Microsoft has confirmed today that the Xbox 360 HD DVD drive will arrive mid-November for the US and Europe. The price will be $199.99 in the US, ?199.99 in Europe and ?129.99 in the United Kingdom. The European prices beat Game Industry.biz's predictions from earlier this month. The HD DVD drive will be bundled with Peter Jackon's King Kong and the Xbox 360 Universal Remote.
"[The HD DVD drive] will work with either Core or SKU. It puts [the price] on par with people who want to watch movies," said Scott Henson, Director of the Game Development Group at Microsoft. "The key part for us is to give consumers choice. We're not gonna lose money on this, but we will give it value."
Just last week, Microsoft's Peter Moore announced that the Japanese HD DVD drive would launch November 22 for ?19,800 (about $170).
By region, the Xbox 360 + HD DVD combo is virtually the same price as the PlayStation 3, even among their respective models, in the US and Europe. The core consoles are different by a meager ?300 in Japan (even after both consoles dropped their price); we cannot compare the premium editions because Sony has an open price for the megaton PS3. In the United Kingdom, however, a PlayStation 3 will cost you ?375 to ?425, while the Xbox 360 + HD DVD will only be ?330 to ?410. Will the British price delta sway any videophilic gamers out there?
