You talk about all these price cuts but why can't M$ cut their price as well? They even have more capacity to do so than sony

Hmm, you got a point there. I thought such a thing was moot though because most  home console JRPGs this gen are on 360 not the ps3 and even FFXIII is on 360 as well...oh well.

The casual direction won't effect 360 in any major way. If you think about it the drought of core exclusive titles could be blamed on the fact that quite a few of them were released in the 2009/2010 period, if a game is great it'll get a release every 2-3 years rather than annually. Considering MS released most of it's IPs in 2010, it's understandable that the 2011 will be a droughty year, hence the casual direction I think, because of the amount of shovelware that can be produced to maintain the high software sales to make up for the lack of exclusive that will likely appear in 2012/2013 area. If you look at the PS3 lineup, it is beastly, and that's because of the fact that most of them have been released 2009. If an exclusive has annual release then in most cases, it's not a very well made exclusive with slight tweaks to it's design that would not justify the full pricetag.

At the end of the day, Sony just have way more IPs from the days of PS/PS2 to dig into whereas MS only has the XBox library to go by, most of which was multiplatform as PS2 was just too big of a machine to be ignored. I don't think MS will give up on the core audience, as it is after all a core console and even the original Xbox was aimed at the "mature" audience rather than general audience. Ie 20-30 age group. It's just now Live is infested with f'ing kids left and right.

It won't ever get to the stage where developers will just stop producing those games. Most of them do something they like and what makes profit for the business, as long as those franchises continue to sell I don't see the reason to switch to producing loads of random Kinect/Move titles that are mainly aimed at the casual audience.

Quick background, the sales in 2010:
X360: 13.6 million
PS3: 14.3 million

Lifetime sales as of Dec 31 2010:
X360: 50.4 mill
PS3: 46.2 mill
------------------
total gap: 4.2 mill

Rough predicted sales in 2011:
X360: 13 million
PS3: 14 million
....................
total gap: 3.2 mill

Sales in 2012:
X360: 8.5 mill (big drop in sales as the Xbox 3 is officially revealed at E3 with a highly anticipated  launch in Nov 2012)
PS3: 12.5 mill
.....................
total gap: - 0.8 million

PS3 has catched up.

Sales in 2013:
X360: 3.5 mill (similar to the fate of the PS2 in 2007, the X360 is being ignored in favour of the new Xbox)
PS3: 8 mill (big drop in sales after the PS4 has been officially announced at E3, launch in Nov 2013)
..................
total gap: - 5.3 million

PS3 is the clear winner with lifetime sales of 80.7 million units by Dec 31 2013  compared to the X360's 75.4 million units.

That's all nice and well, but if Sony waits another year to annouce the PS4 or whatever, the same shit will happen next gen, where it will only be able to overtake Xbox after it becomes near enough negligible whether it does or not. Whichever way you spin it, it is still a massive surprise that Sony is not the market leader as many analysts had it pegged it to be, considering it's previous success with PS and PS2, how one company manages not to be the market leader despite the already established base as large as 100m is pretty surprising, but then again, the launch price was a real bitch.

I don't really see Sony waiting a whole other year to announce the ps4, even if it does come out a year after (a mistake I don't see Sony repeating) they still won't let Microsoft hog the spotlight.  I'm sure it would be just like the ps3 and 360, both unveiled durring the same E3.  

So when do you see the both consoles launch? Nov 2013?

Should have made a poll.

I predict grow, we knew about Natal, Move, GT5, and Halo in 2010, but we didn't know about the Slim model, nor did most people think Natal and Move would sell so well. Even then, until the Slim, the PS3 was outselling the 360.

Then again 2009 was just the opposite, and 2008 was like 2010!

So we really don't know, maybe the PS3 price cut will magically push more sales then a 360 price cut, even though they both cost the same.

Personally I think a price cut would help MS a bit more, as a $199 Kinect-360 bundle would look appealing, especially if the Wii is anything above $149.

Also a rumored Halo remake, some good Kinect software and the deal is sealed.

I just don't see anything Sony can do that will change this. Yes Sony has some big games coming out in 2011, but I don't see anything other then Uncharted 3 pushing significant hardware, and MS has two big hitters (Forza and Gears). Resistance 3, Killzone 3, InFAMOUS 2, The Last Guardian, and Twisted Metal are all nice, but after the first two, those games never break 2 million.

Basically put it, any good Kinect support, and the 360 tops the PS3. Price cuts will benefit the 360 just as much, or more then the PS3. Slim models and motion peripherals are done, and well those are the only things that have drastically changed sales in the past.

2013 or 2012.

Even then, I don't see PS3 sales being 8 million in 2013, nor do I think Sony will reduce the gap by anything until then. The market is becoming saturated, and Kinect is selling better then the Wii did at launch. If anything 360 sales should grow or be on par this year, and PS3 sales should fall. Also when MS announces a Xbox successor, it's likely PS3 sales will drop as people know the PS4 is comming soon, and non motion console hype may be dying by then (Move isn't selling much).

possibly, hard to say really, as both are just coming off of peak performance years.  Usually console makers don't role out new consoles until they have had a couple years of decline in sales under their belts.  If sales drop dramatically this year, and price cuts don't help, it could be as early as 2012 for both (thats when I expect the new nintendo console, which will be announced this E3).  However, I'm pretty sure price cuts can keep them up this year and possibly next.  So earliest I see new consoles from Sony and Microsoft (and it will be the same time this go around) is early 2013, or as late as early 2014.