Sony and the PS3

The 80GB model is going to see some serious hardware constraints in the weeks ahead, and retailers have about 60 days worth of inventory before the systems will become hard to find. Expect to see many more 160GB units on store shelves. Those units have no constraints yet, but if the retailers sell through that supply as quickly as they did the 80GB, Sony is in a good place for the final part of its plan in 2009: dropping the price of hardware and launching the http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009/05/mole-confirms-psp-go-details-with-a-smaller-ps3-on-the-way.ars - PS3 Slim in the fall .

We have absolutely no information on what to expect from that price drop, so we don't know how large it will be... yet. Still, hearing confirmation from the Mole that it's coming is great news. Sony has had much success getting people excited about the PSP platform with a raft of new games and http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009/06/ars-talks-digital-distribution-with-sony-plays-with-psp-go.ars - the PSP Go hardware , so launching the PS3 Slim and dropping the price on the hardware that's out now should give the platform its own boost.

Microsoft and the Xbox 360

Expect the Xbox 360 Pro to disappear in July or August, but you're going to see some solid bundles to get those systems moving off store shelves. The http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009/04/exclusive-400-360-elite-bundle-with-halo-3-and-fable-2.ars - Halo 3/Fable 2 bundle the Mole previously tipped us off to shows that Microsoft is willing to put some good games into the box to get people buying.

So what are we going to do without the Pro systems? Nothing. The Elite units, with the 120GB hard drive, are going to become the Pro-level system after an early September price cut. We'll be on the lookout for another holiday bundle as well, and that should hit around October. What titles will be included? We should be able to break that story as well, but we don't have the information yet.