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Now here’s something of a doozie given all the pre-gamescom speculation surrounding incoming price cuts for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 home consoles: Reports coming out of the UK are today claiming that the price of Microsoft’s basic Xbox 360 Arcade videogame console is actually about to go up not down.
Go Play? It\'s as if Microsoft wants you to Go... do something else entirely. Image: raybdbomb/Flickr.
According to prominent online videogame magazine Eurogamer, a number of retail outlets in the United Kingdom have confirmed that the price point of the Arcade model is set to jump from 129.99 GBP to a more lofty 159.99 GBP as of September 01.
And so, given the potential increase in pocket impact, what can prospective Xbox 360 Arcade owners (still) willing to splash out their hard-earned cash look forward to receiving by way of justification for the price increase? Nothing, that’s what.
Adding insult to financial injury, the newly priced Arcade is set to hit retail shelves equipped with even less than it had before, with Eurogamer reporting that the five Xbox Live Arcade titles the hardware bundle was known for will no longer be included.
Wait, there’s more. Not only is Microsoft supposedly ramping up the price of the Arcade – with no solid explanation or justification – it is also adding a few extra quid to the individual price points of its Xbox brand accessories too. How lucky you Brit gamers are.
The retail confirmations make no mention of the existing Pro (a.k.a. Premium) version of the Xbox 360, which would appear to support recent whispers suggesting Microsoft will use this week’s gamescom trade fair in Germany to announce its decision to phase it out the longstanding 20GB model.
Microsoft has not yet issued an official comment regarding the retail announcements.
The Tech Herald: Is Microsoft trying to steal Sony's GamesCom thunder?
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