Microsoft to drive home Japan advantage with cheap Xbox 360

Stan Beer
Sunday, 10 September 2006 09:05

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Microsoft plans to beat Sony to the punch in Japan by launching a cheap Xbox 360 games console one week before PlayStation 3 is due to go on sale.

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The Japanese market has been Microsoft's Achilles heel since the Xbox 360 release, where sales have been soft in comparison to the US and Europe.

As a result, Microsoft plans to offer a no frills Xbox 360 for 25% cheaper than the standard model.

The Xbox 360 Core System, which will sell for US$256, will have no hard drive and an ordinary wired controller, as opposed to the standard model for US$342 that has a 20GB hard drive and wireless controller.

Although the Sony PS3 will sell for about US$540 in Japan, the previous generation PS2 console, also more expensive than the previous generation Xbox, has been a phenomenal success. Japan has proven to be Sony's strongest market, which is why consoles will be available there in greater numbers and earlier even than the US.

Sony is banking on the fact that its console will appeal to both hard core gamers, because of the widely acknowledged superior performance of its Cell processor, and to video buffs, because it has an integrated Blu-ray player.

However, Sony has run into problems surrounding the production of PS3 because of difficulties with the integration of the Blu-ray player, as well as adverse publicity over the relatively high price of the consoles.