Gamers who have been wanting to jump ship to team PS3 from the Xbox 360 better do so quickly! Up until April 26th of this coming week, GameStop is hosting a sale of epic proportions. Right now anyone can snag the PlayStation 3 160 gigabyte, slim model for just $199 (while supplies last). And that's not even the best part!

With the purchase of the console, GameStop also provides a free copy of Batman: Arkham City or Mortal Kombat: Komplete Edition.

This is not an official offer through Sony by any means — this sale is strictly a  GameStop only promotion. Could this mean that we can expect other retailers to follow suit? Amazon had price matched for a day, but has since discontinued the sale. Perhaps this could push Sony over the edge to truly make an official decision and announcement about a price drop?

PS3 sales have been slipping and Sony just reported a large sum of $6.4 billion in losses. A price cut could be exactly what the company needs if they want to follow through with their plan to put more focus on gaming to consumers. Sony has stated that at this E3 2012, there will be more emphasis on the Move. With a price drop and a heavy push for the Move to gain popularity, Sony could regain some of their losses before the Wii U releases this winter.

When Game Industry International spoke with a member of the EEDAR (Electronic Entertainment Design and Research), Jesse Divnich, about the recent price drop and unfortunate Sony sales he had this to say:

"I don't believe the PlayStation 3 needs a price drop at the moment. Sales have been consistent and in-line to what one would expect for a platform that continues to successfully grow its install base so late in a console cycle. There could be many elements at play [about the price drop], but I highly doubt this is any indication of weakness for the PlayStation 3."

Whether or not Sony plans on announcing a price drop for the PS3, since there won't be a PS4 announcement at E3 2012, the company should invest a little research and keep a close eye on how well sales go after this GameStop promotion ends.

Ranters do you feel GameStop's promotion is adequate enough to seek out a PS3 or should the deal be even sweeter?

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Source: Game Industry via [Shack News]