Microsoft's director of technical strategies Andre Vrignaud, who is responsible for managing the overall gaming platform strategy for Xbox and Windows, has suggested that Sony will launch a value PS3 pack for Christmas.

According to a blog post, Sony will launch a cut-price 40GB PS3 in time for Christmas in an effort to maintain competitiveness in the next-gen console war.

"My prediction is that you're going to see the creation of a new, low-end SKU this holiday. It'll likely remove integrated Wi-Fi, memory card reader, and most controversially, all backward compatibility. (Remember, there's still some back-compat hardware in even the new "software only" back compat SKUs; removing the remaining CPU is a significant cost savings.)"

"You'll see a new Wi-Fi dongle made available. And finally, this low-end SKU will likely come with a smaller 40GB hard drive. The low-end price will be set at $399, with the higher-end 80GB SKU dropping to $499."

Supposedly the new console will be available on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, marks the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season, later this year.

We will keep you posted.

>> Via - Ozymandias.com