With announcements due from both Sony and Microsoft at Game Convention in Leipzig tomorrow, rumours at the show suggest that Sony will be dropping its PS2 price point - but that Microsoft may have little news to announce.

Sony has traditionally chosen late August or early September as the time for its final pre-Christmas price adjustments, so a hardware price cut certainly isn't out of the question - although while in Leipzig today senior sources described the cut as "common knowledge", back in the UK several retailers denied having heard anything to that effect.

On the Xbox 360 front, however, reports that the date for the console and possibly even its price point could emerge at Game Convention appear to have been off the mark, with none of Microsoft's three key Xbox executives - Robbie Bach, J Allard and Peter Moore - making the trip over to Germany for the event.

In the absence of those executives, who have become the face of the Xbox 360 project, it's unlikely that an announcement about date or price will be made - with further announcements of European software support for the console perhaps more likely.

However, one strong hint about the price point for Xbox 360 did emerge today from Microsoft itself - with a German language page on the company's own website fingering CHF 600.- as the value of the console.

The page, which describes a new initiative offering incentives to resellers who sell certain volumes of Microsoft software, notes that an Xbox 360 console worth 600 Swiss Francs is one of the bonuses on offer.

That translates roughly as 386 Euro, or GBP 264 - which is broadly in line with the upper end of price expectations for the Xbox 360.

Although the figure is likely to be a rough estimate more than anything else, it does still suggest that Microsoft may come in at 399 Euro or thereabouts for the Xbox 360 - probably translating as GBP 299 - adding fuel to speculation that the console may be priced at a level somewhat higher than Microsoft's last system was at launch.