Nintendo would only save like $1 by cutting out Wii Sports from the Wii. It makes no sense to do that, especially since it gives the Wii a great piece of software for new buyers to have fun with.

Even if MS does a price cut, the 360 still doesn't have the Wii-mote. Nintendo is pwning the competition because of its price and the wii-mote. The 360 may have a few family friendly games but its just not a console that appeals the same way to families and casual adult gamers like the Wii. The Wii is literally expanding the market and its creating a new market that the PS3 and 360 cannot enter because of their inherent design and cost.

I agree with KruzeS, I wouldn't expect a 360 price cut before Halo 3. Semptember is a huge month for the 360, featuring both Halo 3 and Mass Effect, two huge exclusives, along with Assasin's Creed.

I'd imagine Microsoft would want to let those games sell as many consoles as possible at the current price point before dropping it.

The new memory cards (now up to 512MB for around $40) means the core system is a reasonable alternative for a casual gamer, and I'd say XLA has plenty of casual games.

I'm still not entirly convinced that the Wii and 360 are in direct competition. i.e. It is probably MUCH rarer for someone to own both a 360 and a PS3 than to own both a 360 and a Wii. Of all those Wii's sold, how many are in households that already have a 360? In my mind Wii vs 360 is kinda like iPod vs CD player: you may get an iPod, but you probably are keeping your CD player too even though both play music.

It also remains to be seen what kind of legs the Wii actually has. It is definilty a brilliant marketing system and extremely creative. But will waving your arms around to play a game truely become the ultimate gaming experience?

Only time can tell.

My prediction was right, ms will counter Wii when it closing on their 9.8mil lead.
now come the real task for nintendo when ms drop their core and premium price and sandwich the wii.

now with this article its almost garanteed ms will drop price before oct.

if MS drop price, sony will have a huge problem, even with a 100$ drop its not signicant to enough to boost sales.

Gballzack - point taken.

I don't think MS would steal Wii's consumers with lowering their price. However, they can and will intice come of them.

What if such a price drop would entice just 30% of consumers to buy a X360 over a Wii, then add 10% to its current sales?

It'd easily then, beat the Wii by a decent margin.

A core + memory card for $199 would be the bees knees. A decent price, a great system, and a memory card the size of the Wii Hard Drive.

and if ms also drop premium to $299 then its a serious threat to nintendo.

I've said it all along, Sony can't win a price war. If indeed the sweet spot is $199, Sony will have the hardest time meeting that price point.

threat to nintendo? yeah sure? LOL.
i just don`t imagine a casual gamer, which would buy a console, without ability to make savegame. That means 50$ for Memory card, but then again, adding 50$ u get HDD, wireless contoler, and 1 month free gold Live! (can be used 3 times).
So there is really no point of Core. Core - is just a pastgen thing.

And nintendo, till they have so high demand, they will no reduce price, they can even reduce price only after 1 year.

Crazzy - 120 million people what you just bashed last generation.

Core isn't past gen since it kinda invented the 2-tier gaming system (outside of Sega and their 1000 addons).

Any system can be a threat if the content and price is there to deliver, regardless of the name. Sony was there for 10 years with the Playstation brand, Nintendo had it with the Nintendo Entertainmen System brand, and MS could have something viable with the Xbox brand.

I think people are putting too much emphasis on the price of another console affecting Nintendo's sales, honestly I can't imagine too many people saying, "Wow I wish I had a 360, but its too expensive, oh well, I'll settle for a Wii I guess...". Even then I feel the only consumer who would really be affected by a PS3 or 360 price cut would be someone who already wanted one in the first place. I can't imagine too many casual gamers who would be swayed so easily between two such completely different consoles based solely on a price margin of fifty dollars.

Though now that you mention it, this could indeed be a big upset for Christmass time when Parents are the ones buying the consoles for the kids. If a kid has a wish list and a Wii or 360 are listed as interchangeable choices by the Kid, the parent will probably go with what's cheaper or more available which could mean the 360. And a lowered price tag would put the 360 within reach of alot more kids.

Dropping the price with the release of Halo 3 would be a terrible idea. The people that want Halo 3 and will buy the console for Halo 3 are going to buy the system with the current price. Those people that are on the fence may or may not buy it at launch with the current price, but that's why you lower the price after the sales die down. That way you get the same amount of people and make more money.

 -edit-

And it would be interesting to see what Nintendo does if the 360 goes down to $200.  I still have trouble believing the 360 will go down that cheap so soon, but who knows, I've been wrong plenty of times before.