Microsoft to launch Xbox 360 in Brazil next month
by Blake Snow 
{ Nov 10th 2006 at 12:45PM }
Microsoft will begin selling Xbox 360s in Brazil next month after years of planning, becoming the first console manufacturer to do so directly without the use of third-party vendors. Even though Brazilians have traditionally paid a grundle for consoles, Microsoft will charge $1,399 ($2999 reais) for the system, close to double what you'd pay for "unofficial" product (read: pirated consoles). Nossa! But the Premium package is bundled with three games.Some additional facts regarding games and the world's 5th most populated country:
- Games will cost $79 (R$169)
- Analysts believe the 360 can sell 11 million units in Brazil (tall order)
- Brazil ranked 15 in the world for console sales
- Microsoft will spend twice as much on publicity in Brazil as it did for its Mexico 360 launch
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
a Master Ninja @ Nov 10th 2006 12:51PM
I'll be the first to say it: "The Xbox 360 launched in Mexico?"
get over it @ Nov 10th 2006 12:54PM
$1,399! why such a high price in brazil?
Mike @ Nov 11th 2006 2:29PM
Grundle as a unit of measurement? I happen to have the New York Times Stylebook here...
JRM @ Nov 10th 2006 1:02PM
"Analysts believe the 360 can sell 11 million units in Brazil"
Are these the same analysts that said the 360 would sell 10 million in the US? LOL!!!!
Being from south america. I seriously doubt there's even 5 million in the *entire continent* that can throw away $1,400 on a console.
Savok @ Nov 10th 2006 1:02PM
It's expensive due to Brazil's taxes on these things, which are to say the least, excessive.
I honestly don't see anyone paying that for the 360, because of said tax laws there's a booming blackmarket in place.
jeuvos @ Nov 10th 2006 1:08PM
360's should simply be handed out on the streets in a country that exports such fine ladies.
Biggie @ Nov 10th 2006 1:39PM
All I got to say is no wonder they pirate stuff... that price is highway robbery and I thought the $499 CDN was expensive! Surely importing a console from the US is cheaper even with the shipping. I guess the question is will an American 360 play Brazilian games?
Revo @ Nov 10th 2006 1:13PM
Waaait a second...
So analysts think the 360 can sell 11 million units in Brazil, and Brazil is ranked 15th in console sales. Doesn't that imply that it would sell more than 11 million in each of 14 other countries? Of course, we'd have to assume that sales of the 360 make up about the same percentage of console sales in those countries, but I imagine they probably do on average.
According to that logic, the 360 would sell at least 165 million units in those 15 countries alone.
I'd say these analysts don't have a clue what they're talking about.
MSaccarello @ Nov 10th 2006 1:13PM
"Brazilians have traditionally paid a grundle for consoles..." lol.
I thought a grundle was that area of skin between a man's ball sack and his asshole, a.k.a. nifkin. a.k.a. gooch.
Josh @ Nov 10th 2006 1:15PM
I doubt the Wii will do well in Japan, based on its price over there (R$2,399 or about $1,124 USD, from Wikipedia).
stumpie @ Nov 10th 2006 1:16PM
Microsoft may not be doing well in Japan...but while Sony is struggling to launch in 2 countries this fall (US & Japan) the 360 is well represented in over 36 countries. I'm sure the Wii will dominate Japan and the 360 will dominate everything else.
Precinho de banana hein @ Nov 10th 2006 1:20PM
It's probably 11 THOUSAND, not million...
For the launch, 2 thousand will be available.
3000 is a joke, the minimal salary (by law) in Brazil is 350, and a lot of people here get less than that.
Pete C @ Nov 10th 2006 1:20PM
"Are these the same analysts that said the 360 would sell 10 million in the US? LOL!!!!"
The PS3 won't sell that many in America by end of next year...that's for damn sure.
Pete C @ Nov 10th 2006 1:22PM
It was MS that said 10 Million...not analysts if I recall. I think it was Peter Moore.
Muttley @ Nov 10th 2006 1:25PM
Nice pic of my town. Terrible price...
Ricardo @ Nov 10th 2006 1:27PM
> $1,399! why such a high price in brazil?
Because is third world my friend. Thank the god if you born in decent place.
Colin @ Nov 10th 2006 1:30PM
So....
