Most analysts have announced that they believe a $100 price drop of Sony's PlayStation 3 is highly plausible. This move will probably allow sales of the device to once again begin to grow. Furthermore, it looks like Microsoft will also drop the price of the Xbox 360 Pro from $300 to $250 this summer, in order to help stave off market contraction as the overall economy struggles to recover.

However, it's clear that none of the involved companies will announce price drops four to six months out. Why is that? Well, consumers will wait for the price drops and the intermediary sales will dramatically fall. These moves can constitute another attempt to reach the well out of sight Nintendo Wii. It's clear for everyone that Sony's only chance to gain more customers is a price drop.

Sony will reduce the price of its 80GB powerhouse console from $399 to $299 in the weeks directly preceding this year's E3 conference in California. Besides the price reduction for the Xbox 360 Pro, Microsoft has already reduced the price of its basic Xbox 360 to just $199 in September of 2008. As for the market leader, Nintendo's Wii, no predictions of a price cut have been made yet, although Christmas 2009 looks like a tentative possibility.

Nintendo sold 3.25 million units last month, as Wii supplies significantly increased over the holiday season. In terms of software sales growth, analysts estimate Wii will provide Nintendo with a 71 percent increase. It remains to be seen if Sony's move to reduce the price will materialize in the upcoming months.