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Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter predicts that a price drop for both the Xbox 360 and PS3 is coming sooner than you think.

Speaking on Gametrailers's Bonus Round Videocast, Pachter believes game publishers are worried that the next-gen consoles, the Xbox One and PS4, will cannibalize game sales for the older consoles. A price cut could then extend the life of both consoles.

Pachter believes that publishers are so concerned about this that they will threaten Microsoft and Sony and force through a price cut, to be deployed as early as February.

"I think the publishers are going to threaten the manufacturers, and they’re going to say 'cut the price of the PS3 and the Xbox 360, now.' So my bet is: February, price cut happening, because I actually think the publishers are gonna threaten to not support PS3 and 360 this Holiday…Holiday '14 - if they don't see a price cut quick," says Pachter.

Pachter also believes that both Sony and Microsoft will acquiesce to this request, simply because both companies can afford to do so.

"The good news is: Microsoft can cut to 199 in a heart beat and won’t lose any money. I mean it'll cost their profit. And Sony can do the same, they both have manufacturing down there, and I think that's great for consumers. There are still a hundred million Wii owners out there, probably three quarters of whom have never considered owning a PS3 or a Xbox 360. That's a good opportunity for ten million or more of them to trade up, so that’ll be good," explained Pachter.

Recently released U.S. sales figures for December showed that Xbox 360 sales dropped 54% from a year ago, with the Xbox One selling 1.4 times as many units during the same month. PS3 sales have similarly dropped, to under 300,000 units for December.