Australian gamers have become the latest console fans to benefit from Microsoft’s ongoing series of regional Xbox 360 price cuts.

The firm today confirmed that the basic Arcade model, which doesn’t feature any built-in storage, will cost A$349 ($335/£168/€211) instead of A$399 ($383/£192/€242). The mid-range Premium console, which has a 20GB hard drive, will set gamers back A$499 ($479/£240/€302) down from A$579 ($556/£279/€351). The top of the range Elite, which has a massive 120GB hard drive, will ship for A$649 ($623/£313/€394), instead of A$729 ($700/£351/€442).

Microsoft’s monetary move also now makes the Xbox 360 Arcade the cheapest of all three consoles in Australia, with the Wii priced at around A$399 ($383/£192/€242) and the PlayStation 3 at about A$699 ($671/£337/€424).

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Local Microsoft representative Jeremy Hinton said that the price cuts, which also apply in neighbouring New Zealand, are an attempt to “do what’s best” for the Australian consumer. So we can expect a Blu-ray add-on drive then, can we, guys?

In the US, Microsoft recently slashed $50 (£25/€33) off of the price of the Premium Xbox 360, bringing the unit’s price down to $299 (£150/€189). There's widespread speculation that the company is on the verge of making further price cuts across the 360 range.

Back in March, Microsoft also performed a UK Xbox 360 price cut. It slashed the price of its Arcade unit from £200 to £160 (€210/$320) and changed the Premium model’s price to £200 (€260/$400) instead of £250. The all-singing, all-dancing Elite was cut from £300 to £260 (€341/$520).

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