Well It's the same about PSone, N64, Saturn... PS2, Xbox, Gamecube...

The dominant platform will end up the generation being the most expensive console, while the others have to drop the price a bit lower so they can be alive in the market...

Will this happen this gen? I mean, all other gens the consoles were very similiar in horsepower and features. But the case now it's different...

Discuss

I don't think Sony will be quick to drop the price of the PS3, as I don't think they're still trying to win the war and are more interested in being short/medium term profitable. So, only if Sony recovers from their financial woes and the PS3 stays on the market for a long time.

Well, as long as the demand stays high, Nintendo of course will not cut the price. Who knows, it might happen. I mean, here we are, more than 2 years after the launch, and the Wii's still selling out in a lot of places. Microsoft and Sony may just have to cut their prices to less than Wii's $250 to keep their sales going, while at the same time Nintendo's console keeps on selling truckloads. We might never see a Wii pricecut. :p And the Xbox360 Arcade's already cheaper.

Interesting observation, One_touch_KO. I hadn't noticed that historical tidbit!

Unfortunately for Sony, it will be a while before they can comfortably drop the PS3 price below $250.

The PS3 sales would have to really fall for them to even consider it. If demand from now on just slowly drops, then I don't see Sony dropping the price from $400 until late 2009, and even then it would probably only be $50.... if they wait into 2010 then perhaps they will drop $100.

But for them to then have a further price drop of $50 again could be another year, and I think by 2011 Nintendo will have dropped the price anyway (they won't have stock issues then so it is not a stupid decision as it is now)

A US$249 PS3? Then the real question is: when?

Likely as long as Nintendo can, more money doesn't hurt them.
Maybe, should sales start suffering, they could adjust the price, but if this should happen late in this gen's life, they could just ignore it exploiting the huge gap accumulated to keep first place.
This doesn't mean there won't be cuts, when it will be the moment, they'll be necessary to widen Wii's audience, but that Nintendo can do them following only its own plans almost without undergoing competitors' influence.

The argument that the Wii was only selling better because of price went out the window when the 360 arcade's price dropped below the Wii. The longevity of the Wii is an unknown factor right now. It could die off as fast as it has surged or it could have a sustained momentum. It all depends how Nintendo plans to keep people excited about it. People were searching for Wiis this holiday because of Wii Fit. Then we have Wii Motion Plus. Next year who knows. I do figure that the PS3 should fall below 299 by sometime in 2010. The question can the Wii stay at it's current price till then. I don't really see them dropping the price of the Wii this year. Not with Wii Sports Resort looming on the horizon.

Off topic for a second. Does anyone think a 1:1 sword rpg game would be cool for the Wii?

Hmmm, well the Arcade model made up half of the X360 American sales for Black Friday week, so the question is was it just because it was black friday week, or has it been the best seller since the price cut, or has it managed to become the best seller of the three even before the cut?

Sarcasm??? :S