Sony announced at the Tokyo Game Show that it is officially reducing the price of the PS3 in Japan. But the winner, weiner, and Wiiner of this upcoming holiday season knock-down-drag-out consumer kerfuffle remains to be seen.

During the show, Sony Corp. announced it was cutting the Japan price of the low-end PlayStation 3 model by 20 percent to 47,600 yen, or about $410 — the first time the Japanese electronics and entertainment company has slashed a console price before its release.

Tokyo-based Sony has no plans to lower PlayStation 3 prices in the U.S., where it will go on sale November 17 at $499 for the 20-gigabyte hard drive version, and at $599 for the 60-gigabyte version. The console will arrive in Japanese stores November 11, but it has been delayed in Europe until March because of a production problem.

Adam Sessler, a game expert with U.S. cable network G4 who was in Japan for the show, believes PlayStation 3 no longer has the leadership position it once had, and is likely to face a tough job fighting rivals this time.

Among the problems are the high price and attractive games in the pipeline for Microsoft Corp.’s rival console, the Xbox 360. Also, Nintendo Co.’s Wii is offering innovative entertainment, Sessler said.

“If you still don’t know which console to get, wait and see,” he said. “Give it another year.”

General