As we told you previously, Sony is already getting ready for the arrival of the PS3 in their warehouses at the end of the month. A new PlayStation 3 80GB bundle has appeared on the scene with Metal Gear Solid 4 and Killzone 2, at least at Best Buy in North American so far.

This seems to confirm the fact that Sony is going to attempt to move inventory to make way for the slim PS3 later this month. What is a bit more interesting is that we are hearing that it is likely that Sony will slash the price of this $399 bundle to move inventory if necessary, according to our sources.

Our sources say that Sony has placed these “A” titles in the bundle to draw attention to the console by offering a great bundle of games to help move consoles off dealer shelves and clear inventory that is currently in the channel.

If Sony is unable to move consoles fast enough, it is likely that they will slash the price on this bundle, if necessary, but it will likely not be as low as the price cut expected with the slim PS3 in August. What we are hearing now is that if inventory does not start to move, Sony will likely slash the price to $349, and then to $299 just prior to the release of the slim PS3, if necessary.

It is now expected, according to our sources, that the slim PS3 will go for $299 with no bundled titles at launch. Our 360 moles are still insisting that Microsoft will counter with the current Elite bundle at $299 as their counter to Sony’s move. What is puzzling about this move would be what Microsoft would do with the entire Xbox 360 Pro console inventory on dealer shelves and in the channel. We hear that a $249 slash might be on the way to move inventory as part of the Microsoft plan, which would lead to the current Pro system being discontinued as we previously reported.