TOKYO (Thomson Financial) - The Japanese unit of U.S. software giant Microsoft Corp plans to slash the price of its Xbox 360 home video game console by nearly 30 percent in a move that will undercut the more popular Wii machine from Nintendo Co, the Nikkei reported on Monday, without citing sources.

Microsoft will lower the price of the Xbox 360's Arcade model by 8,000 yen ($73.50) to 19,800 yen, making the device the first among competing consoles to carry a price tag less than 20,000 yen, the business daily said.

The Arcade model, which sells for 27,800 yen, is not equipped with a hard-disk drive and is the least expensive of the Xbox 360's three models.

The company will reduce the prices of the two other models as well by 5,000 yen to 8,000 yen, the report said.

Nintendo's Wii machine, which leads the domestic market for home video game consoles, is priced at 25,000 yen, while Sony Corp unit Sony Computer Entertainment Inc sells the PlayStation 3 for 39,800 yen.

($1=108.82 yen)

yasuhiko.seki@thomsonreuters.com

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yas/ng



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