Microsoft Raise Price of Arcade Bundle in The UK

Eurogamer report that Microsoft are contacting Retailers in the United Kingdom informing them of price increases for the Arcade Xbox bundles.

The RRP of the consoles are going up after the 1st of September to £159.99 (around $260) from the (reasonable) price of £129.99 (around $210). But that’s not all. The retail bundles will also be stripped of the five free (free as in built into the price) XBL Arcade games.

But wait! There’s more! The Xbox accessories will also be receiving a price hike of “one or two” pounds. The email’s failure to mention the ‘premium’ console also supports various rumours floating about the internet that suggest that it’s going to be discontinued in favour of just the remaining Arcade and Elite machines.

Before I start I should point out that I am not surprised, just disappointed. They claim that this price readjustment is to combat the poor Pound to Euro exchange rate. However smart “people like us know that they’re just using that as an excuse to raise prices. Why? Because they can get away with it. Sure the exchange rate will have some effect in the the console market. But not to this extent. Furthermore, I don’t blame them. Were I in charge and saw an opportunity to squeeze more money out of predictable consumers that WILL pay more, I’d definitely raise prices.