PS3 Slim Beating Lower Priced Xbox 360 Elite

Late last night Microsoft’s recently announced price drop for the Xbox 360 Elite to $299 and Pro model to $249 took effect and retailers immediately adjusted the price accordingly. Unlike the PS3 Slim price cut, buyers do not appear to be snatching up Xbox 360 Elite’s at a fervent pace

When the PS3 Slim went on sale at online retailer Amazon.com, it immediately shot up to the number one sales spot on Amazon’s hourly bestsellers list for video games. It has remained fixed in that spot now for 10 days running.

Now that the new Xbox 360 pricing is in full effect you would think everyone waiting to grab one would have shot it up the sales chart. Not so. In fact, PS3 Slim remains in the number one position this morning while Xbox 360 Elite sits at the #25 spot.

Browse or shop the newly priced Xbox 360 consoles at Amazon.com.

And that is the Halo 2 and Fable 3 Elite bundle which also saw its price dropped to $299. Clearly this is the better value over PS3. Or is it?

There are a number of potential reasons why Microsoft’s price drop is not having the same effect on sales as the PS3 Slim. The Xbox 360 Elite was introduced well over a year ago while the PS3 Slim is technically a new design with some small tweaks consumers had been asking for. People like new. Advantage: PS3 Slim.

For movies, PS3 Slim includes a full blown Blu-ray Disc player with all the bells and whistles only some standalone players are packaged with. Xbox 360 Elite has Netflix streaming. Advantage: PS3 Slim.

The PS3 Slim went up for pre-order sale nearly two weeks before Xbox 360 Elite at its new price. Someone on the fence for a next-gen console might have pulled the trigger immediately at the PS3 Slim introduction. Advantage: PS3 Slim.

And lastly, there are far more Xbox 360 consoles already in homes than any model of Playstation 3. This is the first time in the console cycle that a comparable PS3 and Xbox 360 model are going head-to-head at an identical price. Fewer PS3s already in homes translates to more potential buyers. Advantage: PS3 Slim.

It will be interesting to watch sales numbers through the holiday season. Sony, which as been stuck in third place since Playstation 3 was introduced, has a legitimate shot at overtaking Microsoft and Nintendo with next-gen hardware sales.

Do you think PS3 Slim will be the hot gaming console gift this holiday season? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.

TheHDRoom may be paid a small commission for any services or products ordered through select links on this page.

TheHDRoom