The rumors are currently so thick about Microsoft cutting the price on the Xbox 360 that even if they weren’t planning it they should probably just go ahead and announce it at E3 just to save themselves the trouble of explaining. There is near-universal agreement that this is a move much-needed for the company to push the console’s lagging sales, but some believe price cuts alone still won’t be enough.

Signal Hill analyst Todd Greenwald has said that, "We think the 360 has lost significant momentum to both the Wii and PS3, especially in Europe, and is in need of both a price cut and new features to bring in mainstream gamers beyond the Halo/Call of Duty/GTA crowd."

Greenwald believes that if Microsoft is to compete with the Wii, then they need to unveil a motion-sensing controller similar to the Wiimote. For their part, Microsoft has repeatedly denied rumors that such a device exists, meaning that it’s either the worst-kept secret in the industry, or an avenue they are legitimately uninterested in pursuing.

I personally don’t really see what else Microsoft can do other than cut the price of the Xbox, considering they are not likely to ever appeal to the same market share that’s buying the Wii. Just yesterday I was in line to buy Wii Fit with two parents with young kids and two older individuals, and none of them had a clue what the Xbox 360 even was (and they were in an actual game store, not Wal-Mart or Target). So if Microsoft wants to court these consumers I say good luck, they’ve only ever known Nintendo and that’s likely how things are going to stay.