Gamers Evolved

Those of you who don’t yet have the Xbox 360 because the price is too high will be happy to know that Microsoft is trying to launch a cheaper version of the console. The only problem is that it will only be for those who live in Japan.

Microsoft knows just how popular the gaming console is – but for some reason Japan is the only one who has been refusing to give it the fame and satisfaction that it covets from everyone and has been experiencing a severe loss in sales on that end of the world. Not surprisingly the Nintendo Wii has been dominating.

Microsoft will put the Xbox 360 Arcade on sale March 6 at a price of 27,800 yen (260 American dollars) - less than the 34,800 yen for the current machine. Unlike the standard Xbox 360, the Arcade version has no hard drive. It comes with games - mostly family-friendly ones appealing to casual gamers - with other games downloadable from the Internet.

Microsoft is hoping that this move will entice consumers in Japan to finally try out the 360 console and the ever popular games that can be played on it. To us though this reduced priced console might be a waste of Microsoft’s time and money. Consumers will still have to shell out money for a hard drive and any decent games.