In a move to boost lackluster sales, Sony has decided to cut the price of the PlayStation 3 in the United States by $100, bringing the price for the 60 gigabyte model down to $499 from its previous $599 price tag.

"Our initial expectation is that sales should double at a minimum," Jack Tretton, chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment America said. "We've gotten our production issues behind us on the PlayStation 3, reaching a position to pass on the savings to consumers, and our attitude is the sooner the better."

Sony is currently selling about 60,000 PS3s each month and is still twice as expensive as the Wii, but the price drop might intice some people who are sitting on the fence to jump in and get a unit, GiN's industry analysts speculated.

The announcement comes at the week beginning the scaled down E3 Expo show, and anticipation is high to see what, if anything, Microsoft and Nintendo will do to respond to the price drop.