If you are to believe The Inquirer"s scanned copy of a printed catalogue from UK retailer Makro, which shows the cost of an Xbox 360 Premium Console (20GB & wireless controller) at £199, the same price as the cheaper Xbox 360 Core console, Microsoft will (effectively?) spoil the European launch of the PS3. Although Microsoft has long denied any price cuts were on the way, there is no business on earth that will tell consumers before Christmas (when price cuts were last debated) that the console will fall in price. If we are to speculate that this advertisement is indeed the truth, it makes sense for Microsoft not to make any official announcements for as long as possible - the console is still selling at full price. No other retailers are yet offering the same discount.
This time Steve Ballmer has suggested that price cuts are eventually coming, as quoted in The Seattle Times: "I think every console in the world has had a price decrease sometime in the first few years. I don"t know whether we"ll have a price decrease in the first few years, and I don"t want to comment on that, but I will highlight for you that every console has had a price decrease in the first few years". In my opinion, a price drop is inevitable. The real question is whether it will come just in time for the PS3 launch, the day of, or after? When it does, how much of an effect will it have on Sony? Will it affect Nintendo at all? Will either of the companies respond with a price drop as well? One must remember, that regardless of how cheap the consoles get, the real profit will come from games, accessories and downloadable content.