Don't Hold Your Breath Waiting for Xbox 360 Price Cuts

Posted 08/27/2012 at 7:20am | by Paul Lilly

With the holiday shopping season not far off in the distance, you might be tempted to put off purchasing an Xbox 360 console (assuming you're in the market for one to begin with) in hopes of taking advantage of a price cut. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear Microsoft is planning to lower the cost of its console, at least not for the rest of 2012, though there's a good chance it will launch another holiday bundle this year.

You can take this with a grain of salt, but the folks at Fudzilla claim to have heard from un-named sources that the recent Kinect price cut is all that's coming to the Xbox 360 console this year. Microsoft recently slashed the Kinect (permanently) by $40, which now sells for $110.

That probably means the Xbox 360/Kindle bundle will likely see a $40 price drop as well, but that's all related to the motion control sensor, not the console itself.

"Beyond that, Microsoft will hold steady with its current hardware pricing," Fudzilla says.

This upcoming holiday shopping season could be one of the last hurrahs for the Xbox 360. Rumor has it Microsoft will unveil its next generation console, codenamed Durango, in 2013, perhaps launching the system around November or December of next year.

Image Credit: Microsoft

Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Tags:

Comments

Comments are closed on this article

SirSpamsAlot

August 28, 2012 at 4:41pm

By the time Xbox 780 or whatever comes out, creating an Xbox live account will cost $100 a month... The fact you have to pay for Live made me throw my console off the roof when came round to paying for that doo doo... Now if they I clouded an Internet bu dle or something.... Keep dreaming.... Consoles are for people whom bob for apples...

marvinperkins

August 28, 2012 at 3:35am

just as Anna implied I am alarmed that any body able to make $4435 in one month on the internet. have you seen this web page clck.ru/1YuT3

Warrior247

August 27, 2012 at 10:32am

The 360 is where you go to play the latest games and is the hottest ticket in town...PERIOD! So why drop prices? It's still cheaper than a PC and games 100% harder and better and looks just as good if not better. The PC gets stuff last or not at all. The console beatdown has been going on for well over 6 years now and will continue. The handhelds, Pads, and phones coming out now give gamers the graphics gaming, mobility, connectivity, that they desire. The PC is going the way of the dodo. I have built a gaming PC and it's not worth the price that I paid for it. I'll never buy another or upgrade that POS again!

tekknyne

August 28, 2012 at 6:12am

Try playing Guild Wars 2 buddy.

Warrior247

August 28, 2012 at 1:18pm

I've been playing Guild Wars 1 for the last 6 years and kick absolute @$$ in PVP! I just downloaded GW2 a couple of days ago. The graphics are decent, I've seen better on the console and actually expected better on tyhe PC. So what, 1 game every 2-3 years isn't hardly enough to justify the expense paid for a kick@$$ top of the line PC. I actually have a nice PC that was designed for home theater and gaming, but was rendered obsolete before I was even done building it! It's money wasted.

Dxcv

August 28, 2012 at 1:38pm

Isn't that your own fault though? I just finished building a PC two months ago and it has plenty of life in it. It took me three or four months to accumulate all of the parts (monetary constratints). It has a Blu-Ray Burner, 850W PSU, ASUS 670 GTX DirectCU TOP II, 3570K, Maximus V Gene, Antec 620 cooled by two Cougar Vortex fans, two 128 GB SSD's and a 2TB mechanical drive. Only cost me 2,100 and there is room to grow later on.

bpstone

August 27, 2012 at 4:52pm

Consoles generally do offer more for gamers on a tight budget. Current ones stray far behind the computing technology plus power of the latest desktop or laptop PCs. Realistically both have their strengths and weaknesses. Statistics show neither desktop nor laptop PCs are going away anytime soon. I doubt to see them go until quantum computing goes mainstream. That is a revolution not set to take place for what looks to be a very long time. Touchscreens are terrible for writing over a couple sentences. Voice recognition software is still not reliable. So even then you will likely see me using a keyboard. I will toss it when it can write a whole page of code or book without a mistake. There are over seven billion people on earth; including thousands of diverse cultures, languages and ideologies. You are one individual. Think about that the next time you go to troll someone else who does not agree with your opinions.

