Not If But When: Second U.S. Xbox 360 Price Drop

A day after Microsoft dropped the price of the Xbox 360 in Europe, effectively making it the cheapest modern console on the continent (watch out Wii), questions loom if the company will follow suit on its home turf in America.

dBTechno Tuesday says that Microsoft is "getting ready" to slash the price of the Xbox 360 here in the U.S., citing undocumented "reports" (i.e., most likely rumors).

Whatever the veracity of said "reports," one things for sure -- Microsoft will drop the price of the Xbox 360 for a second time in North America as per usual in the life of an aging video game console. The question is, when?

Oft quoted analyst Michael Pachter expects that to happen before the holidays, if not sooner, given mild sales of the Xbox 360 when compared to a surging PlayStation 3, thanks to Blu-ray's recent victory over HD DVD. Nintendo, for its part, still leads them both in terms popularity, so now is a welcome time as any for Microsoft to spike interest with a more attractive price.

The Xbox 360 saw its first American price drop two years after its release in October of 2007; from $399 to $349 for the flagship Pro version and from $299 to $279 for the restricted Core (now Arcade) version without hard drive.

The duration of the original MSRP was unprecedented at the time, as console makers (including Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft) historically lower prices at least after the first year of availability.