With the PS3 Slim hitting stores next Tuesday and already on pre-order at £229 online, it was obvious that Microsoft would respond. But how? Maybe a Halo 4? A launch date for Natal? A free "red ring of death" T-shirt with every 360? Sadly not. But they have announced a price cut to £199 (from £230) for the top of the range Elite model while discontinuing the mid-ranking Pro edition. This makes sense. Keep the Arcade model - albeit with a "upgrade to Elite please" price rise (!) to £159 - as a cheap and cheerful competitor to the Wii while the Elite can go up against the PS3 in the spec-war.
Whatever happens today, this clearly feels like the start of the console sales "war" this Christmas. Maybe the first proper one too, with the PS3 now sensibly priced against the opposition. But what will happen? With sales of the Wii slowing can the newly priced 360 and PS3 grab some more market share? Or are they simply competing against themselves for the growing, but still relatively small, traditional gaming audience? And what about you? Will a sub-£200 PS3 tempt 360 owners to sample Sony's console or vice-versa?