A good deal of them are on the PC, but the RPGs will stay on the console forever.

Interesting thought of why they are dropping the price only 50 bucks:

The new Halo 3 SKU.

I have the feeling the new Halo 3 SKU will be the first 360 to receive "falcon" parts. The falcon will probably introduce HDMI across all SKUs when it is in full production. The Halo 3 SKU will likely retail at the normal 399 price while the premiums will be down to 349.

I don't know if the Core will get a price cut or if the Elite SKU will drop an entire 50 bucks. I would guess something like:

Elite SKU = 449
Core SKU = 299 + memory card + game (?)

Then, their pricing scheme would be: 449, 399(limited), 349, 299

Then, when "falcon" is being produced for all SKUs, 50 dollar drops for Premium and Elite, 100 for Core: 399, 299, 199.

 Meowmints - The original Fable hit the PC, so this type of blanket statement is false.

@Leo-j - I know a good bit of the "exclusives" hit the PC realms, I just haven't kept up to snuff with all the particular games and I wanted to keep my thoughts a tad bit concervative as a result.  

I should say JRPGs, Lost Odessy, Blue Dragon, Eternal Sonata, Infinite Undiscovery.

After nearly two years on the market all they do is a lousy $50???

This seems to me like MS doing the minimum possible to

a) react to the PS3 price cut

b) divert attention away from the bad press the 360 has been getting as a result of the RRoD and disc-scratching issues.

This also makes the price of the Elite look even more bloated and it makes the Core look even more handicapped.

Because the other console (PS) was about the same price not $300 more expensive. Note that the most expensive console was the Saturn and look what happened to that despite its early release. The PS also appealed to people who liked having CDs as the media, for various unsaid reasons.

When you read my post, it should be obvious that I'm telling you to compare it with cheaper consoles, no? Or are you saying the Wii is the cheapest console ever? BTW, the PS is not a Nintendo console as far as I know...

Ms could also drop the price of their games from $60 to $50. That would help them reach casuals as well.

MS actually does have alot of their games @ $50. Blue Dragon was/is $50usd @ launch, and Viva Pinata was as well.

About my "60% of the reason Wii is selling well is because of the price":

We can assume through all the research that under $300 is the "mass market price". The issue with the Wii is, although it's definately not the cheapest console made in any generation (if anything, it's the most expensive console ever for an entry into next-gen @ $249 usd), the fact is, the other consoles are FAR more expensive. Last gen, the initial prices ranged from $200 for a Gamecube in Oct. 2001, to $300 for a PS2 in the same year. By May 2002, consoles were a mere $150-$200 from the GC to PS2/Xbox.

Thus far, this gen, consoles are $249-$600. Thats a huge jump. 25% increase on the minimum, and a 100% increase on the maximum. Considering the next cheapest entry (true entry) is the X360 Premium @ $399, that's $150 more, and out of the "mainstream" price range.

Also, about the tier pricing.

There was a quite over at NeoGAF, from someone that had a "reliable" source (go figure).

At any rate, this source at MS has stated what I've been saying since the drop was announced: They are clearing out inventory of non-Falcon models. Once the Falcon launches, they are going to drop the price another $50 on all models. Not only this, Microsoft will be MAKING money on the $299 premium. This is the exact reasoning why H&E said they would make the X360 profitable by Q4 2007 - a $299 premium that makes MS money.

He also said pricing on the Core/Elite was not taking a $50 drop. It was going to be $279 for core, and $449 for the Elite, as they are not as popular (production-wise), and far less inventory to clear.

Again, it's all rumor from a "reliable" source, but these are the same resources that said we'd see a MS pricedrop by August 1st....Which we did.

I think that the price cut will do nearly nothing for the sales (monthly, as NPD only reports monthly). 360 will still depend on release titles for sales increase.

I think that there will definitely be a large increase compared to July because there was a great deal of anticipation that MS would follow PS3 drop quickly, so most people just held off buying 360 in July. But August should look pretty much like June...