• Bloomberg, Wednesday, July 11, 2007 1:45 PM

In order to compete with Nintendo's top-selling Wii game console, Microsoft plans to cut the $299 to $479 prices of its Xbox 360 game console, says Shane Kim, vice president of Microsoft Game Studios. It hopes to lure customers who aren't interested in traditional combat and racing video games. He won't say when the cuts will happen.

The company also says that Walt Disney Co. will offer films for rent through Microsoft's Xbox Live online service. Time Warner's Warner Bros. and Viacom's Paramount studio already sell and rent movies on Xbox Live. The Disney films to be available include "The Queen," "Bridge to Terabithia" and "Déjà vu."

The Xbox 360 has trailed the $249 Wii in sales since Nintendo introduced the player in November. This week, Sony lowered the price of the PlayStation 3 console, which has lagged behind both Xbox and Wii, by 17% to $499 from $599 in the U.S.

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