Gamesindustry.biz is now jumping on the rumor bandwagon -

"$399.99 with Spider-man 3 on Blu-ray

MS posted a $12 billion net profit last fiscal year and has over $20 billion sitting in a bank. This $12 billion net profit is after MS took the $1 billion RROD charge. I have no idea how MS will react to a PS3 price cut but to argue that MS cannot afford it is ridiculous.

QFT. It's especially ridiculous when you notice that some of the people who are arguing that, have no problem accepting that Sony is about to launch a PS3 for $399... The PS3 is an expensive machine, I'd bet they'll be losing more than $150 per unit, and more than $200 wouldn't surprise me!

A price cut in Japan... To tell the truth, i've been reading a lot of messages on the net, in which the japanese gamers really diss the PS3. From what i understand, Japan isn't impressed with the PS3 one tiny bit. Not at all. It's obvious to me, that the PS3 is lacking just about everything the japanese would like to play, as it's a strictly hardcore gamer console AND we all can see the changes that are happening in Japan, where casual, light games are taking over(reason for which the DS and Wii have had it good as of late).

I really don't know what to expect in the US. America is the biggest hardcore market right now, with a quintet of good games coming out this holiday season. Then again, what makes us so sure that people will fall for Ratchet&Clank, as that isn't your typical hardcore game like Halo 3. I wouldn't lower the price to 400$. It would really hurt the games division in the long run should anything backfire. And seriously, a lot can go wrong. Especially in the exclusive games matter.

Europeans WILL STILL NOT buy such hardware at such a price range. That's my opinion anyway. The PS3 would need a plethora of AAA titles to get those consoles moving. As of right now, it's out of the question.

Concerning Sony's stock price.....it's a risk they're taking right now. The company isn't in a comfortable spot. Should there be another mini crisis on the world markets like not so long ago, then we can expect Sony to lose a bundle. Another scenario involves Sony having similar problems like with the Battery case. We know that Sony is entering the Flat screen tv market. This can be a big win or a big screw up. Either way, something goes wrong....we can expect a stockholder revolt and major consequences for the gaming division...IMO ONLY....

I am often dismayed by the primitive financial mindset that pervades the reality of so many posters on this site. No matter how many times it is explained to them they simply shun it off. Like a religious zealot refusing to acknowledge a scientific fact, because it conflicts with their faith.

Microsoft is in sound financial shape, and are making more money on their games business then Sony is, or losing less as the case may be. Nobody can be certain productions costs are not updated, but older hardware with a long manufacturing cycle usually has a lower production cost. So their Halo 3 special edition models for instance might actually be profitable hardware sales.

Sony on the other hand is not in sound financial shape. They have taken out excessive loans to fund PS3 development, and the launch. They have had financial assets get tied up in unsold merchandise. Millions of PS3s unsold adds up to Billions of dollars you cannot use. Finally this year they have terminated thousands of employees, and are even selling off parts of their company. What part of this makes anyone think Sony is doing better then Microsoft.

Sure Microsoft would like to generate a profit this fiscal year. However this is Microsoft, and they have to be happy watching Sony chewing off its own legs trying to win this particular race. Thats a strategic victory even if it is a hollow one. Having a competitor destroy itself is always a good result.

Confirmed: 40 gig PS3 has no backward compatibility

"Please Note! 40GB PS3 is not backward compatible with PS2 games.
This information is based on specifications supplied by manufacturers and should be used for guidance only "

WTF? How is this possible?

What happened to the software emulation without the Emotion Engine? Doesn't it work at all?

Does this mean you'll never see downloadable PS2 titles on a PS3?

I quite agree with this, and I think the only reason MS didn't do a price cut last year was because the 360 was already miles cheaper than the PS3.

With the numbers coming in for hardware sales after Halo 3, I'm rethinking my claim that MS will go with bundles instead of another price cut. I was expecting the software lineup to really boost 360, and so far the boost is not that big.

The software emulation costs pennies compared to putting another chip in the PS3.  Why would a rational sony not want to include software emulation, when the gain to cost ratio is so high from putting in software emulation?