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Nintendo may cut the price of its new GameCube console later this year, depending on a similar price cut from Sony for its PS2, a company executive told Reuters on Monday. Vice President of Marketing George Harrison said a GameCube cut was contingent on whether any Sony price cut is to $199 or $249, from the current price of $299. The GameCube currently retails nationally for $199.95. Despite frequent denials that it has any plans on any price cut, Sony has been widely expected to cut the PS2’s price this year, presumably at the industry's Electronic Entertainment Expo in May.

Harrison said any GameCube price cut would have to come by August in order to have full effect for the holiday season. Harrison speculated that if Sony makes a deep enough cut, and if Nintendo makes a cut, then Microsoft might also have to cut the price on its $299 Xbox. As for software pricing, Harrison said Nintendo saw no need to cut its $49.99 price for its top titles, though it may consider a discount program for best-selling games down the road, as Sony recently announced.

Meanwhile, Xbox sales during the current quarter have not met expectations because of international markets, reports CNET. The console's arrival in Japan was greeted with slow sales and reports of product defects. Xbox is expected to do better in Europe, where it went on sale this month, but the game machine's high price may be discouraging sales there.