Xbox 360 Arcade price hiked, Elite price cut

By Nate Lanxon on 27 August 2009, 10:46am

From tomorrow, the Xbox without a hard drive or headset will cost almost as much as the one that does. And the one that does is being discontinued. Throwing us the smallest of bones, Microsoft has lopped 25 quid off the Xbox 360 Elite.

The hard drive-less Arcade model will come with a £150 RRP, up from the £125 that Microsoft currently shovels it out at. The 120GB Elite will drop from around £225 to £200. The original Xbox model -- dubbed the Pro -- has been taken behind the shed to receive both barrels through its classic white face.

It doesn't require a doctorate in noticing the obvious to figure out what Microsoft's doing here. Three Xbox models is confusing, so it made the basic one more expensive to push people towards the really good one, which is now just an extra £50 -- and still £50 cheaper than the PS3. A clever move, but hardly one we approve of.

Strictly speaking, we're not flat-out against raising prices when a product changes, but the Arcade hasn't changed -- it's still just as basic. Either it should've stuck at £125 or a 20GB hard drive should've come with its new £150 price tag, so you could at least download game demos from Xbox Live.