsoft can't afford to drop the price of the '360.
Nintendo is selling for a goodly profit and very likey their profit margins have likely gone up substantially with economy of scale.

Don't be so sure of that, on both points.

The cost of producing a console goes down over time. It's likely MS is, if not close to making money on each 360, losing less now.

Nintendo has said they're not making *as much* on every Wii as everyone thinks they are. Combine that with the outlay required to ramp up production to meet demand and the profit race might be closer than you think.

Which is not to say MS is making more money per console than Ninty. That would be a bit silly.

[Mikeyy]

The problem is.

Nobody wants a CORE....

[{{909}}]

MS cant afford to lower the price? If lowering the price meant sales would sky rocket then it would be a viable expense, but its not, thats partly my point. Nintendo have no reason to drop the price, its selling faster than any other console in history at its current price, why on earth would they lower the price now?
In maybe 12 months when sales slowed to anything remotely low, then maybe, but knowing nintendo all they would need to do was release a different coloured version and sales would spike again. Look at the DS, its over 2 years old, still selling incredibly strongly and hasnt recieved any sort of price drop or even free pack-in game (atleast not in the UK)

The situation is similar in the case of the PS3, sure the machine is selling pretty badly compared to the wii and even the PS1/2, but at the end of the day its a $600 machine and we are in a non holiday season, its hardly surprising sales are sluggish. Overall PS3 sales are beating 360 sales too, so now isnt really the time to drop the price for them either.

MS know that price isnt the sole reason why the wii is selling far faster than the 360, its the fact that the wii appeals to a wider audiance, something that theyre trying to address now (albeit half heartedly). If they thought they could outsell the wii with a lower price point they would have dropped it 6 months ago when everyone was going crazy for the wii.

I think MS will have a hard holiday this year, they dont appeal to the casual market, they dont appeal to the tech-heads anymore, they dont appeal to the hardcore as much as they did last year and i think most of their target market who want GTA and Halo3 already have a machine, some of which have already got tired of returning it to MS every 6 months.

[N1GHTRA1N]

In Canada most retails sell the Wii for $278.xx - $289.99. The Core Xbox 360 sells for under $300 everywhere, in fact I've seen the Xbox 360 Core for $286.83 with Project Gotham 3 and Kameo bundled in.

[Shambler2]

Excellent =D
The markup on the Wii was annoying at the time, but after the fun I've had with it, it was definately worth it. I'm considering the 360, once it drops down over here