With the Wii U coming this holiday, and the rest of the next gen lot coming in a year or so, many have wondered when the PS3 and 360 will get a price cut. According to GameStop’s CEO, “it’s about time” for a price drop.
It has been a while since the PlayStation 3 and 360 had a price cut – the PS3 in August last year, and the 360 in 2010 – and many were predicting an E3 cut this year (including Pachter). Sales-wise, the PS3 has been lagging in the US, so they have a bigger incentive to cut in that region, although Microsoft will probably want to counteract a PS3 drop with a 360 one. In Europe, however, PS3 sales are generally thought to be in the lead outside of the UK, but they could still always do with a boost from a price cut.
Paul Raines, GameStop’s CEO, would obviously love a price cut and thinks that it would make sense for platform holders to announce one soon, telling GI International:
We’ve not factored them in, although they are rumored. That’s a tough one, because you know console makers want to make sure they sell through the old inventory before they launch the new. So a lot of that stuff gets revealed really last-minute, so we really don’t like counting on that, because it depends on people’s fiscal years, etc. Clearly, if you look at previous behavior, you would say it’s about time to drive demand with some price reductions.
If there is going to be a holiday price drop this year, a logical time for an announcement would be at gamescom from August 15th to 19th, although nothing is certain.
Do you think Sony and Microsoft should cut the price of their consoles this year? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
