14 DAY TRIAL // As most of you already know, the Xbox 360 gaming consoles from Microsoft have seen their prices drop significantly as the Xbox 360 Arcade version of the platform is positioned to take on the Nintendo Wii console. Given the way the Nintendo Wii has dominated the hardware sales charts in North America and in Europe in recent months, it's unlikely that the Xbox 360 can catch up but the Microsoft made consoles might just gain an advantage over the PlayStation 3 from Sony.
Michael Pachter, from Wedbush Morgan, told Gamasutra that he expects to see a 20% increase in overall sales for the Xbox 360 during the holiday shopping season. He stated that he believes “that there will be some substitution of Xbox 360 Arcade for Wii as gifts” and that “Wii owners may consider buying a 'next gen' console and look hard at the Xbox 360 at the $199 price point, and don't think Sony is particularly competitive at $399 for the cost-conscious crowd”.
Despite this piece of analysis, it seems that Sony is not too concerned about Microsoft's move. Julie Han, who works for the corporate communication department at Sony, declared for the same intrepid Gamasutra that she expects a “natural lift with the price cut -- but how sustainable is that in the long term?”. Sony keeps stating that the PlayStation 3 has a higher price tag because it offers more value than the rival consoles, especially the Blu-ray and a stronger line up of games for the fall and winter seasons.
Sony still says that no price cut for the PS3 is planned for this year and that other factors will drive the console forward like the storage space it offers. Users “want more storage for photos, music... new games are also getting quite a bit of pickup through PlayStation Network. There's also our new video download service that consumers are going to want to do. It's showing that we're moving in the right direction”, explains Han.
We'll see how the market moves as time goes by but I am not very confident that the Xbox 360 will gain too much traction following the price cut, mainly because most users are not interested in the price but in what they get for the price they are willing to pay.