It's foolish to assume the nextbox is coming out any time in the near future. There's still room for a few price cuts with the 360. We wont be seeing a new console from MS till at least 2012 at the earliest. Personally I think the reason Kinect sales have declined is because Microsoft were arrogant with the pricing. They should have priced the standalone at $80-$100 and the bundle $50-$60 more than the base model. Once MS cut the price of Kinect and more core games come out for it I think sales will stay consistently high like Wii Fit.

I think a Kinect pricecut and some actual games help revitalize the 360.

I think $99 Kinect could even rival a PS3 with $249 pricecut, but if Sony cuts the price to $199, well then, MS is screwed. As soon as the PS3 hits $199, it will sell MASSES. And I'm talking around 100k each week in both EMEAA and Americas.

However, i don't see a $100 pricecut as realistic at the moment. That's why MS should put the pressure on Sony now and cut the price of Kinect. Xbox 360 with Kinect at $249 and sony got real problems.

And of course, MS needs some games. The only 360 games I can think of at the moment is Gears 3 and Kingdoms. WTF is that? Even the Wii could rival that lineup with Zelda Skyward Sword and Conduit 2.

Expect WII and 360 counter price cut

Not really only 8k off Wii sales? However, I will say that the 360 sales will probably be slow for the next 5 months till Gears 3 is out, so they are going to lose some ground.

MS is going to push Kinect even further come E3, and I think Kinext well sell well throughout the holidays.

Another winter of Wii/360 domination in the US will give the boost MS needs to keep second place WW, or at least come very close to that.

Bottom line is sales between now and the holiday don't make much difference. Over the last few years and many years before it's always been about holiday sales, which I think MS will have no problem with. Halo remake, Gears 3, Forza 4, a few surprise titles, more kinect support and the potential for a price cut will jump sales.

As for a new XBox this holiday? Not happening. They are just starting to hire for the next console project, so my guess is we are still 2 years off from a new console.

I see PS3 outselling both Wii and X360 even if they cut the price, too. At $199 people will just get the PS3. I know many people who would instantly grab a PS3 a 199. The PS3 is the ideal Blu-Ray player and combine that with the lineup they have, people will just get a PS3.

Look over at the gaming forums how many people are agreeing with me. the $199 PS3 pricetag would THE ultimate selling point of the PS3.

Actually i don't see how you think that when you look at year to date sales. Xbox may be in third this year but look at the numbers  none of the consoles are ahead by much. So if your going by this weeks sales alone which is typically a period when console sales lose steam then you can imply that all consoles are in trouble just because they dropped in sales. So basically you made this article a little prematrue so i will dis regard your remarks. 

PS3 beat the 360 2yrs  in a row. I don't see why not now. But the 360 is selling better then ever while the other 2 are down.  I don't wee a reason for Microsft to be upset.

MS could easily counter with  a $199 elite (which now only lacks blu-ray, free to play online and the PS3 titles) and possibly even a $100 or $150 Arcade. Imagine the people buying cheap Arcades!

Either way I don't think MS is going to sit on their hands of Sony drops the price of their systems. Infact I see Microsoft coming out and announcing a price match the first day Sony drops their prices. Win-win for everyone either way.

Well played, Savior.