I was talking to my friend who is a gamespot manager and he said he would be surprised if there was an Xbox 360 price drop. Now that it is not supply contraint he tells me it is out selling the PS3. Overral he says all systems are selling very well. So I ask again what if there is no 360 price drop for gta4? Obviously this is for the usa since it has already happened in others but why not hold out in the region where MS is strongest. I am sure most will dismiss this and talk about that they have to do it because they lost 2 maybe 3 months to SONY etc but if they can wait it out a little longer because of gta4 would they. Is not like the PS3 is outselling it by much and if gta4 is considered a system seller why not let it sell at a higher premium etc. By the way I think there will be a price drop just so they can have the elite be as expensive as the cheapest PS3.

Erm, there already was a pricedrop. Like, last week or so? :s

With big games like GTA4 coming out soon i don't think the 360 needs a price drop. I don't feel Sony will do a price drop with most of their big games coming out this year, so MS will fell little to no pressure to drop the price, MS is making money in the game division and i don't feel they will fell the need to put themselves in the red again.

Speaking of SONY they didn't do price drops in all the regions at the same time. I bet Nintendo would drop the price of the Wii in Japan first if demand slows down compared to usa and others where it still sells quite a bit. Basically why not get as much money as you can on a region that may be doing well.

I think Microsoft should advertise the hell out of the 360 GTAIV SKU, but hold off on a price drop.

It would be better to use it to counter MGS4.

Microsoft should reduce the price to bring the perfect storm principle in to play before the summer months settle in. They will not have such a golden opportunity again this year. The question is whether they should use a combination to generate greater momentum, or should they hang back and reap greater rewards. They have ceded far too much market share as is generating profits off of the hardware. Not only to Sony but most especially to Nintendo.

To be brutally honest I doubt Microsoft would get nearly the effect at any other time this year as they would during the month prior to the launch of Grand Theft Auto. Not only that but the affect would be far more lasting, and far less contested. Right now Sony is out of position to match, and Nintendo has no cause. Later this year that will probably not be the case. No title released on the 360 this year will be any more mainstream then this. Finally this would give them one hell of a short term boost.

The question I would ask if this isn't enough to get Microsoft in the price cutting frame of mind. What would get them to lower the price this year. Making profit is good, but this a perfect opportunity to run up the score on Sony, and perhaps stall Nintendo off till the latter half of this year in the North American market.

In theory, but both consoles would have to drop BEFORE GTAIV, otherwise the drops would be too close together.

Sony would also need to sacrifice any profitability of their PS3 hardware for another year in the midst of what is likely the PS2's last year of substantial sales.

This is true.