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MCV has been told by a senior global publishing source that price cuts for the Xbox 360 and PS3 will be announced by the end of the year, and possibly as early as next month’s E3.
In addition, it is believed that there’s a strong possibility that Nintendo is also considering a price cut to stave off the increased opposition expected from Microsoft’s Natal and Sony’s PlayStation Move this Q4.
The publishing source in question has revealed that its own financial projections have been constructed around the belief that price drops are planned and that, as a result, console install bases will be higher than current trends point to this Q4.
The increasingly busy Q4 release schedule backs up the belief that publishers are expecting a very busy period in the traditional markets.
The likelihood is that Sony is planning an entry-level 200 PS3 SKU to compliment its existing high-end high-capacity offerings, probably including one controller and a 40GB or 60GB HDD.
Microsoft, meanwhile, is less likely to significantly reduce the RRP of the Xbox 360 and will instead add to existing retail offerings by adding the motion camera Natal to the standard SKU.
Its entry-level bundle is expected to cost between 130-150, though a Natal-less sub-100 SKU has also been rumoured.
UPDATE: When asked by MCV, reps for SCE UK have laughed away the claims. A spokesperson for Nintendo told us: "This is total rumour and speculation and we currently have no plans to cut the price of Wii in the UK."
