As you may have heard, the company unveiled plans last week for two pricing levels for the Xbox 360. The $400 package is significantly more expensive than console prices of the last few generations, but it offers everything you need to really see the machine at its best. A bare-bones $300 version falls into traditional pricing structures, but won't fully showcase the power of the 360.

Microsoft would never acknowledge that perceived competitor pricing played into its decision – and that may very well be true. But it's worth noting the company made the plunge past the $300 point at the same time Sony has been shouting far and wide – to anyone who will listen - that the PlayStation 3 is going to be an expensive piece of hardware.

Last month, for instance, Sony Computer Entertainment president Ken Kutaragi reportedly told attendees of the company's PlayStation meeting "I'm not going to reveal [the PS3's] price today. I'm going to only say that it'll be expensive."" [more]