Sony, which has resisted calls for lower prices, is likely to shave $50 to $100 off the PS3 this month or next, said Mike Hickey, an analyst with Janco Partners Inc. in Greenwood Village, Colorado. Starting at $399.99, the PS3 is $200 more than the lowest-priced Xbox 360 from Microsoft Corp. and $150 more than the market-leading Wii. Game makers now focus development in two directions: one for the top-selling Wii and the other for Xbox 360, PS3 and personal computers. Titles for Microsoft and Sony are typically more expensive to produce. Sony posts a loss on each console it makes at the current price, according to researcher iSuppli Corp. 'The publishers need the PS3 install base to grow in order for most of these games to be profitable,' said Evan Wilson, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities in Portland, Oregon. 'It's an easy equation for them, but it's very different from the one that Sony has to take on.'