Part of the problem was that most Sony fans were hinging on A) a $299 price point and B) the notion that a $299 PS3 was a game changer, something that many Nintendo and MS fans alike poo-poo'ed because "SCE can't sell the PS3 for $299; they'll go bankrupt!" "MS will only drop the price of the Xbox to negate it" "A $299 PS3 won't make any difference in the long run" etc. etc.

But in 2007, the $399 PS3 outperformed the Xbox, which in turn outperformed in 2008 with the $199, 299, 399 price restructure. Price made a difference. Consumers so far have not demonstrated with their purchasing power that a $299 Elite is the same value as a $299 PS3, so the predictions now have to be based on MS either undercutting SCE on their primary SKU (a losing strategy unless they find a way to drastically reduce production costs) or Natal being a guaranteed game changer, which I really have to say I personally don't see happening yet based on all the available information so far.

Until I see the games and the killer app that absolutely sells the general public on the add-on, I'm more interested in using it as a general user interface for Windows 7 on my PCs.

Natal bundle prices will remain the same in my opinion.

Rather than doing a significant price drop next year, MS will likely throw in Natal with the new SKUs "for free."

As a standalone, I don't see Natal being sold for more than the retail price of a controller ($50-60) on the simple basis that the camera unit itself will not be expensive to manufacture and that MS will want as many current Xbox owners as possible to try and buy the add-on, even if it's just out of curiosity. This will only put the infrastructure in place for further development support if it's a given that the majority of owners already have it.

maybe in your dreams

Won't be cheaper than $100-150 as a standalone (at least at launch). They also have the research involved in development to recoup.

360 peaked in 2008, there i said it. it simply doesn't have a lot of stretch left in it. It doesn't have many quality exclusives coming up, and it doesn't have a lot to gain price wise. Just look at the competition. PS3 sales exploded after Slim launch and it's still at $299, so still enough room left for a serious price cut. Wii dropped price alst week, sales doubled. X360 did a similiar price cut last month, nothing really happenned. Those are the facts.

judging by the last couple of months sales numbers, i predict the 360 to see a decline in holiday sales compared with the last couple of years.

Japan is the key of Sony's possibility to sell more PS3's than MS with their Xbox 360. But so long I am very happy with the games on Xbox 360 and PS3 even when they didn't sold so much as their other concurrent.

360's holiday lineup is merely meant to keep current 360 owners from buying a PS3, they're not system sellers.

at ODST - an expansion pack that sold 2.2M units in it's first week but only had about a 20k bump in hardware sales.  if a game with that much selling power can't give a decent hardware bump what chance do other games have.  and i'm not just picking on halo, gears, ect..  cause this holds true for nintendo/sony releases as well.  there are very very few titles that can really push hardware.  halo 3 was obviously one of those games but the 2nd/3rd interations of a franchise in a gen won't help...not like the first release at least.

at natal - the part that you are counting on causuals to push 360 hardware because of natal is a quagmire in itself.  by the time natal releases the wii will have capture what, close to 100M casuals.  so you are expecting what?...causuals (who are defined as such because they don't commit much time/money into video gaming) are all going to become multiple console owners?  imo very doubtful.  natal can somehow grab the attention of millions of consumers that were not already enticed by traditional HD gaming or by the wii's motion controlled gaming? a bit more likely but how many of those people are there? 

even if natal is a phenomenolly awesome gaming experience i just have trouble seeing natal really push 360's out the door.  but hey, i must admit i am really excited to see 360 sales in the weeks that follow natal's release. 

Pretty sure Sony is f***** up when Microsoft release NATAL and the Gaming MasterPIECES up their sleves.

But thats will only be next year , Halo Reach and Gears of War 3 will be astronomic.

For Now they are doing well in promoting MW2 for Xbox 360 , Forza MotorSport 3 and Left for Dead 2.

ODST was/is a BEAST.

Sony should enjoy this Holiday season because will be their last victory against Microsoft.