Overall sales of 360 will trounce the origional xbox sales, That in itself proves that Microsoft are becoming a gaming force to be reckoned with, And nobody can deny that the RROD scared a lot of potential customers off, With RROD cases fast vanishing and customer confidence in the machine starting to return all i see are clear blue skys ahead for microsoft and the xbox brand........

@shanbcn
I see it in another way round

MS has come from a non factor 3rd party to the mighty PS2 to a console that is competing head on with the new PS3. that in itself is the hugest achievement of it all.. SEGA and nintendo both failed(n64, SAT,DC,GC) until now. so irrespective of what people think id say MS have done a commendable job. kudos,you.

doesn't really give high hopes for ms and their next console though, does it?

if sony release their next console and it's the same price as the next xbox, what the hell are microsoft going to do then? the 360 has to be 'significantly cheaper' than the ps3 in order to compete with it. it has to resort to wii level prices to compete with the ps3, and it's still a stretch for them. people here on the forums are saying that it's great that ms are making the 360 so affordable, and i agree. but what they fail to realise (or choose to omit), is that this is down to pressure on their side. when they say that this will put pressure on sony or say sony is in trouble due to the super affordable prices, i just laugh. they said the exact same thing with the april price cut alongside gta 4. before AND after this price cut, sony is in a BETTER position. it's price and it's sales prove that.

the 360 is already affordable. now it's going into clearance prices and it's not a good look when you see a brand new 360 retailing at £129 to the casual eye.

The effects will be limited, but I suppose it will create a permanent increase in sells. I think a good ad campaign on TV with the new prices and showing games would do miracles, but with such short margins now, it's unlikely till the christmas period.

If this price cut has longer effect then the last one and if it proves succesfull in christmas sales then Sony is in trouble, they will be forced to drop the price again on the PS3 and take even heavier losses than they allready do and the pressure is on Sony if that happens. The only way the pressure will be on the xbox is if the pricut fails and Sony keeps their sales up.

If they end up 2nd that will ensure a greater following of gamers into the next generation and if they (as I think they will) launch first again next generation then being 2nd this gen is gold worth to get early adopters, the danger with that is that there may be consumers that are unwilling to buy the next xbox right away because of fear of a new RROD.

Sony is not doing fine they lose money on every console sold and that can never be fine or good in anyway.

How is that not good in the casual eye? they can now afford the console and more games with it and remember that xbox has been out 3 years now and it´s time to hit that pricepoint.

sony will only be forced if this price drop does serve a long term effect, how likely is that though? you fail to realise that ms have been forced to cut their prices at least once this year alone. the other may have been already planned, but there is no way in hell you would plan 2 cuts in the space of 6 months.

ending up second means shit, sony were a distance first and look where they ended up. nintendo were a close third last gen, where are they now? the last generation is in no way indicative of what the next generation will bring. this generation has proven that.

sony are losing money on every console sold, but they make more money on software than they lose on hardware. and how do you know microsoft aren't making a loss with these cuts?

sony are in a better position because people would rather pay £299 for their console rather than £199 for their nearest competition.

and to answer your last question, why are people buying more ps3's than 360's even though the premium is £100 cheaper than the ps3? people can afford £299 but not £199? people can afford to buy a wii at £179, but not a 360 at £159? the demand of the 360 has nothing to do with it's price. the brand is just not strong enough.

It will boost overall sales in Europe but Im not seeing it passing the PS3... it seems that European are much more loyal to a brand ;)

Wow so much wishful thinking in that post it´s hilarious.

The only thing making sense in the real world in that post is the last part, Xbox brand is not strong everything else is wishful thinking.

It won't turn the tide, perhaps they'll get close or even pass the PS3 for a week or two but it'll fall back behind pretty soon I think.
Europe is a lost cause for the 360, the price is already insane and by far the best deal this gen so the problem seems to be demand in the end.