Xbox 360 to launch in Europe on November 25 at 299 UKP

[Guden Oden]

Since 2000 ? ALot has happend , dollar weakening euro coming about .

And this is your explanation why the import duty for console (games) is actually higher than the stated 2.2%? Man, you're just totally making shit up aren't you?

Import duties don't follow currency exchange rates you know, they're fixed until a political decision changes them.

Once again ms's will come strait from the source into the companys warehouses (gamestop has one in south texas which is one of our main warehouses (we also have another one in edison new jersey and I belive one in the west coast )

And these warehouses magically don't cost money? Nobody works there? No upkeep? No cost to build expenses, nothing?

Thus ms pays for one storage and only trucking .

And MS's storage costs are eaten by them and not passed on to the buyer? You must think MS is one altruistic company don't you?

 

[scooby_dooby]

I expect MS to break the mold. $299 may be the "norm" in EU, but as far as MS is concerned that only happend once, and it was a disaster. So maybe look for the "norm" to change!

2 big reasons I see this happening,

#1. The dollar is extremely low right now, they can easily afford to give a much more reasonable rate than $299 lbs and still make more money than $300 usd. i.e. 167 GBP is the break even. Even if we consider an extra $75 US for shipping and locolization fees they can still offer it at $210 GBP and make a killing.

#2. There's no better way to steal marketshare in EU then offer the 360 at an affordable price. THe xbox1 was to establish a brand name and get the foot in the door. This generation is where they make the true challenge and a bid for the majority marketshare. Since the costs on the 360 are fairly low, I don't see why they wouldn't drop the price.

 

[sytaylor]

The short answer is that we will pay it. Our economy survives on the back of everything costing more, and profit margins being pretty hefty to make up for the smaller numbers of sales. Products are company led, rather than living or dying by consumer purchase figures like in the US. Europe is largley an after thought and the 3rd in the list of priorities. If they can charge more and make a profit, they will.

 

[sytaylor]

#2. There's no better way to steal marketshare in EU then offer the 360 at an affordable price. THe xbox1 was to establish a brand name and get the foot in the door. This generation is where they make the true challenge and a bid for the majority marketshare. Since the costs on the 360 are fairly low, I don't see why they wouldn't drop the price.

The gamecube has been by far the cheapest console of this generation, and by far the biggest failure. It's "handy carry everywhere-cheap as hell toy" image, translated as "cheap", therefore "crap". In britain certainly, we live in a culture where we pay for brand names and more luxury items far more than our US and German cousins would for example. It always strikes me when I see US tourists how "generic" their clothing is, but the average british male now spends quite a lump of their income on clothing. £299 for a new console doesn't sound horrible to the laymans ear, but when you know how much of a freakin rip off it is, it stinks.

 

[Magnum PI]

The gamecube has been by far the cheapest console of this generation, and by far the biggest failure.

i'm very curious to know which criteria you use to determine the failure of a console.

 

[London Geezer]

I agree with The Sy.

As i said before in the thread, UK£299 is fine for us to pay, it's the norm here. The scandal is that when you think about it, it's a lot of money. A whole lot.

 

[sytaylor]

i'm very curious to know which criteria you use to determine the failure of a console.

Well I'd define the xbox as quite successful since it gained market share. Nintendo actually manage to loose more market share despite SEGA not even being in this round of "console wars". It has nothing to do with the perceieved quality of games.

 

[Magnum PI]

Well I'd define the xbox as quite successful since it gained market share. Nintendo actually manage to loose more market share despite SEGA not even being in this round of "console wars". It has nothing to do with the perceieved quality of games.

Yes MS gained marketshare from 0 unit they came to something.
Following your reasonning whatever the sales of xbox were, it could only be quite successfull.
So i guess xbox was quite successfull in japan ? While nintendo failed inn the same territory ?

The massive losses, only allowing to roughly have the same marketshare as nintendo, who continued to make healthy profits (nearing those of sony games division) during the same period. I guess this is not to be taken into account ?

Whatever microsoft achieved with xbox the price to pay was very huge, that only companies like microsoft could afford. If it could qualify as success, it only would be success without merit.

For true examples of console success please refer to: nes, playstation.

 

[pipo]

As i said before in the thread, UK£299 is fine for us to pay, it's the norm here. The scandal is that when you think about it, it's a lot of money. A whole lot.

That's why it won't happen.

Sure they'll sell the initial shipment, but after that...

 

[sytaylor]

Yes MS gained marketshare from 0 unit they came to something.
Following your reasonning whatever the sales of xbox were, it could only be quite successfull.
So i guess xbox was quite successfull in japan ? While nintendo failed inn the same territory ?

The massive losses, only allowing to roughly have the same marketshare as nintendo, who continued to make healthy profits (nearing those of sony games division) during the same period. I guess this is not to be taken into account ?

Whatever microsoft achieved with xbox the price to pay was very huge, that only companies like microsoft could afford. If it could qualify as success, it only would be success without merit.

For true examples of console success please refer to: nes, playstation.

So you agree, the gamecube failed, thank you. The fact they made a profit in the long term is irrelevant when revenues from home consoles shrunk. I didn't say anything about defining 100% success in console wars, I said in terms of growing market share and improving on the last generation. Snes>n64>gamecube... see a pattern?

