Xbox 360 sales surge

It doesn't take a world-class economist to understand that Microsoft's recent price cuts to its full line of Xbox 360 systems would boost sales, but a Bloomberg article has put the size of the spike into perspective. The news outlet is reporting that retailers saw a 100 percent sales surge for the Xbox 360 last weekend across all configurations, with "some models" selling at six times the past weekend's rate.

Microsoft did not provide Bloomberg with exact figures, and it will likely be some time before the price drop's impact is fully understood. While the industry-tracking NPD Group is set to release its latest US retail sales figures this afternoon, those numbers will be for the August sales period, which cut off before the price drops took effect.

As had been revealed weeks earlier by retail fliers, Microsoft lowered the price of the Xbox 360 in all configurations last week. As of September 5, the 120GB Elite sells for $399, the 60GB 360 is $299, and the hard-drive-less Arcade has become the least expensive current-gen console on the market at $199.