I was expecting a price cut in the Americas first...but this does seem real to me. Check out the gamesindustry article. It says 'retailers would not confirm on the record' whether rumours were true. I take that to mean its all but certain but it can't be confirmed yet.
Easter is apparently a big sales holiday in Europe (see PS3 launch, March 2007), and since it falls earlier this year than last year the timing makes alot of sense. It also allows Microsoft to offset, a bit at least, any boost Wii and PS3 will get in Japan from Golden Week in late April.
For the USA, Easter is mostly about looking for chocolate eggs, so I'm not expecting a price cut for the Xbox 360 until at least early April, and if I were a betting man, I'd wager April 20-25 for a 360 price cut of $50.
I think even with a price cut in Europe/Others, PS3 may still outsell 360 each week. The Americas is a different story...a $230 Xbox 360 becomes very tempting as a second console, only $100 more than PS2, $20 less than Wii. You'd probably see 360 sales at 90k/week+ for at least three months at $230/$300/$400 in the wake of GTA4. Wii would still outsell it most weeks, but it would certaintly increase the potentail of having two 20+ million user consoles in the USA, and push the date of Wii catching 360 back by weeks or months in the Americas.
Sony would probably have to introduce a new bundle at least to combat a $230 Xbox 360 in the Americas.
People are difficult to govern because they have too much knowledge.
When there are more laws, there are more criminals.
- Lao Tzu
