While Sony is far and way ahead of Microsoft in this latest round of the console wars, it's clear that Microsoft (News - Alert) isn't taking its runner-up position lying down. A new report has emerged to say that, starting November 2, the starting price for an Xbox One will drop to $350, or fully $50 off the current level. This alone might be good news, but the best part here is that it drops the price on a new Xbox One to under that of the PlayStation 4 for the first time.

The $50 discount is, at last report, set to run through much of the Xbox One line, from the regular system to the various system-and-game combinations from “Assassin's Creed” to “Sunset Overdrive”, which will sell at $350. Meanwhile, the “Call of Duty: Advance Warfare” bundle is set to hit at $450. Reports currently note that the lower prices are set to last through January 3, but that's likely to change in short order if Microsoft sells plenty of the new units.

Naturally, the first response here is that Microsoft understands how the first year of the new console war has gone, and that it's been staging a come-from-behind proposition pretty much since last December. No one really wants to be second place, and with the holiday shopping season now poised to start up in earnest—Black Friday (News - Alert) is coming up, and some are likely already looking around to get things taken care of early on—Microsoft might well be figuring that it's got a chance to shore up the numbers and keep the developers interested here. After all, if Microsoft can't keep the players interested, it's going to be a tough sell to the developers to offer exclusives for Microsoft and thus further drive interest in the platform. After all, who's going to voluntarily produce for a lesser console alone when there's more potential sales to be had bringing in development for both consoles, or even just PlayStation exclusively?

The timing is also impeccable; with people out there having a particular reason to shop thanks to the upcoming triple threat of Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa that helps to drive a little extra spending, not to mention the impressive power of winter to keep everyone indoors and thus drive interest in gaming. But the ultimate question associated with this one is whether or not it will work, and that's the kind of thing that only time is going to be able to reasonably tell.

I can't help wondering if this is just too little, too late for Microsoft. Most gamers have likely made a choice by now, so Microsoft offering hefty discounts to those still on the fence—which may not be all that large a number—may only have limited impact. Of course, this could have a great counter-effect, in that those who already bought PlayStation 4 models may come back and buy an Xbox One as well to catch up on the titles that weren't available for both systems. That's a distinct possibility, and one that may well work to Microsoft's advantage thanks to the hefty price drop.

Only time will tell, of course, just how well this strategy works. But we'll likely start seeing the impact of said price drops fairly soon, and that's a development that's well worth pursuing. With much of the groundwork laid for the console wars, it's going to be up to the developers from here on out to drive interest with games rather than with console discounts.