Seihyouken said:
Jeronimo66 said:
I see the 360 slashing price as low as 150 this year.
If sony drops the price of the ps3 to 299, I think 360 will still outsell ps3 at a 150 entry point.
And if sony drops to 299 this year, I don't expect them to drop the price next year, and since 360 will still be outselling the ps3, I dont expect microsoft to slash the price of the 360 next year either.
A 299 ps3 cannot touch a 149 dollar xbox 360, it just can't.
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History disagrees. In Q4 2007 when the PS3 dropped its price to $399.99, they closed the gap between them and the 360 ($279.99) down to $120 ($140 later in Europe/Japan). From that time until the 360 had a firesale for the 20GB Pro model and dropped it's price to $299.99 followed up with a huge price cut for all models making the cheapest one $199.99, the 360 didn't manage to outsell the PS3 in weekly, worldwide sales even once. The 360 was incapable of outselling the PS3 at a difference of under $140.
Not only would a $299.99 PS3 "touch" a $149.99 360, it would consistently outsell it between Q1 and Q3. The only questionable period would be Q4, where consumers are significantly more price-concious. However, if the PS3 were to issue a $100 price cut IN Q4, then the pent up demand as well as the spontanious purchases would likely put the two on even grounds in overall sales at a $150 difference. However, the main difference between the two that could push Sony ahead of Microsoft is the games. Sony's Q4 lineup of games is pretty much solid. Final Fantasy XIII in Japan will close much of any gap between the two consoles in the west and Gran Turismo 5 is heavily rumored for a December release which would ensure PS3's dominance in Europe. After those two megatons, Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, M.A.G., Heavy Rain, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, Katamari Forever, and EyePet rounds out a pretty spectacular lineup. On the otherside, Microsoft doesn't have a single exclusive game announced for Q4 this year. Halo 3: ODST is September, Mass Effect 2 is 2010, Alan Wake is TBA, and Ninety-Nine Nights II is TBA 2009, but only currently in Japan. Everyone seems to be hoping out of necessity that Microsoft will announced a slew of huge games all coming this year at E3, but not much supports this train of thought. Forza Motorsport 3 is an obvious game to be announced at E3, but every Forza Motorsport has released in May so far with a two year difference between them. In the same sense as God of War III, I would not be one bit surprised if Forza 3 is a 2010 title. We'll almost definitely be getting at least one new game announcment from Rare, but the developer's history suggests that they won't have more than one game released this year, if even that. Furthermore, Rare games never seem to sell spectacularly. Lionhead Studios will probably announce something, but I don't think anyone is dilusional enough to think it will actually come this year. I expect the typical standby's for Microsoft this Q4 such as Scene It? 3, Naruto 3, and Dance Dance Revolution 4, but anyone expecting too much more than the above is setting themselves up for massive disappointment.
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