What would you imagine the 'killer app' would be for a county such as Brazil...Fifa 07 perhaps....
Well...maybe except for the fact that EA dropped the whole Brazilian League from the game because they 'didn't have time' to put it in!
cello @ Nov 10th 2006 1:32PM
Cause it's third world? I don't get that.
I mean, why would MS charge *more* than normal. I seriously don't get it.
InsaneM @ Nov 10th 2006 1:41PM
"Analysts believe the 360 can sell 11 million units in Brazil"
Are these the same analysts that said the 360 would sell 10 million in the US? LOL!!!!
Being from south america. I seriously doubt there's even 5 million in the *entire continent* that can throw away $1,400 on a console.
Dude... don´t be so sure to say something that you don´t actually know.
Believe it or not, there are A LOT of gamers here. See the text, we´re 15th in the sales numbers. It is very expensive now, yes, but it will get cheaper with time and it WILL sell a lot. I already know a lot of ppl that own a 360. Brazil is the 8th country in Live users.
For the ones that asked why its so expensive: taxes. Brazil has the highest taxes in the world, and MANY taxes. Most of them we actually have no idea what they are for.
Elpea @ Nov 10th 2006 2:50PM
They're selling a console for such a huge price tag in a country where the Xbox is almost as popular as in Japan?
Seriously I had to show people Halo, 2 years after release nobody had ever played it.
D dogg @ Nov 10th 2006 2:03PM
All I can think about when reading this article was Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter. Nothing like American "Advanced Warfighters" storming Mexico. =)
Whats next, Iraq and a remake of EA's Desert Storm games?
Imagine if someone made a game where America was under siege and had to be liberated. I'm sorry, but we're a bunch of hypocrits over here and I don't think it'd be received too well.
By the way, CONGRATS Brazil, welcome to the next gen! If you think the 360 is expensive, what till you get a load of the PS3... whoa!
Lucas @ Nov 10th 2006 2:14PM
>Cause it's third world? I don't get that.
>
>I mean, why would MS charge *more* than normal. I seriously don't get it.
The problem down here (I'm brazilian) is that we have an abusive tax over video games, because by law their considered gambling machines (don't ask why), so the one that comes from the us suffers a huge price increase before hitting the stores. And then we pay the price. That's why there are so many "Illegal" machines.
R$ 1.610,00
max @ Nov 10th 2006 2:28PM
Killer app???
I cannot vouch for Brasil, but here in Argentina it's all about Winning eleven.
And you can sell as many consoles as you please, but forget about selling original games, probably 90% of the games here are pirated.
Matheus @ Nov 10th 2006 3:13PM
Actually there's a huge mistake in Joystiq's article. MS does not expect to sell 11 million consoles. This number is the probable installed base of all videogames in the country.
Check Reuters source, there it is better written.
iLLwiLL @ Nov 10th 2006 2:37PM
@ 16:
"So....
What would you imagine the 'killer app' would be for a county such as Brazil...Fifa 07 perhaps...."
No, I know a couple of Brazilians and they love good Futbol everything. I think the killer app there would be the Winning Eleven series which is THE soccer game most people play in the EU and which is supposedly the soccer game most real soccer players play.
Andrei @ Nov 10th 2006 2:42PM
The price is EXTREMELY high. Even if I bought a xbox360 in the US and paid all the taxes to bring it here to Brasil, it would cost, at most, about 800 dollars (R$ 1580). R$ 2999 is abusive.
dusterbuster @ Nov 10th 2006 3:01PM
I think referencing the Real:Dollar exchange rate could be a bit misleading. I believe Brazil imposes government restrictions on exchange rates (at least it used to)which makes this type of Real:Dollar conversion non-indicative of actual costs to consumers within Brazil. This is not to say that the price won't be relatively high for Brazilian consumers at the end of the day, but I'm guessing the true economic cost to Brazilian consumers will be much less than the approx. $1400 calculated at the current official exchange rate.
Gubbers @ Nov 10th 2006 3:04PM
I was at the press conference that took place yesterday here in São Paulo about the 360's arrival. Indeed, the console price is ridiculous, and yes, it's because of the taxes. At least the price of the games are good in my opinion...but it's clear that 360 won't sell 11 million units here in Brasil, that's just nonsense. I just hope Nintendo and Sony would start looking to our market as a big one, and I'm sure that Microsoft's initiative will make things better when it comes to games.
