Not again! Hot off the heels of Activision's Modern Warfare 2 price hike, it's been revealed by a number of British retailers that Microsoft is planning to raise the price of the Xbox 360 Arcade in the UK. Not only that, but the five XBLA games previously bundled with the system won't be there. More money for less stuff? That's how Microsoft rolls.
The Arcade currently retails for £129.99. From September 1, the system will instead cost £159.99. A number of 360 accessories are also expected price increases of several Pounds.
Microsoft is apparently using the same excuse Activision did, hiding behind what it believes to be a poor Pound-to-Euro currency exchange rate and using it to justify gouging more cash out of British wallets. It looks like Modern Warfare 2 has set a rather grim precedent, which greedy ol' Microsoft is more than happy to follow.
Something tells me that this isn't the last we'll see of this sort of bollocks. Grim times are ahead for British gamers.
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
Likes
PS2, iPod Touch, Silent Hill 2, Metal Gear Solid, Dynasty Warriors 3
Meet the rest of the team
| BBcode help |
| [b]Bold text[/b] |
Bold text |
| [i]Italic text[/i] |
Italic text |
| [url]http://www.dtoid.com/[/url] |
http://www.dtoid.com |
| [url=http://www.dtoid.com/]Web link[/url] |
Web link |
|
| [img]http://www.example.com/robot.jpg[/img] |
 |
Post a comment! You can also post a photo below:
Comment with Facebook
Click connect and comment instantly!
|
Comment with Dtoid
New? SIGN UP - it takes 5 seconds
|
42 comments | showing # 1 to 42
|
Comment with Facebook
Click connect and comment instantly!
|
Comment with Dtoid
New? SIGN UP - it takes 5 seconds
|
Comments policy
Destructoid is an open discussion community. You don't need to "audition" to post a comment - just speak your mind. We respect differing opinions on the site, so have at it. Be smart, funny, insightful, clueless, or cute -- but back it up with substance. Keep your cool, keep it fun. We only ask that you act respectfully and above all: don't be a troll and ruin it for everyone else. Don't bring down gamers or we'll, you know, gently shoot you in the face and stuff you into a flaming mailbox. Each comment is your opportuntity to make this community awesomer. Is that even a word?
Avoiding the banhammer only requires common sense: spamming, trolling, racism, NSFW stuff, and other forms of sucking will not be tolerated. If anyone is griefing please report abuse. Be good. Don't suck!
Contest:
9:00 AM on 08.17.2009
| 
And a funnel.
Add in that the dollar is down against the pound too over the same time period and they don't have a leg to stand on. What a crock of shit
The justification they use is nonsense not even rooted in fact, anyway - the pound isn't as strong as it was a few years ago, but it isn't at some point of weakness. This is just a lazy money grab that counts on the average consumer being too ill-informed to call them on it.
And we never see adjustments for when the pound is at its strongest!
Wait, what?
There's a reason for it, but that don't make it right.
Take a lesson from history guys.
There is no logic for this move. Going to be cuddling my Elite hoping I never have to buy another one...
Microsoft: You're doing it wrong.
I'm from Boston and I would encourage this, infact i'll travel over to Britain and help.
Microsoft is spitting in Britains face, Activision is spitting in Europes face. Why don't you all just transfer over to Sony? Its nice over here! The only downside is waiting usually another week or so on games for the PSN. Its not that bad. Also. Price Drop. Possibly 249 pounds.
sigh... <b>$</b>299 isn't even relevant to this article. troll harder next time.
"I understand everyone is mad about this, but you can't just single out MS and act like they are the only company to have a price hike in the UK.
Ford, Nissan, GM, Apple, Adobe, Nikon, Sony, Nintendo have all raised their prices in the UK.
The problem is the exchange rate between the pound and other currencies.
I assure you that no company wants to raise prices, especially with the world's economy the way it is right now.
If times were pretty good right now, you might see companies eating the losses from the bad exchange rate and keeping prices at the same level. But, profits are slim for many companies right now and they aren't in any position to absorb any additional costs.
But, I totally understand that this price increase really sucks and you aren't happy with MS. But, honestly it isn't like MS has a vendetta against the UK."
I think this explains it pretty well. But I don't understand why the price is going up by £30, 10 or 15, I may have understand.
Please stop thinking that this is Microsoft being their usual greedy selves and hiking the price up for Christmas, it probably isn't that. Also, a lot of supermarkets sell 360s cheaper than their RRP, so you'll probably be able to find one for £99-£129 during the Xmas period.
All that happened was the retailer had to take a bit of a hit on each console, the eagle eyed shopper at Game or Gamestation may have noticed the slight change on the pos, informing them of the RRP of £199.99 and retail price of £179.99.
I imagine if Microsoft increase the price of the Arcade, average Joe consumer will be none the wiser.
The Arcade bundles have been fairly peculiar of late anyway, with many shops only having the Sega Superstar Tennis bundle in stock, a pack which has the game inside the box with a shoddy sticker plastered on the outside. We're also seeing a massive shortage of Premiums, so I think in the run up to christmas, there may be more changes afoot for the xbox.
And to be honest... which blasted fool buys an Arcade anyway?
Modern Warfare 2 goes up in price, the Wii and 360 go up in price and we have to wait until 2010 to get BlazBlue, its like being back in the fucking 90's again. Fuck you Activision, fuck you Nintendo and fuck you Microsoft. While I'm at it a pre-emptive fuck you to Sony too because you know we wont be seeing a PS3 price cut in the UK anytime soon if this shit continues.
Hopefully we'll hear more on a price cut tommorow during the conference, and I hope europe gets in on it because they really need a break. I think sony is the only one left who hasn't spat in UKs eye yet.
Incredible. And what's up with the Dollar-to-Euro rate? 'Cause in the rest of Europe we're suffering for a 1-1 parity from day one: if something costs 100$ in USA, here it costs 100€. But one euro is 1,2 dollars, so all the stuff is 20% more expensive for no reason, well, for MS wealth reasons. For being unbiased, Sony and others share that economic policy. We, europeans, are fucked up for having a strong currency (or for letting this happen). Economic theories upside-down...
Good luck with that retailers (yeah i know it's Microsoft but it's the retailers that will feel the brunt).