The Wall Street Journal has revived an old rumor about the imminent Xbox 360 price cut. As other gaming and technology sites have already reported, before the E3, Microsoft will announce a $50 price cut, bringing the price down to $299.

Released in November 2006, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is competing against Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo’s Wii. In the past few months, the US sales of Xbox 360 have dropped under 200,000 units per month, the Microsoft’s console being constantly outsold by Sony’s PS3.
In Japan, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 has remained an outsider, distantly behind its competitors.

In fact, in the last year, Microsoft officials have said they will focus on Europe as the main turf of Xbox 360. On the other hand since the release of the Halo 3 Microsoft was unable to bring another game title to boost the sales of its console.

Microsoft had high hopes that GTA IV will play for Xbox 360 the same as Halo 3 did, but unfortunately the Rockstar’s game has failed to change the sales balance in the gaming three-way war.

Also, Microsoft has not upgraded its console since the official launch. Besides an external HD DVD unit, which was discontinued after Toshiba has lost the battle with Blu Ray, the technical specifications of Xbox 360 are basically the same. There were several rumors that Microsoft could unveil an upgraded version, but the company refused to comment.

Also, two months there were rumors about a Xbox 360 controller much like Nintendo’s Wii remote. It was reported that the new controller will have four face buttons, an analog stick, and microphone and will probably be able to interact with the Xbox Live Vision Camera. But for the moment, this information has not graduated from the stage of hearsay.

Anyhow it seems like next week will bring some news from Microsoft about the Xbox 360. Let’s see if it will be only about the price.

While the rumors about the possible price cut of Xbox 360 are growing stronger, Sony has no intention to take the same “road”.

"This year, our strategy is not to sell more quantity for PS3 but to concentrate on profitability," said CFO Nobuyuki Oneda on Friday, quoted by GamePro. "Our plan is not to reduce the price." Sony was heavily criticized for the price of its gaming console, which debuted at $600. Last year, Sony has dropped the price of its console to $400.