I also hope that our president, who was reelected just a few weeks ago, star dealing with the videogame industry in a more serious way so that brazilian gamers can afford the next-gen console. It's true that we have many more important issues to solve, but let's just dream a little...
Eduardo Mori @ Nov 10th 2006 3:11PM
The correct price for the console is R$2999,00 and for the games are R$159,00 (and R$99,00 for "old" games).
The prince for the games is very good to the Brazil conditions.
In any doubt, you can check the major gaming site in Brazil, UOL Jogos (in portuguese).
http://jogos.uol.com.br/ultnot/xbox/ult4101u69.jhtm
Josh @ Nov 10th 2006 3:31PM
Damn, in my previous comment (#9), I meant Brazil, not Japan, if that wasn't already obvious.
Flavio @ Nov 10th 2006 3:34PM
Being a part of the country´s high middle class citizens all I can say is if those numbers are correct then microsoft is in for a rotten surprise.
There´s absolutely NO WAY that it can sell anywhere close to 11 million copies charging $1400 bucks each. They must think were a bunch of rich idiots instead of a developing 3rd world country. Just to show you my point, you can purchase a plane ticket to the US for $1000 bucks and probably buy an x-box for another $400.
When the first x-box was lauched here it was selling for about R$1800 reais which is roughly $500 bucks, about $200 more than the US. If history should repeat itself then the X-box 360 should be selling for about R$2400 reais ($800) and not the outrageous claim of R$ 3000 ($1400).
Another claim that´s just as hilarious is that the x-box 360 games are goin to sell for $79. Since a current PS2 game costs $112, I just don´t buy it that microsoft is just sooooo nice as to sell cheaper games in comparison to an older console.
Marketing people...DO YOUR HOMEWORK!!!!
Kuso @ Nov 10th 2006 4:04PM
Now you know how much we brazillian gamers have suffered all these years. And still we manage to enjoy our games somehow. Nonetheless, it´s a great effort by Microsoft, one that we can certainly approve despite the ridiculous price of the 360.
Btw, Video Games Live will be held this Sunday in Rio de Janeiro, November 19th in São Paulo, the biggest cities in Brazil. We are beginning to being recognized as the gaming enthusiasts we always have been. Watch out!
Sorry for bad English.
Dansk @ Nov 10th 2006 4:04PM
I just read this in the newspapers.
Some information was different:
1- The 2999 Bundle is to come with 3 games
2- Brazil is rated 8 in the piracy rank, not 15
3- The reason of such high prices is the taxation this sort of product receives, which makes 114% of the sale price.
Dansk @ Nov 10th 2006 4:06PM
31, you should read today's Valor. These prices are the very best they could make, and they are indeed targeting the richer part of the public. As for their games being cheaper, they will be so because MS will be releasing them directly to the market, unlike PS2 games, which are all imported.
Vinícius Silva @ Nov 10th 2006 4:27PM
Really expensive to us. Just few brazilian gamers will enjoy next-gen consoles.
Juan Gril @ Nov 10th 2006 4:53PM
As usual, World Economics, greedy corporations, and retarded governments play the wonderful role of screwing up the people of the 3rd world.
On one hand, you've got the corrupt brazilian government charging outrageous taxes for electronics not manufactured in the country, so they can protect the factories of their friends who manufacture mediocre products.
On the other, greedy corporations like Microsoft who won't want to earn the same amount of money in US dollars everywhere in the world. Note to you Microsoft: if Hollywood would charge ten bucks everywhere in the world to see their movies, they won't be the dominant film force they are today. When you go to see a movie in Brazil, it cost 3 bucks, not ten. And yes, Hollywood makes 50% of revenues of their films overseas.
But let's not just blame Microsoft on this, it's the entire SOFTWARE INDUSTRY who is retarded.
And just so all of you without a knowledge of world currencies and economics get an idea: 79 bucks is the equivalent of 158 bucks for a middle class brazilian.
How many games do you think we would buy in America if a game would cost 160 BUCKS?
Re-online @ Nov 10th 2006 5:38PM
I am from Brazil and I would have to work for several, SEVERAL months, just to pay for it, that and I would have to stop eating for SEVERAL months, I guess you guys already got the SEVERAL idea. I get R$600,00 every month, it´s a low-medium crap pay-check, how can I pay R$ 3000,00 for it?
