Well-paid analysts in nicely pressed shirts have predicted that Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo will all cut the price of their respective video game consoles within the year. There’s two reasons for this: one, the U.S. economy continues to limp along like it was shot in the leg by someone who hates economic prosperity and two, the costs of producing the consoles will drop as economies of scale kick in.

Someone from Wedbush Morgan, a division of Skull & Bones, said that Sony is likely to move first, cutting the PS3’s price by $50 or $100 toward the end of the year, closely followed by Microsoft, which so desperately wants its 360 to be lower priced than the PS3. Nintendo, which recently said it has no intention of cutting the Wii’s price, may do a little abracadabra, removing the pack-in Wii Sports, which gives the illusion of a price drop.

Exciting times ahead for gamers with only marginal amounts of discretionary income.