Microsoft has spent the past week dismissing as speculation the price of $149.99 that various online retailers have been listing for pre-orders of its Xbox 360 Kinect sensor. Now the company's own online store has joined in, listing the Kinect device for preorder at exactly that price.

So that's official confirmation, right? Nope, representatives of the Xbox team said in response to our question this morning that the listing on the Microsoft Store should be considered in the same manner as those on other sites -- in other words, as a retailer taking its best guess at the ultimate price for the Kinect sensor.

OK, well, in any event, it will be interesting to see what happens if the actual price for the standalone Kinect sensor is anything higher than the $150 that everyone seems to be assuming it will be. See Joystiq and Mashable for more coverage of the Microsoft Store's listing of the Kinect device.

In related news this morning, Microsoft announced a new family pricing structure for Xbox Live Gold memberships, saying it will offer groups of four annual memberships for $99.99 total, which is usually the price of two. The company also unveiled new family controls and settings for the Xbox Live service.