Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg, boss of Xbox 360 product management, has said the price snips from both platform holders won’t affect things ”too dramatically” long term.
It’s typical to see some ”lifts and share adjustments” for about two months after a price drop, but otherwise it ”roughly” returns to the ”established market ranking.” Content is focus.
”I don’t believe the price cuts that both companies have made will impact the market dynamics too dramatically in the long term,” Greenberg told Eurogamer in an interview.
”We typically see a month or two of lifts and share adjustments, but then things tend to settle back to roughly the established market ranking.” Sony has cut the PlayStation 3 down to £249 in the UK and to €299 in mainland Europe. Microsoft has dumped the Xbox 360 Pro model and nudged the Elite down to £199 to fill the gap.
With the PS3 Slim launch, and the price cut in effect, there was a 999 percent jump in week-to-week sales. Xbox 360 sales buoyed 43 percent over the UK bank holiday weekend.
”We do, however, expect that these new lower prices will bring in more consumers that were potentially a bit resistant to the previous pricing in place,” he continued, noting a positive.
Microsoft continues to focus on adding more to what they already have, namely things like big NXE updates and projects like Natal. Exclusive content deals also play their role, e.g. Grand Theft Auto IV’s The Ballad of Gay Tony due next month only for Xbox 360.
”Our focus continues to be on adding more value and more exclusive experiences across games and entertainment, so that consumers will continue to select the Xbox 360 as their console of choice,” said the company director.
Sony expects the release of Final Fantasy XIII to give a huge boom to PS3 sales later in the year when it releases first and exclusively for the platform in Japan.
The Ballad of Gay Tony, exclusive to Xbox 360
