I'm uncertain the Wii price drop will have as great an impact as Pachter & co. appear to believe. My guess at this moment is that the general order of things will be as they say (Wii > PS3 > 360) but the gap from Wii to PS3 will be quite a bit smaller. Last month PS3 proved the effectiveness of price drops when a product has been constrained by price considerations for an extended time. I think it is wrong to apply those results to another console when there is little in common between consumers' perceptions of each.
Wii's loss of sales momentum is only partially due to the price, and the problems with the price are more complex than PS3's. Perceived lack of exciting new games is the more important issue and I see nothing to address it through the October reporting period. Further, Wii's technological disadvantage is becoming more and more important as the penetration of HD display technology continues- I eagerly argued that it was a minimal factor among the population at large when Wii and the other consoles were launched. It's more important now, and will continue to grow in importance year by year. I would not say this means Wii cannot regain footing: this competitive pressure in the form of tech comparison with other options will still be a secondary factor in the near term (but continually growing). It DOES mean the Wii's price drop was too small to be a complete success as it failed to push the Wii down cheaper than competing products with better tech.
But to clarify, both of these interrelated issues (price point and technical obsolescence) are less vital to success in the short term than the primary flaw: few new, exciting games that either are exclusive or highlight the strengths of the console versus competitors. November will be better.
