Sony’s super-confident E3 keynote showed that the company really means business. All that’s needed now is a chunky PS3 price cut to put the cherry on an increasingly tempting cake. Funnily enough...

Arvind Bhatia of investment brokers Sterne Agee is not the first gamesbiz analyst to second-guess the size of the long-predicted PlayStation 3 discount. Doubtless he won’t be the last, either. He does claim insider knowledge, though, which makes a change from the usual finger-in-the-air guesswork. His note on the precise timing of the event is intriguing too:

“Industry sources indicate Sony is planning a $100 price cut on the PS3 in mid-August, just prior the launch of Madden (8/18) and the start of the back to school shopping season. This will naturally be a positive for the industry,” he tells industrygamers.com.

Well, fingers crossed he’s on the money on this one. The Madden-related timing certainly nails things down more firmly than previous guesstimates. Furthermore, mid-August, as VG247 is quick to note, times nicely with the Gamescom developers conference in Cologne. Simultaneous Euro price cut ahoy!

Well, maybe. Of course Sony is keeping resolutely schtum about the whole matter. Rotters.