Xbox360 Blogger

Microsoft has said no to the credible rumors of a $50 price drop for the $400 Xbox360 Premium package. The rumors continue to say that the price drop will see the Core system discontinued in the US.

Microsoft's response was: "No. Xbox360 Core remains an important member of the Xbox 360 family."

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Sales of Microsoft's Xbox360 were dead in the latest video game hardware sales report in Japan.

Media Create Co. reported yesterday that the Xbox360 sold only 2,664 units between July 16 and July 22. In comparison, more than 86,000 Wii units and more than 12,000 Playstation 3 units were sold in the same period.

An Additional blow came as the Xbox360 was unable to rank any software titles in the top 50 sales.

The Xbox360 has not faired well in Japan where hardware sales have yet to top half a million, a tiny figure compaired with the 11.6 million Xbox360 units sold worldwide to date.

Today Microsoft announced it will lower the price of the Xbox360 HD DVD Player from $199 to $179 starting on Aug. 1, and will throw in five free HD DVD movies with it for anyone purchasing an Xbox 360 HD DVD Player between Aug. 1 and Sept. 30.

In an effort to regain momentum in the video game console market, Microsoft will cut the price of the Xbox 360 by $50 by early august, sources have said.

The reduction will be made on August 8, according to one source in the retail world, noting that the cut will come during what traditionally has been one of the slower times of the year for game hardware sales.

A Microsoft spokesman has said: "We have no announcements to make on pricing at this time. While price matters, content is king. And no other system is offering all the games people want to play this holiday at a better price than Xbox360."

It is unclear whether the cut will effect all three versions of the Xbox360 (The Core, The Pro and The Elite) or just some of them. There are several big name titles set to ship at the time of the speculated price drop. Madden NFL 08, BioShock and John Woo Presents Stranglehold are coming to the Xbox360 in August.

Speculation of an Xbox price cut grew after Sony announced several weeks ago that it was going to be slashing the price of its 60GB PlayStation 3 from $599 to $499.

In latest sales figures, the Xbox360 and PS3 continue to trail the Wii in U.S. sales. In June the Wii outsold the Xbox360 by nearly 2-to-1. However Microsoft should get a huge boost in September with the launch of the exclusive Halo 3.