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Xbox 360 sales surge

Console manufacturer boasts to Bloomberg that price cuts resulted in 100 percent sales jump last weekend.

It doesn't take a world-class economist to understand that Microsoft's recent price cuts to its full line of Xbox 360 systems would boost sales, but a Bloomberg article has put the size of the spike into perspective. The news outlet is reporting that retailers saw a 100 percent sales surge for the Xbox 360 last weekend across all configurations, with "some models" selling at six times the past weekend's rate.

Microsoft did not provide Bloomberg with exact figures, and it will likely be some time before the price drop's impact is fully understood. While the industry-tracking NPD Group is set to release its latest US retail sales figures this afternoon, those numbers will be for the August sales period, which cut off before the price drops took effect.

As had been revealed weeks earlier by retail fliers, Microsoft lowered the price of the Xbox 360 in all configurations last week. As of September 5, the 120GB Elite sells for $399, the 60GB 360 is $299, and the hard-drive-less Arcade has become the least expensive current-gen console on the market at $199.

498 Comments

  • ponchados

    Posted Jan 7, 2009 1:03 am GMT

    le voy mas al PS2,

  • Autolycus

    Posted Sep 15, 2008 7:08 am GMT

    MSG-Deathscythe

    Posted Sep 15, 2008 2:24 am PT

    RROD360 on sale. still too expensive for the poorest consumer product released in history.
    ---
    PS2 had more defective units then 360 try again.

  • Autolycus

    Posted Sep 15, 2008 7:07 am GMT

    darkride66
    ---


    Geez darkride, you sure do you love picking your PS3 fights. Personally I am looking forward to GH2, Fable2, Fallout3 and thats pretty much it. On any system including, wii and PS3. All the video games today are all pretty useless in my opinion. But again I am old school, I like games with plots not just a fun online experience.

  • MSG-Deathscythe

    Posted Sep 15, 2008 2:24 am GMT

    RROD360 on sale. still too expensive for the poorest consumer product released in history.

  • skyman_1981

    Posted Sep 14, 2008 3:57 pm GMT

    There is NO confirmation for ps3 bioshock. The ONLY for sure system is PC for BioShock2.

  • darkride66

    Posted Sep 14, 2008 10:30 am GMT

    nintendokid quoted "Razzi65: "wt 360 guyz gonna play after Gears 2?"
    And Replied "Splinter Cell Conviction (that's a no brainer), Bioshock 2, Velvet Assassin, Alan Wake...want me to continue?"

    Yes, I think you may need to continue. After yawning my way through Splinter Cell - Double Agent..I'll pass. Bioshock 2 is coming to the PS3, Velvet Assassin doesn't do anything for me and Alan Wake? Come on. I was excited about Alan Wake 2 years ago. Now with all it's no shows at various game events I doubt this will ever see the light of day. Something's terribly wrong there.
    Personally, I can't wait for Gears 2 and Fable 2, but those will have been the only titles I've bought for my 360 since Halo 3 came out, and I don't see anything really on the horizon after these. It feels like the 360 is winding down to me, just treading water till the 720 hits in 2010.

  • K_A_R_X

    Posted Sep 14, 2008 6:13 am GMT

    I wish the XBOX360 will be the cheapest console in the Video Game History! It can be even more cheaper because of all those RRODs and "great" functionality of the XXI century! XBOX360 with the price of Bubble Gum will help Microsoft to be finally the #1!

  • nintendokid

    Posted Sep 13, 2008 2:27 pm GMT

    Razzi65: "wt 360 guyz gonna play after Gears 2?"

    Splinter Cell Conviction (that's a no brainer), Bioshock 2, Velvet Assassin, Alan Wake...want me to continue?

  • Phazevariance

    Posted Sep 13, 2008 10:31 am GMT

    You don't need the hard drive to play the games or save. Only for extra downlaodable content or movies and demos.

  • Phazevariance

    Posted Sep 13, 2008 10:31 am GMT

    You don't need the hard drive to play the games or save. Only for extra downlaodable content or movies and demos.

