Sony is close to announcing PlayStation price cuts, in the US at the very least. Stateside, the price will fall from $149 to $129 before April is out, an industry analyst forecast yesterday.

Citing "industry checks", Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian told clients the price-cut would be made to "bring the current-generation consoles within reach of more value-oriented customers" and to "drive demand at the end of a console cycle", Reuters reports.

Sony is certainly expected to reduce the PS2's price in the run-up to the launch of the PS3 in November. The consumer electronics giant is believed to have earmarked an 8 May event to detail further PS3 specifications, the initial games line-up and, crucially, pricing, so a PS2 price cut ahead of such a revelation would make sense.

Sony needs to help sales of the older machine along while many consumers hold back from making a purchase until the PS3 debuts. A lower PS2 price might just tempt them to buy early. ®