Don't expect US console price cuts before Xmas - Activision

One of the world's largest publishers has shaken the widely held belief that the platform holders will cut console prices stateside before Christmas by stating that it no longer believes this to be the case.

Activision president Ron Doornink was speaking at a financial conference in New York, where he stated that he no longer expected price cuts on hardware from Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony before the end of the year.

If Activision's prediction is correct, it's likely to upset many players in the industry in the USA, who often rely on regular price cuts to the consoles for their sales projections.

Meanwhile in Europe, speculation continues to mount over the possibility of price cuts to the PS2 and Xbox in the coming weeks. It's now widely anticipated that the PS2 will drop to £129.99 shortly - possibly just before Microsoft's X03 event in the south of France later in the month - with Microsoft expected to announce a £99.99 price point for Xbox soon afterwards.

Both of these price points will be accompanied by a number of official bundle deals, and although neither Sony nor Nintendo have officially confirmed the reports, a number of sources both in key retailers and at the platform holders themselves admit that cuts are coming.

What remains entirely in the realms of speculation, however, is what Nintendo's response to any cuts would be. The most likely scenario, in our estimation, is that Nintendo will price-match the Xbox at £99.99; however, other media sources have raised the possibility of a £79.99 Cube for Christmas, which combined with the inevitable Mario Kart: Double Dash bundle, would certainly make the console into an altogether more interesting proposition as the festive season approaches.

Reuters