According to Wedbush Morgan gaming analyst Michael Pachter, Microsoft will likely launch a “slim” Xbox 360 later this year, one with a 250GB HDD, and one that will likely be bundled with a Project Natal motion controller.
The bundle will also sell for $299, a pretty significant discount considering the three pieces bundled.
Additionally, Pachter says Microsoft will do an across-the-board price slash on current Xbox 360 models by August, if Sony continues to show strong growth.
“At a minimum, we anticipate the introduction of a more feature-packed Xbox 360 as the standard SKU in late 2010 (likely with a 250GB hard drive) at the same $299 price point, and think that Microsoft will cut price before the fall only if it begins to lose significant market share to Sony,” says Pachter, via GI.Biz.
“It is far more likely that we will see a slim version of the Xbox 360 with a 250 GB hard drive and with Project Natal bundled into the box while maintaining the $299 price point, especially if Sony does not lower the price of the PS3 by the time Natal and Sony’s Move controllers launch in the fall,” Pachter continues.
In March, rumors began surfacing that a Slim Xbox 360 might be in the works, when Microsoft opened up a new job for “motherboard engineer” for their gaming division.
Result for: gaming division
MCV is reporting today that the BBC is actively trying to get back into gaming, looking to turn intellectual properties into DS, Wii and iPhone games. The company is also looking to turn the properties into games that can be played online via social networking sites such as Facebook.
Of the popular properties the BBC is looking to convert, Doctor Who, Top Gear, and In The Night Garden are the most popular.
“We are open to conversations with anybody in games about all kinds of business models to see how we can extract more value,” said Neil Ross Russell, MD of licensing. “Outside of Disney we have the most well-known line-up of children’s characters around the world.”
“We’ve been reactive to the market in the last few years,” adds Dave Anderson, head of multimedia development at BBC Worldwide, noting that the company closed its gaming division in 2005. “There were a few opportunistic licensing deals, but we were largely aggregating and holding on to our properties to wait and see how the market developed.”
Result for: gaming division
Sony’s gaming division, dubbed the PlayStation Division, was hit hard for the quarter ended December 31st, 2008, with operating revenue down over 30 percent year-on-year to $4.32 billion USD.
In a hardware sales comparison, PS3 sales were 4.46 million, down 44,000 units, and PSP handheld sales were down 68,000 units to 5.08 million units. The PS2 saw the hardest hit, understandably, with sales dropping over 60 percent to 2.52 million.
The company blamed the global recession for the decline in hardware and software sales and also noted that the Yen’s appreciation against the Euro played a role as well.
Some good news did slip through however, as Sony noted that PS3 software sales were up significantly year-on-year from 26 million to 41 million units.
