According to Jesse Divnich, an analyst with the simExchange (an online prediction market for the game industry), Microsoft's newly announced holiday bundles (which include Forza Motorsport 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance) will lead to a slight dip in U.S. Xbox 360 hardware sales as consumers wait for the new bundles at the end of the month. The prediction market shows a decreased forecast for Xbox 360 sales in October from an expected 315,000 units down to 304,000 units.

That said, Divnich noted that "Microsoft will more than make up for the lost 10,000 sales in November and December when the bundle is released," and that the bundle "will ultimately increase Microsoft's market share in the home console market and will continue to widen the gap between the Xbox 360 and Sony's PS3."

The prediction market expects Microsoft to sell an additional 408,000 Xbox 360 units in November, thanks to the new bundle, continued buzz for Halo 3 and the arrival of other highly anticipated titles. In fact, the momentum around 360 is sufficiently high enough to deflect any effect a newly introduced cheaper PlayStation 3 might have, Divnich said.

"The prediction market is expecting a $399 PS3 to have minimal impact on Xbox 360 sales overall," Divnich commented to GameDaily BIZ. "The prediction market appears to indicate that consumers have already made up their minds as to what systems they plan to purchase, or at least put on their list, this holiday season. Since the $399 PS3 will not affect its competitor's sales, the cheaper price point will only be drawing customers who already planned on purchasing the PS3 but were deterred by the price."

Across the pond in Europe, SCEE already introduced its cheaper 40GB PS3, but SCEA has yet to confirm a $399 PS3 for North America despite persistent reports indicating that it's on the way for early November.