If the new PS3 really takes off (primarily in Europe) I believe MS will lower the price/include pack-ins.

The 360 is just now picking up momentuem in Europe, and MS wants to keep the playing ground fair. If anything, I expect something in 08 before GTA IV or Gears 2.

@scotland yard

Actually the term reactionary would probably be a misnomer for this discussion. The term usually refers to far more substantial matters then business practices. Needless to say we are both probably viewing the term in a rather bastardized form. Such is the way with words meanings change and get distorted through time.

I say Microsoft is being proactive in that they had their information and planned ahead accordingly. We rarely say we reacted to an event we fully expected to happen. Especially if it did not cause us to deviate from our intended actions. For instance if I am going to work one day, and I have known for the past two months that on that day the route I usually take will be closed off say for a parade. Obviously I have considered a different route to take to my destination. I would hardly drive up to the blocked intersection act shocked, surprised, and generate a new route on the spot. I foresaw the event, and had planned for it in advance.

Your really saying that Microsoft was reacting to the Sony price cut in February. That would be an effect preceding the cause. They considered the likelihood of what would happen at that time, and generated their own long term plan. Had they deviated from that plan in response to Sony. Then they could be called reactionary. However the did not. They decided on a plan of action far in advance and stuck to it.

Generally we don't say we react to situations we expect to happen. Otherwise we must say that everything we do is a reaction. I certainly do not say I am reacting when I go to pay my bills. I am being proactive I am sticking to a self generated plan based on available knowledge. That my car has gas in it, the offices where I pay my bills are open, and that I have the money to pay said bills. I am not reacting to these things. They just are, and my response to these things is not going to change. Unless they are not what I expect, and then I say I am reacting.

I suppose if you want to get technical you can class every action as a reaction, but then what meaning does the word really have, and more importantly would we actually need it.

I would have said Microsoft had reacted had they immediately dropped their prices, but they did not. Instead the spent over a month not lowering their prices, and then they dropped their prices in a fundamentally different way. Globally compared to regionally. Further more they were incredibly consistent.

I think MS will take a wait and see attitude for a couple weeks then make a decision within a week of black friday. Unless the PS3 sees a tripling of sales due to the $100 price drop that's held for 2 weeks MS will probably just go with the bundle option.

I really don't think we're going to see a huge sustainable surge with this price drop, the system is still priced out of the market, the library is lacking and the effects of the last $100 cut dried up fast.

The bundle idea on the surface probably looks better than a $50+ price drop, those 2 games probably cost MS less than $50 to obtain and who doesn't love getting games with their system. That said they could really choose a better bundle title then Ultimate Alliance, I mean if MS had balls they'd bundle the system with Gears of War.

If MS drops the Core pack at 250$ then they might as well push Nintendo to cut Wii's price as well. Not that likely, though with SMG and SSBB on the way.

Weren't Microsoft the first to be talking about Sony having a price cut?

I kidna expect a price cut from them come mid February to jump up sales right before the big PS3 games come out unless the PS3 starts tripleing 360 sales or something.

 The problem with these statements is dedicated hoaxers are very adept at their diabolical art. They know enough about their subject to sound authentic, and yet are sly enough to evade detection. Unlike your standard blow hard or a meager troll. They play the game at an entirely different level, and sometimes the complexity would baffle the most dedicated scrounger. Often sending the investigator off chasing phantoms. Further more once their shenanigans are finally exposed they have moved on leaving a wake of destruction, as the house they built tumbles down on the true believers.

I don't think MS will react this year. They have the better library and just cut the price. I think they will go in Feb-March down and then will most likely hit Sony hard with the new price. $200/250/300 would take some of the attention of the big games coming for the PS3 away. And 200$ for a console with GTA could be a sweet place, if GTA doesn't need a HDD. Don't see how Sony could respond with another drop. Not in Q1, Q3 the earliest next year.

Yoda ... talk you like.

Corporate espionage is rampant in every industry. I would be willing to bet that Microsoft knew/knows more about what Sony is doing internally than anyone else in the industry. Why is that? Because it matters to them. I agree with Dodece concerning the use of the word "Reactionary". I would instead use a chess match analogy as a more appropriate way of describing this scenario. Microsoft knows what Sony is doing -- price cut -- but they may not know EXACTLY what is going to happen. They look at the scenarios and plan accordingly. When Sony makes their move, they have already planned out their response...

I actually really don't like Microsoft. At all. But in this generation -- especially the last part of this year, Microsoft seems to be playing either a brilliant game of chess. We'll see if Sony's next moves tilt the game in their favor but I suspect Microsoft has their next moves planned out very carefully...

Speaking of corporate espionage, it surprised me a lot that Microsoft came into public and basically announced the 40 GB unit on Sony's behalf! If it turns out that it won't have BC as that André Vrignaud said, it's pretty much proven that they knew about it and decided to tell everyone :D It could be a "one employee felt like it" thing though, who knows?