The word is out, Xbox 360 Pro coming cheap

Rumors are rapidly being substantiated as the launch date approaches: A price reduction is evidently being planned for the 20 GB Xbox 360, which looks like it'll go on sale this Sunday, July 13, with a price tag of $299.99.

Leaks from Best Buy, K-Mart, and Gamestop have all provided similar information: the Xbox 360 Pro retailing for $349.99 in the United States will experience a $50 drop in price in time for Microsoft's Monday E3 press conference.

At the end of June, the Hollywood Reporter published a story stating that Microsoft would be doing precisely what we're seeing, but the Redmond company had little to say about the article at that time.

This reduction puts the 20 GB 360 at a price just $50 above Nintendo's top-selling Wii and could potentially narrow the sales margin of approximately 3 million consoles between the two.

The Elite package with 120 GB currently sells for an MSRP of $449.99, while the 256 MB Arcade package sells for $279.99. There's no word yet as to a price drop for those models, though a $20 difference between Arcade and Pro might not hold for very long.