Aug 26, 2011 09:48 GMT  ·  By

A flyer from retail giant Walmart seems to suggest that the price of the Xbox 360 and Kinect hardware bundle, featuring the 4 GB hard drive, will be cut from 299 to 249 dollars next week.

The date of August 28 is clear but the flyer does not make it clear whether this is a promotion coming from Walmart, hoping to drive up sales of the device, or if this is an actual official price drop from Microsoft.

The Xbox 360 home console has done very well at retail this year, with July capping off seven months of domination in the NPD Group compiled sales figures over the PlayStation 3 from Sony and the Nintendo Wii.

Chris Lewis, who is the leader of the European Xbox division, has said during the recent Gamescom 2011 trade event that the company is not interested in cutting the price of its main gaming platform, despite the fact that Sony announced that the PlayStation 3 would now retail for 249 dollars instead of 299.

The good performance from the Xbox 360 has been linked to the Kinect motion-tracking system, which has attracted players despite the relative lack of big name titles available for it, and to the perceived superiority of the Xbox Live service over the PlayStation Network.

If Microsoft cuts the price of the Xbox 360 and Kinect 4 GB hard drive bundle, it could do so in order to make sure that the devices stay well ahead of competitors during the crucial holiday shopping season.

The hardware maker and video game publisher might also be introducing the price cut in order to prepare for the arrival of the new Wii U home gaming console from Nintendo, which will be launched during the summer of 2012.

Microsoft has not yet officially responded to the rumor and the leaked Walmart flyer.