Official PS3 Price Cut Next Week?

 

I usually don't post rumors, but this one has gained a life of it's own.  According to leaked ads for Best Buy (Canada) and Circuit City (U.S.), the PS3 is expected to get a nice price cut to be announced at E3.  Sony is officially denying a price cut is in the works, but with two of the largest retailers advertising the lower prices, it's hard to imagine this isn't true.

In the U.S., the 60 GB PS3 is expected to take a $100 price drop, from $599 to $499.  In Canada, the 60 GB PS is expected to take a $150 CAD price drop, from $699 to $549 CAD.

This begs the question of what Microsoft will do with the price of their own XBox 360 gaming system.  Although the system is a full year older than the PS3, it still has not been given a price cut.  One was expected once Sony lowered the PS3's price, however incredibly high defect rates  on the XBox 360 console (estimated by retailers to be as high as 33%), led Microsoft to extend the warranty for RROD (Red Ring of Death) general hardware failures to 3 years earlier this week.  Microsoft had long said the failure rate of the console was within industry norms, but users have always reported otherwise.  The warranty extension will reportedly will cost Microsoft $1.1 billion, making the prospects of a price drop for the system in the near future much more costly to pursue.