"The Mole" told an Ars Technica editor (see the orginal news) that another round of price drops for Microsoft's gaming consoles is scheduled for early September 2008. While this is unconfirmed by Microsoft, the "The Mole" apparently was right earlier this year about the Xbox 360 with 60 GB harddrive coming, so this new prediction might come true, too, Ars Technica is reasoning.

According to the Microsoft mole, Xbox 360 Arcade will drop to 199 Dollar (from 249 Dollar), the Pro version with 60 GB will cost 299 Dollar (replacing the 20 GB version of the same price), and the Xbox 360 Elite will go from 449 Dollar to 399. 399 Dollar would be the same price Sony Computer Entertainment wants to have for their new 80 GB version of the PS3, which replaces the 40 GB version. So having 50 percent more harddisk space for the same price seems like a reasonable deal for potential buyers of the Xbox Elite, or having a 100 dollar discount with only 20 GB less, if they consider the Xbox 360 Pro. Still, the PS3 is the more advanced machine, and comes with a built-in blu-ray player, so buyers might not decide on the grounds of how big the harddisc is, anyway (also, you can very easily exchange the PS3's harddrive with a bigger one).

Having said that, the Xbox 360 still is the bigger console in the US by far, having much more gaming titles and installed consoles than the PS3.