Microsoft today made the somewhat puzzling move of slashing the price of its Xbox 360 by $50 — but only in Canada.
The 20GB Xbox 360 is now selling in Canada for $349 instead of $399, while the second-generation Elite (the one with an HDMI port and 120GB hard drive) is $449 rather than $499. Even the Halo 3 special edition Xbox 360 down from $449 to $399, and the 256MB Arcade Xbox 360 went down in price by $20.
These Xbox 360 price drops beg the question: is a similar drop headed for America and Europe anytime soon? With Microsoft announcing at GDC that Gears of War 2 was not only in development but will ship this November and with GTA IV headed to the Xbox 360 in April, a $50 price drop certainly doesn’t seem out of the question for the American and European markets this spring or summer. Perhaps we’d even hear about it at E3 in July….
While an American and European price drop is just speculation at this point, the $50 Canadian price drop is completely legitimate and already in motion. However, region-specific price drops are often indicative of future moves, so we’d put the chances of an Xbox 360 price drop in America at “very high.” Perhaps the drop will even coincide with the release of a new model — one that doesn’t suffer from as many red rings of death.