then microsoft would just drop the 360 price by like 50

Why is there a presumption that PS2 owners are just waiting for a price drop to buy a system that doesn't play their PS2 games? Outsides of the name (and playing original Playstation games), what does the PS3 have in common with the PS2? You can't use your PS2 accessories on the PS3, nor can you play your PS2 games on.

$50 isn't going to make much of a difference. $100 might a bit more. The key is to hit the two price points: $200 and $100. These have historically been the price points that made the difference. Ok, maybe make it $250, if you look at what the Wii is doing.

That might have been funny if that wasn't like the tenth post saying that.

I think it would help out a lot in Europe and Japan, but I don't think Sony has much hope in America. People tend to get the system that their friends have, and nobody has a ps3 in America. I have over 70 people on my xbox live friends list and only 8 on my psn friend list. Not because I don't play my ps3, but because none of my friends actually own one, kind of frustrating actually.

however, main point is the sony brand is looked down upon in America at the moment. The people that had the ps2 last gen have moved on to the wii or will move on to the wii. Since sony took out bc in the ps3, there isn't anything forcing them to stay with the sony brand, as none of their old games will work on the new console. So they will have to start from scratch anyway so why stick with the ps3? (I actually have this conversation a lot. I work at Best Buy and customers always get mad when I tell them there isn't any BC.)

Microsoft needs to build up it's first party exclusives to combat the coming PS3 price cut....

well, check this:
ps3 cut price (from 600 to 400) since november 2007, and 360 mantained the price for a while, the difference between both was 8 million, and ps3 continued selling more than 360 until 360 cut (september 2007, almost a year), the difference was only 3 million in almost a year, and the 360 recovered its 8 million advantage from september to december (almost only 3 months), right now, 360 is selling about 200k units weekly, ps3 170k and wii 350k, if the ps3 dropped to 300 it may sell from 200 to 250k weekly (i doubt it would sell more, the 360 arcade and wii are still cheaper), it may outsell the 360 in about 2 years (if the 360 doesn't cut the price at least one time), maybe the huge games (like inFAMOUS, god of war III, final fantasy versus XIII, etc) will make ps3 sell 400k one or two weeks, and the rest of the weeks will sell 10k or 20k more than normally, but read this: THE PS3 WILL NEVER OUTSELL THE WII: the wii is selling more than 350k each week, and i really doubt ps3 could mantain that rythm, and not only that, ps3 must outsell 150k wii for at least 3 months (i mean, ps3 should sell 500k units during 12 weeks to be a sell-competitor for wii, and then mantain the wii rythm for the rest of its life, and if wii doesn't cut the price never), well, that's the statistical data, now I go with the rumors data, i mean, how much threads in the internet, or simply in this page are about "PS3 price cut to 299" and how many times sony has said "no inmediate plans for ps3 price cut"???? well, just see this: ps3 can't cut $100 from night to morning, just see the price cut to the $600 model, they had to remove 20gb, backward compatibility emulator engine, 2 usb ports, card reader, etc... you think ps3 price-cut will be that easy??? they first must reduce the manufacturing cost, make the first/second party games double sells (I mean, there is not any first/second party ps3 game that has reached 4 million sales, while in 360 we see gears of war 1&2, halo 3, and forza motorsport 2 that have sold more than 4 million, specially halo 3 that has almost reached 9.5 million, and in wii wii sports, wii play, mario kart and wii fit that supass 10 million sales, and others like twilight princess, mario galaxy and super smash bros brawl that sell very well, more than 5 million each one), do you understand my point?? it's not that easy that ps3 cuts $100 suddenly, and in that case that would not be a deffinitive "game over", microsoft won't stay crossing arms, and definitively it's practically impossible that they reach the wii sells, so, keep this in mind ;)

PD: I will definetively buy ps3, although it doesn't cut price or win this generation, because it has really excellent games, it's an excellent console, maybe the best option, but this generation is not the turn of sony to win ;)

I don't know if this means anything, but I'm a PC gamer who waited till now to jump into the current gen console market. My choice? PS3. Yah, it's 400$, but I got a 50$ giftcard from Gamestop when I purchased it, basically giving me a free game. There are other deals out there that allow you to buy PS3's from 300$ and up. You just have to look.

The 360 is just cheap looking and feeling. I hate the controller which is very clumsily designed IMO, and the games that are on both systems have (IMO) huge graphical differences. The PS3 just shows itself to be a much better overall entertainment system.

I never owned a PS2 or XBOX during their time either. I was a Gamecube boy.

You think that multiplat games on the PS3 and 360 have huge graphical differences in favor of the PS3 or 360? The 360 wins almost every single comparison done for almost every multiplat game.

Soul Calibur III was exclusive on PS2.

The exact same fan boy nonsense was said when PS3 reached $399 price point back in 2007. PS3 made a rally but its momentum was slowed down due to X360 price cuts in 2008. The chances are the $299 PS3 price point will be too late and it will not do much to change things for Sony besides lose more money on PS3. Microsoft can always cut price on the X360 to slowdown the momentum of $299 PS3.

$299 is a traditional launch price of a video game console. PS1 and PS2 both launched at $299 and they both had third party exclusives which helped sell previous Sony consoles. 3 years or more for a console to reach $299 price point is a long time. Interest for the console usually dies off due to gamers having bought consoles already priced at or below the $299 price point already in the first three years.

100 million current generation consoles have been sold already this generation and that is equivalent to around 33% to 40% of the total sales expected sales for this generation. Assuming 250 to 300 million consoles will be sold in total for this generation.

New consoles are introduced once every 6 years. Consumers demand the latest video game console and there is obsolescence of any console within 8 to 10 years. Technological advancements results in new products being introduced and demand of old consoles starts to dwindle, time to introduce next product.