Xbox exec sez "surprises" in store for Q4

For the purposes of this post, we've going to ignore Microsoft exec Richard Teversham's recent dismissals of the Wii as a glorified GameCube and the PS3 as overpriced, and instead concentrate on his area of expertise: future plans for the Xbox 360. In an interview with entertainment site MCV, Teversham revealed that Redmond has "a number of surprises up our sleeve" in regards to the Xbox division's Q4 strategies, and that they involve "having a variety of pricing on games [and] a variety of pricing on console offers." Since the marketing manager reiterated previous denials of an impending 360 price cut, we have to wonder what exactly he was referring to by that statement on console pricing. The one possibility that springs immediately to mind? Why, bundled HD DVD drives, of course. If Redmond is in fact able to offer 360 bundles with HD optical drives at the same or slightly higher prices than current packages go for, it would certainly take some of the focus off Nintendo and Sony during their respective console launches. On the other hand, he could simply mean that the current bundles will receive an extra game or accessory or something -- which, combined with his slams on the competition, wouldn't really make for an effective marketing strategy at all.

[Via Joystiq]