PS3 sales have seen a huge spike since the console's big price cuts early this month. The European reduction in the cost of the 60GB PS3 and the introduction of the £299 40GB one has sent Sony's baby screaming up the console league table.
According the VG Chartz, the PS3 sold 64,087 units in Europe last week, only 6,235 less than the super-selling Nintendo Wii.
PS3 sales boom
At the same time, Xbox 360 sales crashed through the floor; Microsoft managed to shift just 37,303 of them in that week. These disappointing figures follow an extremely strong September for the Xbox 360, which was given a huge boost by the release of Halo 3.
There is some debate about the accuracy with which VG Chartz collects its data so the numbers are unlikely to be spot-on. However, they have historically presented an accurate representation of how each console did in comparison with the others.
Only the lowly Game Boy Advance sold less than the Xbox 360 last week.
Curtains for the Xbox?
Does this latest news suggest a significant shift in the fortunes of the ongoing console war? Probably not. Console sales will remain unstable, see-sawing up and down in the run-up to Christmas.
New models (like the Xbox 360 Elite and 40GB PS3), must-have software titles (specifcially Halo 3 on the 360) and dramatic hardware price cuts have all played a part so far.
And the skirmishes look set to continue. A new Xbox bundle, the Xbox 360 Arcade has recently been announced, while both Sony and Microsoft have yet to bring their big Xmas titles to bear - Mass Effect, Pro Evolution Soccer 2008, Assasins' Creed amongst them.
At the moment, the console battle is less about one system being technically superior to the other. It's all about the content and what gamers want to play.