Luckily I can(or could because I will get a Wii) import one for $400 plus 60% taxes= $ 640 that in our currency would be something like R$1400,00 plus shipping, so I am sorry to say it but nobody is going to buy these R$3000 consoles, plus we have to pay more for our games while we have lower pay checks, and higher taxes. $79 bucks my ass.
I don´t like to say this (I really don´t, as supporting this means that our gaming market won´t grow), but PIRATING FTW!!! because I don´t crap gold, so the choice is buy pirated games or don´t buy at all, which is very sad and unfortunate.
Brazuca @ Nov 10th 2006 6:00PM
"I think referencing the Real:Dollar exchange rate could be a bit misleading. (...) This is not to say that the price won't be relatively high for Brazilian consumers at the end of the day, but I'm guessing the true economic cost to Brazilian consumers will be much less than the approx. $1400 calculated at the current official exchange rate".
Sorry, but you're wrong. I live in one of the largest cities in Brazil. Down here R$3000 is enough to afford four months of rent - for a very nice flat. It's more than I earn in a month, and I'm not poor by any stretch. Gee, it's almost ten times the monthly minimum wage.
So yeah, it's quite expensive for us. Only the higher middle classes and the very rich could afford this.
Taxes are extreme in Brazil, and most people do not even know how much they pay - prices are always set including taxes, so unless you know all the taxes by heart (in the sale of game-related goods, there are more than five different taxes involved) you have no idea.
You can import, of course. It's cheaper, but not THAT cheap - there's shipping and import taxes (60% over price + shipping, plus 18% of sales tax).
Brazil is a dump.
Brazuca @ Nov 10th 2006 6:05PM
(Just an example: bought an used Gamecube + games off ebay last month. US$49. Plus US$51, EMS shipping. Plus US$60, import taxes. Plus US$18, state stales tax. Total: US$178. Yay Brazil.)
Bunn @ Nov 10th 2006 8:21PM
Thank god I wasn't interested in the xbox360. for me, I'm going to import the wii, from ebay, and will try to declare a value lower than I actually bought so I don't pay any taxes. If you think I'm being an ass for not paying the taxes, show me where they are being used.
(Oh, I know! The politicians are buying their jets)
Screw this place.
G. @ Nov 10th 2006 8:41PM
Morons... South America doesn't move hardware like that, you get at smaller stores that bring them illegally. We pay a 100 extra to "chip" it, so we never pay more than two bucks for a game. And all this, american people, you get it with 6 months insurance -they can fix anything- and pay it with your credit card. You have no idea how organized and comfortable piracy is down here, i've never seen anyone buy a gaming anything at a "normal" store. In fact, they hardly carry them. And for people with less money, there are hundreds of little places where someone has like 16 systems, and you get an hour of game time for 60 cents of a dollar. They don't stop it cause it'd be expensive to do so and it would look awful to bully poor people like that. Gaming is for everyone here -at least ps2, xbox 360 it's still too expensive to become popular here-. And Winning Eleven is THE game.
Bunn @ Nov 10th 2006 11:44PM
@ G.
True. but who can blame us?
I for one prefer to buy my stuff from ebay. I pay a bit for shipment, but prices are closer to the original (And I rarely buy games over 20 usd)
But I can't condone in any way the pirates over here. I'd prefer it wasn't necessary, but they insist in f*cking us over
Re-online @ Nov 11th 2006 12:42PM
"and will try to declare a value lower than I actually bought so I don't pay any taxes"
Good luck trying to make a $250 wii to pass the customs as a "less than $50" console, because that´s the ONLY way you don´t pay the taxes, and they do have a catalog with average prices, so that abusive changes like that don´t pass unoticed, I exploited this method to get my MP3 player because the price was close to $50, no problem with taxes in this case.
foobob @ Nov 13th 2006 6:31AM
"Games will cost $79 (R$169)"
About R$ 15 as a pirated disc, avaiable just around the corner. Piracy is rampant here and M$ is well aware it and even incentives it, after all, how would it get as many people using their software if they had to pay a small fortune for it?
That's why hardware is so pricey! It's not just taxes, it's a way to get some money off this shabby market by making secretive deals with "importers"...
sucks being a technohead in Brazil...