Xbox 360 Gets Price Cut In Japan

Only 684,695 Xbox 360 consoles have been sold in Japan, compared to 6.67 million Nintendo Wii consoles and 2.32 million PlayStation 3 consoles, according to publisher Enterbrain, Reuters reported.

Microsoft plans to cut the price of the Arcade version of the Xbox 360 by 8,000 yen to 19,800 yen, making the Xbox 360 Arcade version cheaper than both the Nintendo Wii and the PlayStation 3, which sell for $25,000 yen and 39,800 yen, respectively.

The Xbox 360 Arcade model doesn't come with a hard drive, however, Microsoft will also be cutting the prices of Xbox 360 models with hard drives by 5,000-8,000 yen.

The Xbox 360 did, however, beat the PlayStation 3 in Japanese sales for the first time the week of August 10, due to the popularity of the "Tales of Vesperia" role-playing game, Reuters reported.

Microsoft Xbox spokeswoman Kazumi Ishiyama in Japan declined to comment on the price cut, Reuters said.

Microsoft also recently lowered the price of the Xbox 360 console in the United States, from $349 to $299, in response to similar price cuts by Sony on the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo on the Wii.