Responding to complaints, Xbox group product manager Aaron Greenberg has said that the company does not want to mislead consumers with MS Points and will be looking to display actual currency prices next to the MS Points for all content.
“We never intended to mislead people,” Greenberg said, via G4. “We want to be transparent about it, and so it is something that we’re looking at.”
“How can we be more transparent and let people see it in actual dollars? You’ve got to think that we have one service that we’re offering around the world. The nice thing about Points is that no matter if you’re on the JPY or the EUR or the USD – something that’s 200 Points is 200 Points everywhere around the world. There’s more technical complexities to being able to put local prices in. You have to do that for every product in every country and you then have to deal with currency fluctuations. So there’s some challenges to that, but we absolutely did it with the Games On Demand, response has been good and absolutely it’s something we’re looking at doing,” he concluded.
Result for: JPY
Sony Japan has announced five new PSP-3000 bundles for the region this week, four of which are being marketed as “Value Packs.”
The Value Pack bundles will each include the PSP-3000 and accessories (no games) for JPY 19,800 ($220 USD) and come in different colorways; Vibrant Blue, Piano Black, Pearl White and Radiant Red.
The fifth bundle is a “Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G” bundle that includes the game and special skin. The model will retail for JPY 18,500 ($205 USD).
Each is set for release in early December.
Result for: JPY
Microsoft has announced they will be slashing the price of the Xbox 360 Elite in Japan beginning tomorrow, dropping the price from JPY 39,800 to JPY 29,800. That drop is about the equivalent of $100 USD, the same drop North American customers received last week.
“With the price cut, we hope to boost demand for the Xbox game console. The Christmas and year-end shopping season is very important for us,” added MS director of Xbox marketing in Japan Joji Sakaguchi, via the AP. “We are confident that we will do well during the upcoming holiday season. We cannot lose,” he added.
Of note, the Elite bundle will no longer ship with an HDMI cable and the other models available, the HDD-less Arcade model and the 60GB Pro model will remain unchanged. The Pro’s pricing however, is now at the discretion of the retailer, as the model is being phased out.
