Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday confirmed intentions to cut pricing of its Xbox 360 video game system in the USA. The software giant hopes that lower prices will allow it to boost sales of the console, which have been stagnating in the country for months now. In addition, the software firm again started to promote non-gaming capabilities of the Xbox 360.

Beginning September 5, Xbox 360 Arcade will retail for the estimated retail price of $199.99, the Xbox 360 60GB console for $299.99 and Xbox 360 Elite for $399.99. Earlier this year the head of Activision-Blizzard said that $199 price-point of a video game console guarantees that the product will be accepted by mainstream consumers.

“We are thrilled to be the first next-generation console on the market to reach $199, a price that invites everyone to enjoy Xbox 360. Xbox 360 delivers amazing performance at an extraordinary value with the leading online service and best lineup of games, downloadable movies and TV shows available from a console. The majority of consumers make the decision to buy consoles once the price falls to this mark, making this an important milestone for consumers and the industry,” said Don Mattrick, senior vice president of the interactive entertainment business at Microsoft.

Sales of Microsoft Xbox 360 have not been really strong this year and the company continuously reduced pricing of the system in various regions to boost its popularity. In addition, the company awaits several new video games that will further improve acceptance of the platform. Later this year Microsoft is rumoured to unveil a motion-sensing game controller for Xbox 360.

Microsoft Xbox 360 console is based around triple-core microprocessor developed by IBM, high-definition visual processing unit designed by ATI Technologies, I/O controller engineered by SiS and some other key components. The gaming machine provides a broad set of multimedia capabilities in addition to games.

Tags: Microsoft, Xbox