:D

I really hope that no matter the price they both come with a game, although that unfortunately isn't the case with the Slim it seems. If the Slim is €299 that's awesome, but if it doesn't come with a game it's essentially €359 for people who're new to the PS4 eco-system. Also, for €449 the Neo really should be more powerful than the rumored 4.2TF.

Ok, so currently the ps4 is available for about 349$ US.
Looking at the monthly sales, playstation usually starts growing around mid september. Of course, this year we don't have the same high caliber lineups as in previous years. So, a price drop in mid september makes sense, along with the slimline.

Sony has also shown that when run at the same price, ps is capable of beating xb. New Sony is about getting profits. These combined factors give me the idea that they will initially price the slim at 299$ and then have special incentive offers during the holidays. Sony also showed us previously that they've also learned from ms that the best pricing strategy is to have small price drops and then have "timed price drops" that only last for a few months. We've seen that this entire gen, with great deals during the holidays. It's the way sony has managed to keep the beast at 350$ for 3 years.

I expect also for the Neo to cost no more than 449$, and I'd half expect it to launch at 399$ with a free year sub to ps+.

So, to summarize:
PS4 dropped to 249-299$
PS4 Slim launch at 279$-329$ with free ps+ sub
Neo launched at 399$-449$ with free ps+ sub

its not a loss. Its just not as much of a gain as it could have been.

If PS4s releases at $250.... and next year drops to $200....etc. It's not a loss when you consider that even at $250 they are still making money on the box.

A better way to look at it is like this. 

If they sell at $250 instead of $300. Then for every console sold they are making $50 less than what they could have made. But what's important is how much more money are they making on average fir every console out there? If the numbers show that they make more than $50/yr in profits for every console out there, then it's better for them to get as many consoles out there as possible than think about hoe much more they could be making on the box. 

That part is wrong. Cause Sony had said they are more interested in marketshare than maximizing profits on the box.

What's been playing in their favor has just been how badly MS has been doing compared to them and how non existent Nintendo has been. There is no need to drop your price when you are not just selling more at a higher price, but selling more than any console you have ever made ever...... 

What?

I meant during the same timeframe of mid september

Quite a clever observation. It would be quite ingenius of Sony to offload some of the initial cost of the PS4S by increasing the PS+ membership as most consumers don't think that far ahead when they purchase a console and just look at the cost of the physical unit. By increasing the price of PS+ for all EXISTING and future PS+ users, they could easily offset $40-50 off the PS4S which in turn makes it even more attractive to new customers and further increases PS+ adoption rates.

I also wonder whether this was done in order to cut down the price of the Neo to consumers also....

I can see $250-299 initial price for the PS4S. Neither would surprise me. It's the Neo's price and specs that interest me. I don't think it will be 4.2TF.

Some solid participation in this thread since i went to sleep earlier, nice. Anyways, I should've made mention of the 4k player that is also not included with the slim, which is included with the Xbox One S, and that is currently $299. So if the Xbox One S, that not only is bigger than the PS4 slim, but also has a 4k player included with it, can sell for $299, and you know it will be $250 if not less this holiday, then I see no reason for the PS4, the console that was $100 cheaper at launch, to not be $250 or less

So, what does everyone think: will Sony actually be stupid enough to not include a game?