Microsoft and Sony - the wonderful contest for all the gaming money in the world. If Sony is Foreman and Microsoft is Ali, then we may have just seen the rope-a-dope.

Friday brought the official price cut for the Xbox 360 to the United Kingdom and it has already paid off for Microsoft. Dropping the price of the Elite bundle to £199 has lead to a 43% increase in sales in the UK over the past weekend, according to GfK Chart-Track and GamesIndustry.biz. Last week, Chris Lewis of Microsoft Europe commented on the price change saying, ”We know that when we get to price points that are logical and sweet…we know that we see exponential growth rates.” Logical and sweet sound about right, considering they are seeing this increase just days before Sony’s PS3 goes to the new lower price in the region as well.

The sales from the new PS3 price will have to come in before the judges can give the round to Foreman or Ali.