i dont think they will get a big boost until they get the main console under $200. I feel like a lot of people think buying the arcade will just nesitate buying a bunch of perferials resulting in not saving money at all. Getting the console with the whole shabang to $200 will have a similar effect to the ps3 dropping to $300. The more money conscious people will feel the price is finally reasonable, the ps3 having a higher reasonable price due to its bluray player.

But i could see the "slim" novelty having a bigger effect for the 360, because the original ps3 wasn't well known for bad reliability when the slim came out, while the original 360 was so a redesigned model, if it proves to be very reliable, could have a very big effect, unlike the ps3 slim which i think mostly sold so well due to getting down to an affordable price range.

Only in the short term.  It's not a price drop, just a redesign.  The PS3 Slim was a price drop.  There's a difference.  I don't think it'll have a lasting effect, like the PS3 slim has had.  

This pretty much means that the Xbox 360 will outsell the ps3 for the rest of the year...The holidays will be HUGE for MS

There will be few weeks long spike on sales but since there were no price cut it will return to current levels.

And weren't the previus models already sold at reduced prices at various retailers? So the 50 $ price cut won't have as much effect as you already could get those machines cheaply.

Well the 360 is definitely gonna see a boost from old model price cuts and people looking to upgrade to the slim.

I'm curious to see if it can out perform the PS3 in the coming weeks.

American sales boost of the 360 will more than likely make up for the Europe and Japan PS3 gains. PS3 may hold out the 360 by a small margin weekly sales. Both PS3 and 360 have big games coming in the next 12 months. The difference could be down to what sells more out of Kinect or PS Move.

Gran Turismo 5 will sell big on PS3- could be enough to hold off the 360 on its own. Halo:Reach and Gears of War 3 will sell well on the 360. 

It could go either way in regards to PS3 and 360 sales. 360 Arcade @ $149 is a great move. $299 for the 360 Slim looks well priced. $249 Elite 120Gb seems like good value. 

Black Friday will mean even cheaper 360 and PS3 prices for consoles and games in the US. 

Aggressive bundling of PS Move and Kinect will make the difference when the Xmas sales period kicks off in the last two months of the year: November and December. 

that is correct,

the people that think otherwise are in denial.

It will make a big difference in the short term.

The price cut will help shift a lot of consoles and the new model will persuade a few people to buy it or for current 360 owners to re-buy. The first month sales will see 360 overtake PS3 once again.

Then going into the holidays 360 has it's AAA titles coming out. regardless of what the guy above said GT5 will not be a massive system seller because it is just about to enter it's 5th year since the console launched. Those people who love GT will have bought the console already as there will be loads of games that appeal to them. The assumption there are a mass horde of people waiting to buy the console when the game comes out is just wrong. When the game was supposed to come out in 2007 then yes it would of been right but not now. 140m consoles have been sold this gen, the only people buying a PS3 to play this game will be people who have bought other consoles already. If these people are 360 owners then would they really pay out again for the game when they have Forza series? A series which racing fans define as the best racing game out there? Europe is where most GT's are sold, in the UK to be precise. Last time around it was Sony country. It is no longer like that here.

Point being i do not think GT5 will have any effect at all on the 360's console sales. That is like saying Halo Reach will have an effect on PS3 sales, which it won't. Most people who want to play that game already own a 360.

Now the longterm is very different.

After the price cut old models are gone the new 360 will be potentially the only one on the market. An expensive console, almost the same price as the PS3 (£60 difference here in UK). We already see now the 360 numbers falling quite badly in some regions. Will a new £199 console really help those sales? I do not think so. If that happens we will just see a return to the current numbers. If that happens can that really be called a success? Again i do not think so. There would of been no point in making a new console to get the same sales as the old one.

Which makes me think something is not quite right. We will most likely see in november when Kinect comes out a new cheaper version of the current new slim. They said it won't be different names just different HD size. So i would expect a new arcade type 360 with a 20GB HD that will be aimed purely at these casuals Microsoft are after. Maybe one without a Wi-Fi. Which could mean they drop price by a lot. And in my opinion that will sell a lot.

So in short the current set up will have a boost but not a long one. Then in holidays were see the cheaper version announced to coincide with Kinect.

MS has already stated a new "slim arcade" is coming at 199. They're just clearing old stock first. The article is at gamespot, I've posted it before, not reposting cus I dont have the link offhand.

They're not dumb enough to only have a 299 model. Half their sales are at 199.

Currently the 250 Slim and old Arcade @149 are #1 and 2 on the Amazon videogames bestseller list, so it's obviously having a short term effect.

I think it will make a difference for 2 or 3 months but not long term.  It could surprise me though.