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[thismeintiel]

Immortal said:

thismeintiel said:

While I agree that a $199 PS3 is at least 1-2 years, to even imply that a PS3 at that price point wouldn't be HUGE is quite delusional.  I have full faith that a $249 model is coming later this year, and I know that is going to be enough to propel the PS3 past the 360 once and for all.

Look at Wii, for instance, the most recent console to get to $199. The price cut was huge, but within 8 or 9 months, Wii was already in a terrible decline again. Skip another half a year or so, and Wii couldn't possibly be doing worse. You see, it had a huge effect on the holidays - which, in itself, was debatable due to the effects of NSMBW, WFP and retailers' offers - but, in terms of long term effect, nothing. The power of $199 is exaggerated, really.

Oh, and I find it quite delusional, in your words, that a $249 model will be enough to push PS3 past 360 - MS still has more price cuts up their sleeve for the moment than Sony and, unlike Nintendo, they won't hesitate to use them.

The Wii has sold over 85 mil already, so its weaker sales can be attributed to saturation and as Jay520 pointed out, the Wii is a hot item during the holiday season.  This is probably because of its appeal to families and casuals during a time when most of them are shopping for gifts.  The PS3 on the other hand, sells relatively well all year long.  It also benefits from having more value for the buck, having more graphical ability, a Blu-ray player, and free online gaming (Wii does have this as well, but through a slightly complicated friend code system).  This is why we have seen such a huge difference in its sales since its price cut in '09.  And even though the 360 has a $199 entry model, the PS3 was able to drop the PS3/360 gap by ~ 4 mil in just a year.  This was around a time when a lot of 360 guys thought the gap would only conitnue to grow and the PS3 had no shot of closing it by even a mil.  In 2010, the PS3 still outsold the 360 even with that $199 model and huge 360 sales this holiday pushed by Kinect.  And unless Kinect can give 360 a repeat of last holiday season, there isn't going to be too much to stop the PS3 from outselling it in a year or two. 

Right now, the official gap is less than 3 mil (2.88 mil).  When the PS3 drops to $249, it will recieve a larger boost than the 360 does when MS undoubtedly drops its Elite model to just $249, due to a new low entry price coupled with that added value.