Sony enjoyed a flood of press last week with the announcement of the newly redesigned—and less expensive—PlayStation 3. Directly after the announcement executives were conducting interviews, the gaming blogs were desperate for any and all news, and in a masterstroke Sony sent production units of the hardware to some news sites; the unboxing videos were online hours after the announcement. "We expect a material and substantial increase in sales and purchase intent," Sony's John Koller told us in rather blunt fashion.

With a lower price and excitement around the hardware, one question remained: what will Microsoft do?

Ars Technica reached out to Microsoft for comment on the news. "A smaller console size does not necessarily mean more value for consumers," Ars was told. "Starting at $199, Xbox 360 offers the best gaming and entertainment experience at the most consumer-friendly price on the market." Microsoft expects the 360 to be the "entertainment center" into the next decade, and the platform will be "constantly evolving." They also pointed out that Natal will provide gamers with new ways to play games.

The statement was somewhat snarky, but mostly by the numbers: it says the 360 is still better, it will continue to be, and the fight will be won on hardware and software. In North America, the 360 has outsold the PS3 consistently, and in fact Microsoft has the only system that has shown year-to-date growth from 2008; even Nintendo can't match its lofty numbers from last year. Sony doesn't have to just show some growth, it has to catch up with its competitors.

We've also long known that the PS3 Slim would launch right around the time that Microsoft drops the price on the 360 Elite, and scans from store circulars are beginning to materialize showing a $300 Elite coming August 30. The company isn't willing to give up the value game to Sony.

Let's move the $300 Elite from the "rumor" file into "fact." It's coming. It's also worth pointing out that it's much more of a hardware update than a price drop; you're simply getting more storage space for your money. That's a good thing—Microsoft wants you to buy TV shows and movies and Games on Demand—but it's not actually cheaper. A better value, surely. But not cheaper. Microsoft has enjoyed large margins by overcharging for its hard drives, making this price drop a painless one in terms of hardware cost. While the $200 Arcade model is still the least expensive option, without a hard drive the system isn't suitable for anyone but the most casual gamers.

This puts Microsoft and Sony on a level playing field in the US: both systems come with 120GB hard drives standard, and both sell for $300. While the press and the fanboys will be watching this month's NPD numbers with great expectation, the gamers win: both systems are either less expensive, or give you more bang for your buck. That's a good thing, no matter how you want to slice it.