Hot off the heels of Sony slashing the price on its PlayStation 3 home console, Microsoft has released a statement about its Xbox 360 and how its own price tag won't be modified anytime soon.

Sony's PlayStation 3 has certainly been lagging behind Microsoft's Xbox 360 lately, as the North American console managed to consistently overtake the Japanese one in sales for the last year.

As such, during last week's Gamescom 2011 conference, Sony confirmed that the PlayStation 3 model with the 160GB hard drive is now priced at $250, down from the previous $299 tag.

Now, all eyes are on Microsoft, who is expected to counter in a way this move from its competition. According to the company's Vice President of interactive entertainment, Chris Lewis, that isn't going to happen anytime soon.

"As you can imagine, we plan for these scenarios all the time," Lewis told GameSpot. "For me to sit here and say that was a big surprise would be a lie. Respect for what they do, of course. I love the competition, actually: it keeps us on our toes and consumers benefit ultimately."

The PlayStation 3 now costs $250 for the 160GB version and $350 for the 320GB model bundled with the PlayStation Move peripheral. Meanwhile, the 4GB Xbox 360 costs $200, and the 250GB model has a $300 tag.

Microsoft is confident that it offers great value for all that money, enough to not warrant a price cut just yet, especially with services like Xbox Live.

"We think we offer great value now," Lewis noted. "We have better service provision than anybody. We attach more effectively than anybody. I think Xbox Live’s enviable. What we’ve achieved with Kinect has given us growth that I think others would aspire to at this point in the lifecycle. We’re happy with our position. While we’re not complacent about the competition, I wouldn’t trade places."

Do you want a price cut for the Xbox 360 or is the current strategy a good one for Microsoft?