Microsoft’s Head of Interactive Entertainment Business division, Peter Moore, has said that he considers Sony’s PlayStation 3 price discount as a means of offering added value for the same price, rather than an actual price cut.

“Interestingly, I didn't see a price cut, and I must have been reading the wrong thing. It's still USD 499 and USD 599”, said Moore during an interview with Gamesindustry.biz this week. They've added greater value in the form primarily of storage at the same price points." Sony is now offering consumers the option of purchasing a cheaper 60GB model for USD 499, or alternatively, a 80GB version, which includes a copy of the game MotorStorm for the original 60GB price of USD 599.

However, Moore feels that the company would need to lower the price by a substantially higher number in order to qualify as a price cut: "They've added greater value at the same prices. Which to me is not a price cut. I don't want to be anal, but I read "price cut" and I expected to see USD 399," he added. "When I hear the words "price cut" I expect to see a price cut."

Lastly, despite recent claims from Sony’s Jack Tretton that sales have doubled in major retailers across the U.S, Moore stated that it is ultimately down to the consumers to make up their own minds on whether the price is low enough. "I did see Nintendo's George Harrison saying that it's ineffective, but the consumer will vote on that. Jack [Tretton] did say, anecdotally, that their sales have doubled [since the price cut], so we shall see," concluded Moore.