I (as with almost everyone i'm sure) have noticed that in the past few weeks PS3 has closed the gap in Japan a bit on the Wii, and in Europe they are now beating 360 consistently.

Also, I noticed and think that this week PS3 will gain ground in North America...

Microsoft has obviously got the Falcon out so they have got a cost savings in the console since the August price drop.  They must have room to drop price...  It is a matter of whether they think it will change the result...

So, will Microsoft try and reverse the trends and drop the price of the 360?

They obviously have to do something in Canada as they have not gone to price parity with the US yet even though Sony has and they dropped the price in Japan a couple weeks back...

Will the price fall for CoD4 Tuesday or will they wait for Mass Effect or will they go with what they have the rest of the year and rely on Mass Effect alone to reverse the trend with PS3 still to get Haze, Drake, and possibly UT III?

I think the price will drop either this week or next in North America and Europe.

Didint they drop the price everywhere already? About 2 months ago..

2 points.

1. M$ just started including 2 games with there system and 5 games and 5 demos with their other system very recently. Also, sales are doing great in NA. I would be suprised if they dropped the price in NA or Japan again this year.

2. PS3 has not closed the gap in Japan. The total gap continues to get larger and larger. The weekly sales gap is shrinking, but it appears to be no big deal and doesn't seem to have much to do with M$.

I think its possible in europe if ps3 continues to outsell it badly, not in NA with the way things are, if they start to drop then yes

MS should drop the price of the 360 in Canada and that should be it for the year, in Canada we pay $55 more for the system.

Plus this is the first week that stores have dropped the price of the PS3, although some stores are refusing to drop the price all the way, ToysRus and wal-mart are still charging over $20 more then the normal price.

There will be no further price cuts this year. MS has made their plans, is bundling systems with games for the holiday, and will wait and see how things go with the release of Halo 3. So if you want one now, feel free to buy one now. Otherwise there won't be a cheaper 360 until sometime in 2008.

There doesn't look to be any incentive for Microsoft to do so. They have already given a price cut, and they have released a bundle. That should easily fend off Sony this holiday season. Once again Sony is spiking which is not a long term indicator of success. This has happened six times this year with the same end result the console shoots back down to mediocrity after a few weeks. Microsoft has to know this, and probably expects it. So they are not going to panic and slash prices. They will want to save their next price cut for when the market is tighter early next year.

In some areas Canadians have gotten a significant price cut already ... anywhere (like where I live) we have seen a huge increase in Canadians coming south for retail shopping to take advantage of the current exchange rate - 1US dollar = 1 Canadian dollar for the first time in something like 25 years.

I am not sure we will see a holiday price cut - I would expect more bundles and specials but until MS sees how well the Arcade (or whatever they are calling the low end 360) SKU sells I think they may be hesitant to lower prices.

The does leave the door open for MS to make holiday specials in Europe and other areas without taking a hit to their margins.

do they really need to in NA.....no!

I thinl they'll save it for when MGS4, KZ2, FF XIII release