mellamojay

August 27, 2012 at 3:48pm

Seriously dude, Troll much? The fact that you are on this site saying this makes you either a troll or mentally retarded. First lets make something really really clear that most do not understand, every console IS A COMPUTER, period end of story. The only difference is that it is a closed system that does not change. They only advantage is that developers know exactly what hardware they have to work with. That being said, their hardware is over 6 years old now and can not even remotely compare to what a semi modern pc can do. If anyone states anything different the are just like you, retarded or a troll.

devin3627

August 27, 2012 at 5:40pm

this is elaborately explained. "They only advantage is that developers know exactly what hardware they have to work with." and I personally want to add "A fixed platform that doesn't change every year." Consoles are indeed a stable platform for both consumers and developers. Good work mellamojay. the enthusiastic ones will always have their place. lol

mellamojay

August 29, 2012 at 8:44am

Thanks. I just boggles my mind that people fail to realize these simple facts. The mere idea that someone could argue that a console is capable of better graphics is insane. If equal time of development went to both platforms then the PC will win every time.

devin3627

August 27, 2012 at 5:40pm

this is elaborately explained. "They only advantage is that developers know exactly what hardware they have to work with." and I personally want to add "A fixed platform that doesn't change every year." Consoles are indeed a stable platform for both consumers and developers. Good work mellamojay. the enthusiastic ones will always have their place. lol

SPreston2001

August 27, 2012 at 11:40am

While I will say gaming on a xbox tends to be a better more comfortable experience in terms of convenience and multiplayer, the visuals just cant keep up with PC's. The graphical punch a high end PC offers makes gaming on a HD television so much better and im very big on eye candy! I do prefer to play with a controller and have the hardest time trying to game with keyboard + mouse so ultimately I would rather have a console that could somehow incorporate removable/upgradable graphics cards so we could have the best of both worlds.

vrmlbasic

August 27, 2012 at 6:42pm

Really? I've found Steam to be painless, though I don't care for it in principle.

Xbox LAN parties are a PITA as few games support system link, and when they don't, they require everyone to have an internet connection and XBL Gold to play games with/against the other console that is 2 feet away.

Sometimes even that doesn't work. One of my friends brought his Xbox 360 with XBL Gold over to my house and we both tried, via separate consoles, to play the first MTG game with our remote friends who were trying to get us into the game. Until we did extensive Googling and set up arcane port forwarding, this did not work. Several other XBLA games had this same problem, no online concurrency without screwing with the router.

Steam doesn't have that problem. PC gaming also allows a freedom from physical media, which for my friends and I, is pretty convenient.

TommM

August 27, 2012 at 10:51am

Of course you've built your own gaming PC and the Xbox and all your cute little hand-helds just blow it away. Gosh - how come none of us have realized it too??

Thanks for letting us all know how wrong we've been... :p

Warrior247

August 27, 2012 at 12:26pm

Hey! Have you played Dawnguard yet?!! It's awesome!!:p

vrmlbasic

August 27, 2012 at 12:29pm

Not interested in Skyrim, especially not on the 360. I played my friend's copy, and the several-minute load times and horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE graphics made it an unplayable experience.

He's hooked his 360 up to a 47" 1080 HDTV. At that size, he can no longer deny the atrocious graphics of the console.

We'd all, my friends and I, be on the superior Steam if only Intel hadn't decided to gimp many a laptop by saddling them with horrible integrated graphics.

My 360 Gold subscription renewal is coming up. Taking this ancient POS online isn't worth 60 bucks to me.

Warrior247

August 27, 2012 at 12:59pm

Sorry, but you're full of caca! You OBVIOUSLY didn't play Skyrim on the PC, you just didn't. It was a bug infested, graphical glitched, mess! As a matter of fact, there was a memory glitch that prevented the game from being loaded that they quietly patched after much outrage. The 360 version was and is much better. If you want to bash the console fine, but VERY careful which games you do it with.

vrmlbasic

August 27, 2012 at 3:31pm

Sigh, the old "I can't make an argument so I'll try and attack the arguer to save face" trick. It never works, you might as well quit while you're behind, it'll save whatever face you have left ;)

We're not bashing the console, we're pointing out its glaring and undeniable shortcomings.

If you truly have a "gaming PC" you too should be seeing these shortcomings. The several-minute load times should be gone, the graphics should be at least 60 FPS at 1920*1080, and the community mods should be playable. The graphics should also look vastly more modern. The 360 simply cannot provide superior graphics and performance to the PC, it is impossible.

dougyfresh

August 27, 2012 at 1:31pm

That isn't true. I have Skryim for both pc and 360 and i have had more bugs occur on the 360 version than on pc.

