1. A Platinum "with bonuses" sounds good in theory. However, in practice, you would have to have substantial bonuses that a) justify the increased cost of the platinum, and b) don't feel like you're taking stuff AWAY from the gold members. That'd be hard to do. Better, I think, to simply lower the price to $50 per year.

2. While $199 is the "sweet spot" there is only 1 of the 3 models in that spot. And while we may mock them, Sony has a valid point in ringing up the "extra" charges that are practically required, most notably a hard drive. I would suggest dropping the Arcade model all together, and lowering the prices of the Premium and Elite to $199 and $299, and maybe consider increasing the HD again.

how much does xbox live actually cost? Cos I dont have the net at home and every one allways bags how its expensive.

I don't think MS will do anything to counter Sony in the first three quarters of 2009. They delivered a pretty stunning blow in late 08 with their aggressive pricing on the 360. Even if the PS3 outsells the 360 from March-September, the gains will be minimal. Console sales are pretty weak during those months.

They'll save their ammunition for holiday 09, I think. I imagine that their aggressive 08 strategy cut into profits pretty heavily, though it appears to have worked for them.

platinum = free netflix would be an awesome deal. They should do that!

Groucho pretty much exists to spread sony pr related memes around here, so don't mind him. Lately he's hard working to convince people that MS is the poorly managed lossy corporation desesperately trying to grab marketshare.

It's a weird stance since MS EDD makes money and Sony's SCE has losses, but hey since when reality became an obstacle to a good troll.

Are "casuals" even vaguely aware that the 360 exists? 

$19.99 is still vastly more expensive than $0 to people who don't see much importance to LIVE.

I am not against LIVE or the paying for it, but the market that will pay is in the minority, given the 360 marketshare and the $0 pricepoint the rest of the competition has.

I think lowering the price of LIVE would be a mistake as those who are actively willing to pay for it will continue to do so, and everyone else isn't exacty "chomping at the bit" for it.  Bottom line, there is still tons of money to be made off sub-segments of the maket.

first of all according to my console pricing history the 360 pro is £169/€239 witch makes it cheaper than the wii

If a ps3 price happens in the spring i think MS will do nothing till the fall Sept. according tio my thread that wen MS has been doing there price drops

If the 80g goes to 300 i think 120g and 60g go down 50 and HHD size upgrade and the arcade at 179

if sony brings out another smaller sku 20-40g at 299 and doesn't cut the price of the 80g then i think MS will just add a HDD to the arcade and upgrade the pro and elites HDD and not cut the price

I think if they do a EU price cut it will be tiny as they had 2 of them last year

Microsoft is in a pretty good position being that they should be able to afford to reduce the price of their console every year from now until the end of the generation:

In 2009 the arcade can be reduced to $179, the premium can be reduced to $249 and the elite can be reduced to $299
In 2010 the arcade can be reduced to $149, the premium can be reduced to $199 and the elite can be reduced to $249
In 2011 the arcade can be reduced to $129, the premium can be reduced to $179 and the elite can be reduced to $199

Microsoft could release a $400 XBox "720" in 2011 and begin the next generation.

In contrast, the best I can see Sony doing is:

In 2009 they can reduce the price of the PS3 to $349 without losing too much money, and to $300 if money is no object
In 2010 they can reduce the price of the PS3 to $299 without losing too much money, and to $249 if money is no object
In 2011 they can reduce the price of the PS3 to $249 without losing too much money, and to $199 if money is no object

In other words, if Sony tries to keep the price of the PS3 at the same level as the XBox 360 elite Sony will be bleeding money

Very true HappySqurriel.

One of the advantages Microsoft has is that there will always be a significant number of people buying the Premium/Elite models (or buying Arcades and then upgrading them later).

This is probably not the case with the Playstation, since the cheapest model is already good enough even for people who want to download lots of things. Upgrades don't generate revenue for Sony since any HDD can be used. If sales were more evenly distributed between the models, they could lower prices faster.

In 2010 a BD drive will cost to producers a few $ more than a DVD drive, so Sony will be able to price PS3 almost the same as an HDD equipped competitor roughly earning or losing the same, only diskless competitors will still have a price advantage, nullified or turned into a loss for the user if and once he needs an add-on HDD. Also, once your PS3 HDD is full, besides adding an external USB one, you can change it with a standard internal 2.5" SATA one, the least expensive option possible, and the best performing too, an advantage Sony should advertise more.