Today, some of America's top games industry analysts predicted that Sony may soon have no choice but to cut the PlayStation 2's $179 retail price.

　　"It is our position that Sony has not yet decided as to whether or not to cut PS2 prices between now and the E3 trade show in mid-May, but the April retail sales data may be a compelling factor to cut prices sooner rather than later," read a research note from American Technology Research's PJ McNealy.

　　The "compelling factor" in question is the surge in Xbox sales following Microsoft's decision to drop the console's price to $149. Analysts such as Schwab SoundView Capital Markets' Colin Sebastian told Reuters that unless the PS2 is discounted within the next few weeks, it could fall behind the Xbox in overall sales.

　　Others, such as RBC Capital Markets' Stewart Halpern have said this has already happened. Though final numbers won't be available until next month, Halpern estimates that 275,000 Xboxes were sold in April, as opposed to 200,000 PS2s.

　　The analysts' dire predictions came on the heels of Sony's own bleak assessment of PS2 sales. In the earnings report it released today, the company predicted that sales of the console would slide 30 percent in the coming fiscal year, dropping from 20 million to 14 million units.