Microsoft is preparing a new price cut for its Xbox 360 Pro gaming console.  Currently the Xbox 360 is sold for $349.99, but according to The Hollywood Reporter, Microsoft intends to announce a new price before the upcoming video game trade show, E3, which runs July 15-17 in Los Angeles. The new retail price of Xbox 360 will be $299.

Microsoft has slashed the price of Xbox 360 with $50 in August last year, before the release of its iconic game Halo 3.

The rumored price cut could be Microsoft’s response to the poor sales of Xbox 360 in the past few months.

Despite Microsoft’s expectations, the release of Rockstar’s GTA IV has failed to boost the consoles sales. The game was released for both Xbox 360 and PS3, but Microsoft hoped to attract the gamers to buy its console because starting this autumn it will offer some exclusive game content on its Xbox Live service.

However, Microsoft seemed pleased by the release of GTA IV and the company said that Rockstar’s game has helped the Xbox Live community to reach the 12 million members milestone.

According to NPD, the Xbox 360 version of GTA IV outsold the PS3 version in a 2:1 report since the release of the game.

However, according to the latest figures released by the company that tracks the gaming sales in US, NPD, in May Xbox 360 sold only 186,000 units compared to 208,000 PS3s.

There are rumors that Sony is also considering a price cut for its PS3 console. The Japanese company confirmed last week the launch of a movies download service for its gaming console.

Unlike Microsoft and Sony, Nintendo confirmed few weeks ago that it has no intention to cut the price of its Nintendo Wii console, which is still selling like hot cakes. Last month, 675,100 Nintendo Wiis were sold in the United States.