Microsoft officially announced its Xbox 360 price drop today, as expected, unveiling that the 20GB Xbox 360 Pro system to $299.99 in North America. The catch? “While supplies last.”
The bigger news is related to that “while supplies last” part, as Microsoft also unveiled a new 60GB Xbox 360 today. This larger-capacity Xbox 360 is expected to go on sale in August and will be available at the 20GB model’s former price point of $349.00.
That’s one heck of a hard-drive “upgrade.”
The nearest PS3 console size-wise is the 40GB unit, which costs $399. That console is not backwards compatible with PS2 or PS1 games. The 80GB PS3, which is backwards compatible, costs $499.
With the Xbox 360 now comparable in price to the Wii, will Microsoft be able to pull ahead of Sony sales-wise? For the past several months, the console manufacturers had been running neck and neck.
And for those wondering: No, Microsoft has not reduced the price of its $279 Arcade model, which didn’t include a hard drive, or its $449 120GB Elite model.