Warrior247

August 27, 2012 at 2:10pm

So do I, SO DO I. You must've been playing the hell outta the 360 version and leaving your PC alone! Because there is no way. I have BOTH versions and I know better, game sites know better, the forums know better. You couldn't EVEN PLAY THE DAMN GAME ON THE PC! That is an undeniable fact! How this game received the scores it did is beyond me!

vrmlbasic

August 27, 2012 at 3:26pm

Skyrim is very playable on PC. I contend that, having seen both versions, that the 360 version can't even be called the same game as it is so inferior. You're not getting the full Skyrim experience.

Say, what are the specs of your alleged "Gaming PC"?

Neufeldt2002

August 27, 2012 at 10:45am

Bad day? No coffee this morning? Not going to bite on your PC's are crap rant, if you don't like them anymore that is fine, but take a look at where you posting it. Maybe a console site would be more to your liking or maybe a general tech site and not one that is geared towards getting the most out of a PC. At any rate, I hope you feel better now and have a good day.

I did not mean to offend in any way with this. If you take it that way I am sorry.

Warrior247

August 27, 2012 at 11:57am

I know EXACTLY where I'm posting this. If this site can post "console" related news on a "PC" related site, then I should be able to comment on the "console" related news. I'm a gamer, not a "PC" gamer. I also like technology and this site as with many others focus on gaming AND technology! As far as "PC gaming" goes, for me it's a wash, I'm done, I've had it. The PC is a money pit that can NEVER give me the return on my investment that I thought it could when I built it last year! There is no reason why I should have to wait 6 months, a year, or NEVER, to play a game. When I do get the game, it shouldn't be a bug infested mess either, but...it is! Right now, my TV can surf, stream, and game w/console so I don't need a PC. It's that realization that I wasted my money that pisses me off and turned me off from the PC.

trevywankenobi

August 27, 2012 at 4:33pm

Unfortunately for you, Warrior247, this is a PC tech/ gaming site with console gaming as a secondary interest. While consoles aren't bad, they simply don't compare to the customizability of the PC. Notice there is no hating on consoles, despite their inferiority in terms of raw power. understandably, consoles are much more easy to play multiplayer and comfortable to use. This article was about price drops for Xbox 360's not the relative benefits of pc vs console gaming so please comment accordingly.

mellamojay

August 27, 2012 at 3:54pm

you wasted your money on a pc only if you were delusional about what you were buying. if you believe that your gaming on your console is better then GTFO cuz you are on the wrong site. Troll harder bro its making me lol with the great comments.

Dxcv

August 27, 2012 at 2:55pm

Careful with the generalizations. There have been several console ports that do not play well on the PC, because it was designed for a system with inferior hardware. However, there have also been several console titles that are not playable until the developer provides a patch.

The reality is ranting against the PC is stupid. The console grew from the PC and they share the same components. The difference is that a PC can keep up with the passage of time, and a console is stuck with the components it was built with.

bpstone

August 27, 2012 at 8:59am

I have an older Xbox 360 that has been sitting in a corner collecting dust. Not a fan of consoles.

vrmlbasic

August 27, 2012 at 12:31pm

Same here, I haven't used my 360 in almost a year. The horrible graphics, mandatory controller (I like controllers for some games, but not all), and RIDICULOUS load times (My budget SSD slaughters my 360 on loading) deter me from using it.

The only reason I even have this thing hooked up is so that I can play Borderlands 2 with my Luddite friends. An expensive proposition for me :(

Neufeldt2002

August 27, 2012 at 8:52am

Paul,

"That probably means the Xbox 360/Kindle bundle will..."

Think that should be Kinect. Read that line and was wondering what Amazon had to do with this.

Zeimos4387

August 27, 2012 at 8:11am

This is kind of obvious if you look at the pricing for the new Halo 4 Limited Edition Console Package that launches in November. It's being retailed at $400.

Jeffredo

August 27, 2012 at 8:04am

I don't own a console, but a few weeks ago I was at my sister's and my nephew was playing Skyrim on a 360 connected to their TV. It looked like absolute crap compared to my PC version @ 1920x1200. If that's what a typical console is about I want nothing to do with them.