Nintendo Co Ltd, the top maker of the current generation of video game consoles, said on Wednesday it will cut the price of its Wii video game console by $50 to $199.99, starting Sunday.

The move makes Nintendo the last among its peers to cut prices. Last month, Microsoft Corp slashed $100 off the price of its high-end Xbox 360 console and Sony Corp cut the price of its PlayStation 3 by $100.

Prices for both Xbox 360 and PS3 now start at about $300, although Microsoft also sells a low-end model, the Xbox Arcade, for about $200.

Sales of the PS3 jumped after the price cut in August, Sony Computer Entertainment of America Chief Executive Jack Tretton told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.

Just after Microsoft cut its price on August 27, a Nintendo spokesman said the company had no plans to follow suit.

Reports about the cuts from Nintendo first appeared on blogs including Kotaku and Engadget.

Video game industry sales have slumped over the past six months, and hardware sales in August declined by 25 percent, according to research group NPD.

Analysts have pegged the drop to cautious spending by consumers in the tough economic environment, and a dearth of top-selling games. Long-awaited console price cuts and new games, including updates to the Halo, Guitar Hero and Call of Duty franchises are expected to boost sales in coming months.

(Reporting by Franklin Paul and Paritosh Bansal; Editing by Richard Chang)

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