Europe finally granted Xbox price cut

Microsoft has finally treated European gamers to a slice of American-style price-cutting on its Xbox range. European gamers should be able to get their hands on the ‘standard’ model for £30 less and save £20 on the cost of the Core model, when the cuts kick in later this week.

The price-cuts will take effect on 24 August, cunningly the same day that Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Elite launches in the UK, Ireland, Germany and France. The ‘standard’ £250 model includes a 20GB hard drive and a single wireless controller, while the Core model will retail for around £180.

Microsoft’s marketeers clearly don’t want to waste too much time talking about the cheaper models, and its release devoted several paragraphs to the Elite's impending launch. However, the company did claim the price cuts would give all Xbox models a unique position to take the UK market by storm this Christmas.

The first UK retail prices for the Elite began appearing last month, with some retailers pricing it at around £50 more than the Premium model predecessor and around £95 cheaper than the Sony PS3.

If you want to stand out from the Elite crowd though or aren’t convinced by the new price-cuts, then you could swayed by the special edition Halo 3 console. Trussed-up in post-apocalyptic green with a matching controller, the console is set to hit the shops in September, around the same time as the game.