rocketpig said:
Sony definitely has the advantage when it comes to hardware cost reduction... They've been doing it a lot longer and a lot better than MS. On the other hand, both companies have put similar target dates on their chipset revisions IIRC. Given Sony's reliance on IBM for this reduction (just like MS), it will be interesting to see which hits shelves first. As for profitability, MS is there already. They have the advantage of being already in the black going into July when the bigger games for both consoles should start appearing on a regular basis (other than the occasional release like GTA or MGS like we're getting now). It will also be interesting to see if MS takes that time to attack NA for the Madden release. Most people outside the US don't understand how important it is in the US market to be "the Madden console". As it stands now, the 360 is shaping up nicely to fill that role for the next several years. But if MS sits around too long, they could easily start losing that market back to Sony. |
At first, I was going to say a $50 price drop+Madden and Gears 2 bundles would be just the thing MS needs for the holidays. However, Sony would surely counter with a price drop of its' own, and they're sure to have Resistance or FFXIII bundles, which would surely help them more. So, if by some epically long shot they could pull it off, I think Microsoft could own the holidays (minus Wii) if they went balls-out with a $100 drop across the board.
