Wat? MS is still 7-9 billion in the hole for the X-Box brand. Not exactly somthing to brag about. At least PS3 helped Sony win a format war. Now with Apples instal base growing Google dominating search engines and Internet Exlorer losing its grip as the #1 web browser losing this console battle is sefinately not what MS needs right now.

So I guess Sony should give up since it hasn't been near second place since the PS3 launched right? *rolls eyes* The winners and losers of this generation have already been determined.

Sony going from 1st place last gen the LAST place this gen.................. now THATS impressive.

We all know how sony got to the top in this business.......................... MONEY............. they had NOTHING to begin with in the gaming world, they BOUGHT their success during the ps1 days by moneyhatting 3rd party companies (Square, namco, konmai, you name it)............... they continued their moneyhatting ways during the ps2 days but BOUGHT a few development studios on a 2nd party basis, NOW, finally after 15 years they finally have some development teams that they can call their own.

You think that microsofts influence with regards to their internet stronghold is fading? its not fading anywhere near as badly as sonys psp and ps3, after last gen sony were expected to walk this gen, it was supposed to be a cake walk for them.

Oh how the allegedly mighty have fallen.

Sonys wallet as opposed to their actual gaming talent may have helped them win a couple of gens, but theres a new sheriff in town with more money than sony................................... microsoft.

I'm getting an anti-sony vibe from the thread(or it's just the cold hard truth)

In my opinion if MS did drop the arcade to $99, I think it would some sort of desperation to stop the PS3 slim sales, which now sells about 220k-240k a week. IMO MS hasn't brought anything yet to combat the PS3 slim sales, they dropped the price of all their models and saw hardly any affect. Nintendo is slighty back on it game as well, I remember a couple of weeks ago the wii sold more than the PS3 and 360 combined.

as for the holiday rush I feel the Sony has the upper hand out of the three consoles. new price cut+a load of exclusives will have many heads turning if Sony can get the advertising out, MS has already started their holiday commercials with Walmart, and really have been showing off the arcade system as if it was new.

2010 looks to be the biggest battle of this gen, all three consoles have some killer games coming out, it will be a very interesting year!=)

So what if they lost money getting to this point. As a going concern/business moving forward the Xbox 360 is in a better position than the PS3. Selling consoles is good, but making money is better and the profit from here on out for the Xbox 360 will be excellent.

The Xbox investments haven't all gone to waste (aside from the $1 billion+ for the RRoD f-up. lol). The 360 won the 'core' demographic in North America (mainly 15-34 year old males). That is pretty important. The Wii is a great console and has some great software but for someone that wants to play third-party games, owning at least one of the HD twins is recommended. And in North America, the 360 has that market share race locked.

As for Apple, unless they have the same software compatibility that Microsoft brings to the table, most people are gonna remain a PC. It's not like I haven't gave Macintosh a chance. I've used the software in Mac labs and what not. I just don't like it. Windows is more user-friendly and provides the best software compatibility. There is just so much software out there for Windows only. Though I think I'd install Linux over Windows instead as my OS (if software compatibility was equal). Due to my free, open source sympathies. Now as for Apple's other stuff like iPod and iPhone, great success I admit. I absolutely hate those products though. My Sansa > iPod and (if I do away with my cheap cell phone. lol) Blackberry > iPhone any day.

1. Its Walmart.

2. Its the holidays and their offering a great deal.

Its a great deal.

The End

Seriously Walmart did it last year June 2008 $100 giftcard with a PS3 so you could've got a PS3 15 months before it was actually $299.

Or $399 with $100 giftcard. =$299.

Or $499 MGS 4 80 gb bundle =$399

If you look at it that way.

Walmart probably gets 360 arcades for $160-165 wholesale.

They give you $100 to spend in their stores.
Whatever you buy Walmart is getting a profit on the items you buy with $100.So its not that bad of a giveaway.

Their breaking about even on the 360.

Maybe depending what you buy in the end they lose $10-20.

Or your in the store you buy some other stuff as well.

You buy a couple games. You buy a 360 harddrive.

And you use the giftcard on groceries.

Whatever.

Either way Walmart got you in the store and buying things THE WHOLE POINT.

They make massive profits they HAVE NO PROBLEM giving this deal out the whole point is to get people in the store to buy things.

And the sale was a 1 day thing.

PS3/Blu Ray Player $100 giftcard was a WEEK LONG.

And Walmart did the sale not Microsoft.

This talk of desparation is just plain stupid. Sorry MS is a very profitable company and if they chose to drop the price of the Arcade to $99 (They will not be doing that by the way) it would be an act of desparation. It would be the dagger to any hopes Sony would have of the PS3 coming in 2nd.

Is it deparation that Sony plans for price reductions continue to run 2 years ahead of plan. PS3 slim introduction isnt ahead of schedule. Sony intended to release it as soon as they could. Yet going into the 4th Christmas Holiday in the PS3's life still selling for a loss wasnt Sony's plan. Sony has had to live with desparation since the very introduction of the PS3 when they discovered that the plan to sell PS3's for $600 for a couple of years was a disaster plan.

WOW...sum ppl here talk as if they actually work for sony cause they sound so certain why sony did this and that.

So you think Sony planned to be still selling the PS3 at a loss going into the 4th holiday?

The next 2 points Sony actually said:

Sony thought they could sell 5 million PS3s without any software.
Sony thought that this generation would start when they said it would.

From this it is easy to deduce Sony didnt plan for the PS3 to be selling at $299 at this point in time.