On the last weekend of September, during the Tokyo Game Show, Nintendo finally joined Sony and Microsoft in announcing a price drop for its console. Finally, the Wii has dropped to $219.95. Matt Ryan, a Nintendo Canada spokesperson, said the price adjustment brings "even better value to consumers out there who are on the fence about making a Wii purchase."

In an earlier interview, Ryan had said that what was once typical for Nintendo's hardware — a five-year life cycle — has been thrown out the window. Aside from some changes to the system that have been delivered by software updates, the Wii is much the same as it was when it took the industry by storm in November of 2006.

While he didn't rule out the possibility there may be changes to the Wii hardware in the future, Ryan said that so far Nintendo has chosen to focus on developing peripherals, like the recently released Wii Motion Plus, and the experience consumers get playing games using the Wii's motion control.

Nintendo is the last of the three console manufacturers to offer a price drop. On August 18, Sony’s Playstation3 got a new price point — $299 — and new hardware. Kaz Hirai, global CEO of the Playstation business, made the announcement in a keynote address at the GamesCom convention in Germany.

The new PS3 was released on September 1 and in the first three weeks, Sony sold one million of them. Completely redesigned, the console has a textured, matte finish, is two-thirds the size of the original and is equipped with a 120 GB hard disc. Matt Levitan, marketing and public relations manager for Playstation Canada, said he's impressed with what the engineers were able to do with the new hardware. "We got it to as small as it’s going to get," he said on the phone from his office in Toronto.

The thinner PS3 retains nearly all of the functionality of the earlier models, including a full-featured Blu-Ray player. Gone, however, is the ability to install other operating systems on the device. Levitan said he hopes that the small minority of people who that matters to have already made their PS3 purchase.

Microsoft, meanwhile, dropped the price of its Xbox 360 Elite, which has a 120 GB hard disc, to $329.99 back in August. Craig Flannagan, platform manager for Xbox Canada, said that Canadians have access to a limited number of bundles that include an Elite console, a copy of the game Halo 3, and a wireless network adapter for that same price.

The Xbox 360 Arcade model, with 256 MB of internal storage, has also been reduced in price to $229. The Xbox 360 Pro model has been discontinued. Any remaining 60 GB units will be sold at $279. Flannagan said that in talking with consumers, Microsoft has determined that the Elite and Arcade models met everyone's needs, precluding the need for the mid-range Pro.

If there is to be a change to the configuration of the Xbox 360 in the months ahead, adding built-in wireless network functionality is the most likely. Flannagan said that while there had been no announcements about changes to the hardware, “We're always innovating on the platform.”