Sony will cut the price of its video game console PlayStation 2 in Europe, and Microsoft will counter with its own Xbox cuts.

The Sony cut, announced Wednesday, will slash the suggested retail price by 15 percent in Britain to $260, and by as much as 17 percent in continental Europe to between $244 and $253. The price cuts come on the eve of the ECTS video game developers conference in London.

Just an hour after the Sony announcement, Microsoft said it will cut the suggested retail price of its Xbox console to $244 from $293 in continental Europe. Microsoft said it would cut the price in Britain to $244 from $305. . .

In the run-up to the holiday-shopping season, video game giants Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft plan to step up their sales and marketing initiatives to cash in on a global gaming market that is predicted to top $31 billion this year.

Earlier this year, Microsoft and Nintendo cut the price of their consoles, Xbox and GameCube, respectively, to boost demand.

A Sony Computer Entertainment Europe representative said that no more price cuts were planned for the region. In May, the price of PS2 was cut to $199 in the United States.

At the reduced price, PS2 is sandwiched between the cheaper GameCube at $195 and Xbox at $293 in Europe.

Sony’s price cuts will happen at midnight Thursday; Microsoft’s cuts kick in Friday.

Sony has sold more than 8.25 million PS2 consoles in Europe, Africa, New Zealand and Australia. Since launching PS2 in March 2000, Sony has shipped more than 33 million consoles.

 Nothing was mentioned about a price cut in the United States.

Source: News.com.

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