Source: NPD Group; via Gamasutra
If you're like us -- and, we figure after all these years we've been secretly brainwashing you, you are -- then the recent console price cuts were met with your curiosity over how these discounts would affect the vast gaming sales landscape. Fortunately, Gamasutra has posted a chart (using NPD figures) that measures how the price cuts altered two factors: each console's average sale price during the month of September and its year-to-date sales (through September).
This first figure proves the most telling about how the market reacted to the slashed prices. For instance, the average price at which PS3s were purchased in September was a flat $300; meaning an overwhelming majority of buyers responded favorably to the discount. Though the price of the Wii didn't get cut until the last week of September, the console's average price dropped to $218 -- also indicative of a reactionary market surge. The average Xbox 360 purchased price, however, actually increased by a buck to $261. By Gamasutra's calculations, folks purchased three Elites ($300) for every Arcade model ($200) sold during the month.
The PS3 was the top-selling console in September, which is the first time it's ever managed a first-place sales finish. It's still in last place in the 2009 year-to-date totals, though, and Sony's system would need to outsell Xbox 360 by about 35,000 units every week until the end of the year to break even with its competitor. Passing up the Wii, however, would require an act of divine intervention -- Nintendo's console is currently sitting on YTD sales of 4 million, which is more than twice the total of PS3 sales.
