Xbox 360 price cut hitting August 8th?

A long-awaited price cut for the Xbox 360 could appear on August 8th, according to insiders speaking with a Hollywood magazine. The drop would lower the price of the Microsoft console by about $50, though the sources did not reveal whether the drop was universal or would apply only to an individual model, such as the $299 Core or the $479 Elite. The reason for passing up an announcement at this month's E3 gaming show is equally unknown but may be closely related to the launch of EA's latest Madden football game, which could help the console sell extra units. Microsoft declined comment and said that it had nothing to announce at this time.

If true, the move would help Microsoft counter the recent PlayStation 3 price cut to $499, which will narrow the gap between systems to just $20 but may be a temporary maneuver to clear old models in favor of a higher-priced, 80GB model with a bundled game. Microsoft's Xbox price cut would also represent the first change to pricing since the hardware's launch in November 2005, roughly a year ahead of the 2006 release of the PS3.