Microsoft comments on Aussie Xbox 360 Core system being the same price as the Wii
GS AU: Where do the new prices position your console in the Australian market now? Obviously the Core is now the same price as a Nintendo Wii here.
DM: When you look at the Pro and you want high-definition gaming, I think the consumer now needs to look at those value propositions. They need to look at the games line-up we have coming this holiday, and they’ll see that all of the major blockbusters are all on Xbox, the real exclusives are on Xbox this Christmas, and there will be 200 games available versus I think 40 or 45 on the PS3. I think you’ll see on a games point of view we’re well ahead. And now once again we’re offering all of these experiences at a really affordable price. So I think we will do really well during the holiday period against PlayStation.
In relation to the Wii, the Wii’s been very successful in terms of its unit sales, but when you look at what’s actually driving the industry and you look at where consumers are buying, the majority of the revenue is still going to the Xbox 360 platform. Also, there’s a six game average attach rate on the Xbox 360 versus the competition. We think this will continue, and we think that moving to that price point and doing some really interesting things around the Core–and we’ll announce our strategy around Core in the time to come–we think we’ll really push ourselves into that broader Wii market.
Our strategy was always to focus on the core and serious gamers. We think we’ve done a great job there, and the numbers support that. What we now need to do is start thinking about broadening our strategy, and this price movement is a component of that strategy.
