Microsoft Cuts Xbox 360 Prices, and Adds a New SKU

Microsoft cutting prices? The Evil Empire cutting gamers a break? Is the world about to end?

Microsoft cuts 20GB Xbox 360 to $299.99, launches 60GB model

“What would E3 week be without a price drop announcement? Hoping to stir more sales for its Xbox 360, Microsoft has finally announced the long-anticipated price drop for the standard 20GB Xbox 360 SKU while introducing a new model. The new price tag brings the 20GB down $50 to $299.99, making the once-premium 360 SKU now ever-closer to the price of the industry-leading Nintendo Wii. Formerly $349.99, the 20GB SKU will now be succeeded by the 60GB Xbox 360 at the same price point. The 60GB unit is identical to the 20GB, albeit with a bigger hard drive and the HDMI connection of recent 20GB hardware revisions. The black Xbox 360 Elite, with its 120GB hard drive, retains its current price of $449.99. This confirms word sent in by Opposable Thumbs’ mole of the imminent introduction of a new SKU a few weeks ago. The introduction of the Xbox Live Video Marketplace has users filling up their 20GB hard drives quickly, so plans to introduce a new unit with a bigger drive that wasn’t quite as expensive as the Elite SKU have been hinted at for a while now, as Albert Penello, Xbox director of product management at Microsoft, was quick to point out.”