  • ctg867

    Posted Sep 13, 2008 9:51 am GMT

    Well when your raping customers by selling a hard-drive-less 360 for $280 and a unit that has no other selling points then it's color, it's absurdly overpriced hard drive, and it's dirt cheap HDMI cable for $450, no **** you saw an increase.

    And oh yea, now the only unit that eve matters, the Pro, is down to $300 after 3 years, the price that the Original Xbox launched at. *Sigh* I swear, it's like consoles are starting to be PC's with the stupid prices, accessories, hard drives, etc. I'm pretty tired of it.

  • xXrebel666Xx

    Posted Sep 13, 2008 6:34 am GMT

    Well considering the PS2 was outselling it recently.... that wasn't a typo PS2!
    I really don't blame them for dropping the price and any sales would recognize a sales surge when your getting done by a last gen console.

  • TurambarGS

    Posted Sep 13, 2008 3:51 am GMT

    You know what. I would gladly take the pre-drop price of the 360 if it was guaranteed not to RROD or otherwise run into hardware trouble. I'm STILL waiting to get my damn box back. I agree with all the people who have said that the consoles should be cheaper still.

  • thebigbadonion

    Posted Sep 13, 2008 3:35 am GMT

    lol whatevers posted about either console theirs always some raging debate about which console is the best, the 360 has had a price drop theirs a lot of killer games out and coming out this holiday, most of which are out on both systems. I have both machines and i seriously dont see what the "huge" difference is between them both. apart from a couple of exclusives here and there. Sure on paper ps3 is more powerful than 360 but that makes no difference when games developers either arent or just cant use that extra power. We should all stop arguing and start enjoying the games. and one more thing why do you see the huge urge to defend either sony or microsoft? neither are making consoles for you or the love of games or any of those things all theyre interested in is your money. Also one more thing for the ps3 fanboys Microsoft might charge for xbox live, wireless etc, but dont you think sony make that back in other ways? price of the games for example

  • Razzi65 posted Sep 13, 2008 3:20 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Razzi65

    Posted Sep 13, 2008 3:20 am GMT (hide)

    wt 360 guyz gonna play after Gears 2?

  • daveg1

    Posted Sep 13, 2008 2:25 am GMT

    something smeels fishy with ms and its numbers around a price drop.

  • Richmaester6907

    Posted Sep 13, 2008 1:56 am GMT

    Yay more price drops

  • puppiemaster

    Posted Sep 13, 2008 1:44 am GMT

    I obviously have a PC, I commented on here, mind you I could of used my iPhone or Mac.

    What a ****

  • darkera

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 5:41 pm GMT

    As someone who has all3 consoles already, console price drops ain't something me to shout about anymore, next bit of news pls, thank you

  • lamprey263

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 5:04 pm GMT

    I think this is s a good price but in all honesty I don't think an X360 should be without an HDD. $200 is a good price if you've an external HDD to hook up to it but if not then paying the extra money for an HDD is a better bet, especially since there's some choice XBLA titles and downloadable content like map packs for online games. I got the 20GB (really 12) when I got mine nearly 2 years ago and I'm almost out of room, and I need the additional space for more XBLA games and the feature that will allow you to cache the disc games onto the HDD to play right off the HDD to shorten load times and drive noise, hopefully that'll also fix issues with games that have delayed texture loads because the drive is slaving.

    Anyhow, does anybody know what's going to happen to the HDD-less X360s when the big update comes this fall to completely change the X360 interface? How's an HDD-less X360 even supposed to update anything?

  • Shivercraft

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 4:56 pm GMT

    decima1970 wrote "The best online console gets better and butt hurt PS3 fanboys get sadder. These are great days we're livin' gentlemen! Now all these new gamers need to buy the best versions of GTA 4, COD 4, Fallout 3 and more!"

    It doesn't get better, it gets cheaper. It should still be cheaper than what it currently is, though, lack of a comparable system being cheaper and having a price war as a result has kept the price of the system up. Besides, having had both a 360 and PS3 I can honestly say, the online experience is almost identical with either console. 360 is a little nicer, but they still can't justify their cost to me.