 

[wco81]

The short answer is that we will pay it. Our economy survives on the back of everything costing more, and profit margins being pretty hefty to make up for the smaller numbers of sales. Products are company led, rather than living or dying by consumer purchase figures like in the US. Europe is largley an after thought and the 3rd in the list of priorities. If they can charge more and make a profit, they will.

Actually, consumption is not as big a part of the economy there as it is in the US, in percentage of GDP terms, is it? The high VAT keeps demand down?

The high taxes help support the generous social programs, especially in the continent. So a lot of American investment bank types are always advocating that Europe become more like America, by cutting taxes and those programs, deregulating businesses more and more.

That is their prescription for increasing the GDP and employment. Of course, many of those jobs will be low-paying with little benefits. Wal Mart is the biggest employer in America

 

[London Geezer]

Woah... from overpriced consoles to continents' GDP?!! Talk about derailing...

 

[wco81]

Nah I thought it was interesting that staylor said the economies were dependent on those high prices.

Guess I've been reading too many Economist articles lately.

Plus a lot of Americans are always doling out economic advice to the Europeans.

 

[sytaylor]

Nah I thought it was interesting that staylor said the economies were dependent on those high prices.

Guess I've been reading too many Economist articles lately.

Plus a lot of Americans are always doling out economic advice to the Europeans.

The british economy is pretty depandant on high prices because of our lack of consumption comparitivley.

 

[wco81]

Europeans do consume less and save more. Plus they don't get into credit card debt like Americans. But if prices were lower, consumption should be higher. Maybe not enough to offset the loss in tax revenues though.

London is so expensive that a 300 quid console probably doesn't get noticed. How much are fish and chips?

 

[London Geezer]

Europeans do consume less and save more. Plus they don't get into credit card debt like Americans. But if prices were lower, consumption should be higher. Maybe not enough to offset the loss in tax revenues though.

London is so expensive that a 300 quid console probably doesn't get noticed. How much are fish and chips?

Europeans don't do credit?! Mayeb not as much as the americans, but brits debt is a hell of a headache let me tell you.

300 quid console will be noticed, it's just that not a lot of people will think "hey it's almost 600 dollars and in the US they're paying 300 dollars for this thing!!". We just get on with it.

 

[scooby_dooby]

The gamecube has been by far the cheapest console of this generation, and by far the biggest failure. It's "handy carry everywhere-cheap as hell toy" image, translated as "cheap", therefore "crap". In britain certainly, we live in a culture where we pay for brand names and more luxury items far more than our US and German cousins would for example. It always strikes me when I see US tourists how "generic" their clothing is, but the average british male now spends quite a lump of their income on clothing. £299 for a new console doesn't sound horrible to the laymans ear, but when you know how much of a freakin rip off it is, it stinks.

I don't buy the gamecube argument one bit. Do you honestly think if the gamecube was MORE expensive it would have sold more units? I don't think so.

The problem with the GC was not it's price.

Being viewed as a "cheap" product is a potential pitfall but I'm sure the graphics will more tha speak for themselves. Besides, MS has nothing to lose and everything to gain here, why not be aggressive with the pricing. (talking EU only here)

 

[Silanda]

I agree with The Sy.

As i said before in the thread, UK£299 is fine for us to pay, it's the norm here.

I don't agree. If £299 was fine for us to pay then Microsoft would not have had to cut the xbox's price by £100 only 5 weeks after it's launch. IMHO £299 is not a trivial price for most casual gamers. Sony could get away with that price for the PS2 due to its extremely dominant position in the market with the PS1, lack of effective competition (great as the DC was it wasn't challenging the PS1 for sales), DVD player functionality at a time when DVD players were not yet cheap, and the massive hype it had built up. Not to mention the legions of kids and Sony fans who weren't primarily gamers, but would have bought a sack of crap with Playstation branding. Microsoft isn't starting from scratch this time but they are still not close to Sony in market and mind share, and have no real edge other than a purely technological one. The 360 may be the most technologically advanced console available at launch but so was the xbox, and IMHO that was not a big enough lure for most casual gamers at £299.

 

[London Geezer]

I don't agree. If £299 was fine for us to pay then Microsoft would not have had to cut the xbox's price by £100 only 5 weeks after it's launch. IMHO £299 is not a trivial price for most casual gamers. Sony could get away with that price for the PS2 due to its extremely dominant position in the market with the PS1, lack of effective competition (great as the DC was it wasn't challenging the PS1 for sales), DVD player functionality at a time when DVD players were not yet cheap, and the massive hype it had built up. Not to mention the legions of kids and Sony fans who weren't primarily gamers, but would have bought a sack of crap with Playstation branding. Microsoft isn't starting from scratch this time but they are still not close to Sony in market and mind share, and have no real edge other than a purely technological one. The 360 may be the most technologically advanced console available at launch but so was the xbox, and IMHO that was not a big enough lure for most casual gamers at £299.

The situations are obviously different so i'm not sure what the point is in drawing comparisons. Obviously MS had to lower the price of the Xbox, the thing wasn't selling too well, and PS2 was dominating and slaughtering (still is) all its competitors.

MS will have a few months to do their thing on their own, and they will not lower the price until they feel like they have to, when PS3 comes out. Even then it's not 100% sure they will. Sony was in a position to actually keep the PS2 at a higher price than the Xbox back then, so you never know.

 

[Carl B]

Well, here's another article on the whole thing I guess - this one saying 249 BP rather than 299.

http://gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=10663