Microsoft announced that a new Xbox 360 will be available with a 60 gig hard drive, compared to the current 360 with 20GB storage. It will be released in the US and Canada by early August.

The rumours of a price-cut for the current 20GB Xbox 360, to $299.00, have also been confirmed and it now seems this new Xbox 360 is set to replace the 20GB version, with a retail price of $349.00 - the 20GB’s original price!

Coming standard with an HDMI (high-definition multimedia interface) port, and all the comforts of a normal 360 Premium unit (wireless controller, headset etc.), the new 60GB 360 presents stiffer competiton to the 40GB PS3, currently retailing at $399.00.

Rumours have been swirling for the past few weeks that Microsoft plans to cut the price of the Xbox 360.

While Microsoft has yet to confirm the price cut, new evidence from the Wall Street Journal suggests that Microsoft wants to cut the price of the Xbox 360 to boost sales in the wake of the PS3 outselling its console this year.

According to the Wall Street Journal “people familiar with the matter” report that Microsoft will drop the price of the $349 20GB Xbox 360 Pro to $299 from this Sunday.

Keep your eyes peeled because the announcement of the price cut is likely to be confirmed at E3 on Monday morning.

Microsoft has cut the price of the Xbox 360 in Australia.

Effective from today the Xbox 360 Arcade unit will retail at AU$349, down from yesterday’s price of AU$399. This now makes the Arcade AU$50 cheaper than the Nintendo Wii down under.

The Xbox 360 Pro bundle will retail at AU$499, down from AU$579 and the Elite Xbox 360 will sell for AU$649, down from AU$729.

Earlier this year Microsoft cut the price of the Xbox 360 in Europe and Asia but rumours of a cut in the US have yet to be confirmed.

Nintendo of America has announced that Wii Fit will be priced at $89.99 across the US. This price will include the game and the Wii Balance Board. The interactive fitness game will be released across North America on the 19th of May.

Wii Fit includes over 40 yoga, aerobics, strength training and balance activities and aims to motivate people to incorporate exercise into their daily routines in a fun way. The game enables players to set fitness goals and track their progress.

The first 1 000 people to pre-order the game (along with a $5 deposit) from the Nintendo World store in Rockefeller Plaza, New York from the 18th to 20th of April will receive a limited edition Wii Fit T-shirt sporting Shigeru Miyamoto’s face and reproduced autograph.

Wii Fit will be released across Europe on the 25th of April (for £69.99/89.99 Euros) and South Africa on the 5th of May (not yet priced). The game was released in Japan on the 1st of December last year, where it has gone on to sell 1.83 million units to date.

Capcom recently posed a question to the Bionic Commando community: how much would you pay for Bionic Commando Rearmed? Users could choose either $10 or $15 and the answer was a resounding $10.

Capcom’s Ben Judd explained that Capcom was actually wanting to see “whether people would be willing to pay more to support high-quality 2D gaming.” Although 83% of people voted for $10 while 17% voted in favour of $15, there was also a “huge number of user comments that [Capcom] received, where a majority were suggesting they would pay $15 or even $20 for the game.”

Judd also noted that “2D games are a bigger risk (no, they are not necessarily cheap to make. BCR has plenty of 3D models and uses much of the same tech and physics as the 3D version) because they are a harder sell.” In addition “since the title will have to do quite well at that price point to break even (no, I’m not going to give you a specific number), I guess we have to roll the dice and see where they land. Besides, I’d rather fail having created the best game I could, even if the end result doesn’t justify 2D games like this in the future.”

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Microsoft has officially announced that it will be lowering the prices of all of its Xbox 360 consoles in Europe and South Africa from the 14th of March.

The Xbox 360 Arcade will retail at £159.99 or R1 999.00 (£40, R700 cheaper), making it the cheapest next-generation console, notably cheaper than Nintendo’s Wii. The Xbox 360 Premium, including a 20GB hard drive and one wireless controller, will retail at £199.99 or R2 999.00 (£50, R700 cheaper) while the Xbox 360 Elite, which includes a 120GB hard drive, will retail at £259.99 or R3 999.00, a saving of £40 or R600.

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Industry sources have sparked up rumours that Microsoft will be cutting the price of all Xbox 360 models in Europe this month.

Videogaming247.com reports that retailers are keeping mum on the price cut of all SKUs because Microsoft has set up non-disclosure agreements. The price cut is believed to come into effect just before the Easter period.

According to Techradar.com, the Elite, Premium and Arcade 360s will all be dropped by roughly 50 Euros on the 14th of March.

If we break this down it shows that the Arcade Xbox 360 will retail at approximately £150 across the UK, making it cheaper than the Nintendo Wii, which currently retails at £180. The Elite unit will be available for under £240 while the Premium will retail at just below £200.

MCV claims that ‘good authority’ told them the units will drop by £30 each. This would still mean that the Arcade 360 would better compete with the Wii’s price.

Microsoft has issued a standard ‘no comment’ reply to the reports. Only a matter of time then.