Its gotta be priced around $60. It'll bomb otherwise.

First off the "Wave" name is wrong... so that puts into question the price that this "trusted source" put out... 

Taking everything in context, I think the price is more likely to be higher than lower.

This is based upon the Sweedish price listing, the Edge article, and Microsoft's tendency to over-price its add-ons. Only this time, it could very well come back to "bite" Microsoft.

Of course, we will all know in two weeks. Then we can really speculate for the next few months.

Mike from Morgantown

I expect there will be a cheap "Natal cost reduced 360 slim" bundle for 199 $ or even less.

Natal sucks for core games, but it could really be great for casual games. But casual gamers do not own 360s - which is probably the main reason why Microsoft invented Natal: to make the 360 attractive to an audience that so far did not have any reason to buy a 360.

That strategy might really work, but it will only work if a basic bundle of a 360, Natal and a Minigame collection costs only about as much as a Wii.

The Natal hardware alone might eventually be typical Microsoft overpriced - but there will definitely be a cheap bundle. Still, I just cannot image Microsoft selling Natal alone for more than 99$. Anything more than 99$ would be regarded as way to expensive.

$99 - $129 not sure what the british pounds equal would be.

The same if past trends are anything to go by but that could just be for $-£ conversions

I'm going to side with Pachter and say its going to be between $69.99-79.99 alone.

Now things get interesting:  bundles.  

1) IF MS was planning on cutting the price $50 on the Arcade and Elite, that would make them $149.99 and $249.99 respectively.  Its a given that is reasonable considering its been almost 2 years since the last price cut and their cuts are usually $50.  

2) IF there is a slim introduced that cost even less to manufacture, such a price cut will be even a LARGER given.

Now, if you consider 1 as a likelihood and 2 as a possibility, they could realistically decide to NOT drop the price and instead bundle 'Natal' with EVERY 360 SOLD GOING FORWARD without raising the price.

So, I'm calling it now:  when 'Natal' launches, $199 'Natal' Arcade and $299 'Natal' Elite.  No traditional price cut for the 360 this year, 'Natal' in with every console from now on.

This might not be announced at E3 because it could cannibalize sales, but it might because it would get big time cheers and be great PR.

Thoughts?

No price cut and Natal bundled from now on would boost the 360's sales initially based on the media buzz around it. Then it would rely on good software to justify the hype and keep the momentum going.

It's possible.

Im going to go with a cost of $45-55. So depending on their margin they will charge shops between $50 and $75 for the device which yields a price between $69-99 for the standalone unit.

I think they will bundle the Elite SKU but they will cut the price on the Arcade. So the Arcade will come down to $149 which means that once the Natal unit is added the overall cost is $219-249 which gives people a cheaper entry price if they don't want the HDD or if they don't want Natal. I think they will keep the cost of the Elite at $299 with the Natal bundled.

Alternatively they will bundle with both SKUs and keep the prices the same, but im not 100% certain of this unless of course they reintroduce the Xbox 360 core for a cheaper price again. I don't see them taking the hit on bundling Natal with every Xbox 360 if not everyone wants one.

The main reason that I said they would in my earlier post was because of the benefit to game publishers if every 360 sold going forward has this guaranteed.  It allows publishers to feel more comfortable committing to making games for it.

The secondary reason is that I feel MS is probably making enough of the 360 now to be able to afford it and not raise the price of the console.