Microsoft slashes Xbox prices in Asia
All of the Asia-Pacific territories where Microsoft sells the Xbox, with the sole exception of Japan, have seen the price of the console and its software slashed this week in an attempt to compete more strongly with the PS2.
All of the Asia-Pacific territories where Microsoft sells the Xbox, with the sole exception of Japan, have seen the price of the console and its software slashed this week in an attempt to compete more strongly with the PS2.
In South Korea, the Xbox console itself will be seeing a price cut of just over 10 per cent, bringing the system to 249,800 Won (â'¬180), below the price of the PS2 which retails for 272,800 Won (â'¬198).
Perhaps more importantly, however, the price of a number of key games will also be falling - with Rallisport Challenge, NBA Inside Drive 2003, Quantum Redshift, Bloodwake and Whacked! all now retailing at 29,000 Won (â'¬21) apiece, down from their previous price of 52,000 Won (â'¬38), and Blinx and MechAssault also reduced to a lower pricepoint of 36,000 Won (â'¬26).
This makes the majority of Microsoft's software line-up in the territory cheaper than the PS2's budget titles. These cuts, although initially announced for the Korean market, will also apply to other Pacific Rim territories such as Hong Kong, but not to Japan - where, we assume, Microsoft has other plans for the rescue of the Xbox from the bottom of the console sales league tables.