A few days ago, we talked about how greedy Microsoft used the Modern Warfare 2 price hike to sneak in a price raise of its own, adding an extra £20 to the cost of an Xbox 360 Arcade and piling a few extra quid onto a number of accessories. Microsoft won't admit that it's just being a greedy, parasitic bitch, instead trying to contrive a reason for raping the British consumer.

"We are making modest increases on the Xbox 360 Arcade console as you can see," snivels Xbox Europe boss Chris Lewis. "The reality now is partly to offset currency exchange rate fluctuations which have impacted us in local market conditions -- particularly in the UK. And you’ve seen other consumer products operate in the same way. But I think even with that we still offer the most affordable console in the marketplace out there.

"So we’ve reset the price point largely based on exchange rate fluctuations, but are still very happy we offer great value through the Xbox 360 Arcade."

You don't raise the price of electronics. Simple as that. It doesn't work that way, and in a country that already pays more than it should for electronic equipment and videogames, it's about the scummiest thing you can do to your consumers. The exchange rate is an absolutely terrible excuse, especially since the economy is doing better this year than it did last year. Microsoft saw that Activision raised the price of Modern Warfare 2 just because it could, and wants to do the same. If that wasn't the case, why would MS also be offering a price drop for the 360 Elite? 

Pathetic move by Microsoft here. Utterly pathetic.