GameStop: We'd Love to See Xbox 360/PS3 Price Cuts

Video game retailer GameStop would love to see price cuts for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, president Tony Bartel said during a recent post-earnings call with analysts and media. An analyst suggested price drops for those platforms are long overdue, and Bartel seemed to agree.

"We think it would be excellent and definitely would increase the sell-through rate on the old-generation consoles," he said. "We definitely think that would help."

At the same time, however, Bartel clarified that GameStop has no direct knowledge of forthcoming Xbox 360 or PS3 price cuts, and thus has not factored this into its financial forecast.

Also during the call, Bartel said GameStop did not expect Xbox 360 and PS3 software and hardware sales to fall off the map as dramatically as they have during the past year.

"Year to date in the US, Xbox 360 and PS3 software and hardware are down 57.8 percent on a dollar basis," he said. "That's clearly significantly more than we anticipated at the beginning of the year."

As a result of the poor performance of Xbox 360 and PS3, as well as a number of key titles shifting from 2014 to 2015, GameStop has lowered its fourth quarter forecast.

Xbox One and PS4 sales, however, are strong at GameStop. The retailer has announced that since those platforms launched in November 2013, the installed base in the United States is a healthy 73 percent greater than the Xbox 360 and PS3 base was over the same period of time years ago. This is roughly the same trend EA disclosed this week.

However, the retailer did not make comparisons that factored in Nintendo's Wii, which sold more than 13 million units in its first year.

In the United States, the Xbox 360 starts at $180 for an 4 GB system, while a handful of bundles are offered for $250. Meanwhile, you can get a 12 GB PS3 for $200, or various bundles for $250.