  • decima1870

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 4:49 pm GMT

    The best online console gets better and butt hurt PS3 fanboys get sadder. These are great days we're livin' gentlemen! Now all these new gamers need to buy the best versions of GTA 4, COD 4, Fallout 3 and more!

  • Great_Ragnarok

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 4:23 pm GMT

    puppiemaster

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 11:31 pm PT

    if you're a hardcore gamer you will already own a Wii, 360 and PS3, so price drops don't matter, unless you are upgrading to an Elite.

    Then again hardcore gamers would have already upgraded as soon as it came out.
    ===============================================================
    if you are a hardcore gamer you wouldn't skip the PC.lol. also MS should give this price drop to everyone! not just US. a lot of people are waiting for the pricedrop in NZ.lol.

  • puppiemaster

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 3:31 pm GMT

    if you're a hardcore gamer you will already own a Wii, 360 and PS3, so price drops don't matter, unless you are upgrading to an Elite.

    Then again hardcore gamers would have already upgraded as soon as it came out.

  • fionndruinne

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 2:55 pm GMT

    It's a good thing I don't read discussions like this... they'd pretty much cure me of owning either console. At least Wii owners don't trash-talk.

    In all seriousness, hooray for competition. A modern console producing top-end graphics selling for the price of a PC graphics card alone. Sweet deal.

  • kilgary

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 2:51 pm GMT

    Microsoft still has to explain the cost of the hard drive. I can now get a 320GB 2.5" Sata drive for $86 at Amazon and install it in my PS3. Why does a 60GB drive add $100 and a 120GB drive add $200? They are shooting themselves in the foot by not subsidizing the cost of a 120GB HD in every new 360. They'd get the return on that investment back from all the content purchased on Xbox Live. They need to drop the Pro SKU and sell the Elite at $299 OR give users the option to add their own 2.5" SATA HD like Sony does. I sure as hell won't be ripping any games to my 20GB hard drive when the firmware update comes out - I'm almost out of space as it is.

  • rgame1

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 2:49 pm GMT

    lmao.

    the 360 is already cheaper in UK and it sells like crap. This is obviously temporary in the states aswell.

  • BenBenBen93

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 2:41 pm GMT

    good old microsoft they can do anything when they want to including sell 6 times as many xboxs in just 1 week ok the elite is the same price as and 80GB Ps3 but you get 40 GB more you get an Headset comunicator thing and a HDMI cable ok doesn't sound much but you do save around $50 not to bad and well their was no real RROD madness or atleaat not now its just retarded people putting their xboxs in stpid places

  • thomas10soa

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 2:39 pm GMT

    its no wonder its selling, the wii is now more expensive and the wii doesnt have half has many triple a titles has the 360

  • xgalacticax

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 2:36 pm GMT

    I wonder if even 6 times the sales put it on the top spot of all hardware sales

  • 0678

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 2:14 pm GMT

    6 times?! wth! lol

  • grigjd3

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 1:39 pm GMT

    Hey nintendokid, M$ is making a console under $250 ($200 in fact) and it has the same graphics as the $300 and $400 models. Granted it has no hard drive and so limits the value of xbox live but it is the cheapest current gen console available right now.

  • Dreski83

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 1:25 pm GMT

    With the holidays around the corner, this is a real good thing for Microsoft... hopefully no more RROD madness

  • DrakonGiga

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 12:56 pm GMT

    tbh i think its gonna be a stalemate. I don't have any preference as i have both PS3 and 360 but because there will be no clear winner this time game companies will produce for both consoles with equal quality (i hope) unless they were paid ridiculous amounts of money by microsoft to go exclusive.

  • AncientDozer

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 12:28 pm GMT

    But it's not crazy, Dutch. The 360 works fine and the failure rate is such a small percentage that it's inconsequential (you'll find that a lot of people who hop on here and complain probably never owned one; it's so easy to say anything on the internet and I could just as easily say that my PS3 gave me cancer). Even if the 360 does fail, you have a three year warranty that pays for shipping, handling, repair, and return. Not only that, they give you a free month of xbox live gold membership so it's not like Microsoft is laughing to the bank while you stare at a bricked console.

