Wow... you really fail so hard at analyzing.  The Wii hadn't had a single price drop in its entire 3 year life span while the 360 and PS3 each had a handful.  Then it only had to cut $50 to boost demand again.

And you say the Wii cutting price $50 would mess up their handheld pricing structure?  What about the PS3 cutting $50 which you think would be all too easy?  That'd make it equal to a PSP Go.... totally messing up their handhelds.

Also, to your last statement, Microsofts console costs a lot less than a PS3 to produce.  They could easily afford another $50 cut now to take back sales over the PS3.  And if in the end they have to cut the arcade to $100 in a few years (since Natal and "Sphere" will interupt price reductions for a good year or so), it would still be a win for Microsoft because they would have been profitable on the Xbox brand now and outsold their main target achieving their goal.  Making next gen a heck of a lot easier, especially if Natal takes off like it seems it will.  Their "NextBox with Natal+" would have all the audiences covered from the start and a higher last gen userbase to draw on than the PS4.  That seems like a very nice place for investors to be in.  Oh and really, who invests in MS for their console market anyways?  No one, so stop your bull crap.  They invest because of the MS Software business stronghold.

EDIT after seeing your reply:  And no, MS is not losing money on either 360 SKU at this point.... Unlike Sony, I hear

This reminds me of a time when #1 LSU came to the unranked Univeristy of Kentucky to play a little football and we defeated them in 3 overtimes. MS, keep blowing smoke, it won't help your sales. 360 WILL win US, unless a huge turn of events comes about which im giving 0.01% - that's 1/100th of a percent chance of occurring. Worldwide however will be won by Sony in the end. I am giving that a 90% chance of occurring. Natal will not attract new owners. Not that I think the wand will for Sony either, but I keep hearing people pointing Natal like it's the second coming of Jesus for the 360.

Kinda like how I keep hearing how GT5, FFXIII in Japan, God of War 3, Uncharted 2, etc. are the second coming of Christ for the PS3.....

Except Natal actually has a huge amount of developer support and enthusiasm and media coverage while basically nothing has been said about Sony's Sphere.  Who knows, maybe they will both flop, no one can see the future, I'm just saying based on information available today, Natal looks to at least stir the waters a bit and make a splash or two.

This is why I hate microsoft, they always brag about or try to make them seem superior all the time. Their wallet cant buy them perfection.

No i dont hate the xbox btw. Just the company that owns it

*Sigh* People still complaining about a simple form of business. I never understood why people are so sensitive about these things.

Sony really needs strong software and advertising to take America and the UK from Microsoft. Gran Turismo 5 should really help sales in the UK, while in America, if its preorders are something to go by, M.A.G. looks like it could be a big hit.

Sony losing even more money? WIshful thinking.

dont ruin it now :P

meltdown like that are part of the reasons why some come here to vgchartz.

bonkers, how does what you say have any point at all. MS as a company? That's just as pertinent as saying one country's economy is better than the other's.

there is more than a 10B dollar difference between the income levels from ps3 and xbox divisions.

And this is news? Show me a company that would admit that it will sell less than competition before holidays. Yes, you don't find any.

On second thoughts, if nobody hurled chairs or danced shouting "Developers!" during MS interview, it didn't happen.