    More over, the library for the 360 is much greater than the competition with a great variety genres covered. Whether it's been out longer or not doesn't matter or change the fact that it still does have a better library.

    And finally, SonyRulzu, let's pretend you're not a troll or a fanboy (come on, look at the name). As Nintendokid pointed out, poor people generally DON'T boy gaming rigs regardless of price point. I like to think of myself as upper middlecass and I still bought a 360 first. Why? Because at the time the games appealed to me more.

  • nintendokid

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 12:11 pm GMT

    SonyRulzU: "Who would buy an xbox now? Oh yeah the poor people. Sorry."

    Poor people don't waste their money on video games. PS3 is the same price as 360 Elite. Where do you get off trying to make yourself feel like a social elite? Owning a PS3 does not make someone rich. Making $500,000 a year and owning yachts does. What a clown.

  • Sacred-Snow

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 11:54 am GMT

    Oh my! Silly Xbox.

  • KC_Hokie

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 11:33 am GMT

    -Shivercraft TOP-SELLING HARDWARE - AUGUST 2008
    Nintendo DS--518,300
    Wii--453,000
    PlayStation Portable--253,000
    Xbox 360--195,200
    PlayStation 3--185,400
    PlayStation 2--144,100 That's before 360 price drop on all models too.

  • Shivercraft

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 11:29 am GMT

    An intial sales spike always occurs when a product lowers it price. To be fair though, this story would peak my intrest more if they would have posted an actual sales figure in terms of units sold. Did the 360 have a really horrible week last week and the numbers sold jump up from 100 to 200 units? Or was it good and it went from 10,000 to 20,000 units?

  • KC_Hokie

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 11:25 am GMT

    Surprising! Wasn't 2007 supposed to be the 'year of the PS3'? It seems like the 360 and PSP are both doing better according to sales numbers.

    And for the record I don't own either system yet and am a PC gamer. But, with the price drops of the 360, unmatched current-gen game library and on-line, and new and more reliable 'Jasper' models out I am leaning 360.

  • PA_DUTCH

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 11:23 am GMT

    I think that it is kinda crazy to buy a xbox now after all that RROD stuff. That report cited something like only 16 percent were working in the first batch. I wonder how high up the decision to push forward went and sell all these defective products? I guess people don't really care about that...good for them i guess...its got great games and is now sold at a cheap price.

  • Pinguin14

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 11:23 am GMT

    i don't get how anyone could possibly be bashing the 360... i mean. they might be a little high priced. but they've got the best games. the best graphics. the coolest accessories... i mean ya i guess it's a matter of opinion but still quit bashing them it's annoying.

  • Antagonist8503

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 11:20 am GMT

    The 2008 Fiscal year doesn't end till about Feb. or March of 09. Plenty of time to wait and see what happens. Can't really argue if not much has happened yet =P.

  • nintendokid

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 11:16 am GMT

    Harerazer: "The Wii sells, not because it's the cheapest but, because that's where the consoles should be priced at."

    If MS or Sony were to produce a console to retail for less than $250, God help us all because we would basically have the same graphics and processing power as the original XBOX.

  • P0T

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 10:57 am GMT

    joeboosauce, you should have just typed "cliche fanboy post bashing evil microsoft here" and saved yourself some time. It sounds like it came straight out of "Being a 360 hater for dummies" book. Every console has pros and cons, your system of choice isn't perfect either.

  • SPANNER-MAN

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 10:55 am GMT

    Nice, now for the ps3 to reach 199 then i'll be on the boat, yeaaahhhhhh, and yes it will reach that price point just wait and see.

  • thegame1980

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 10:54 am GMT

    BATTA BAT BAT BAAA

    I'm Lovin' It!

  • CastleBomb44

    Posted Sep 12, 2008 10:37 am GMT

    Sweet, but I am not buying one. Common 60gb 360 price drop

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