Analysts: Slimmer, cheaper PS3 outsold both Wii, Xbox 360 in September

We won't have a solid count until next week, but gaming analysts are already predicting that the once-struggling, now-surging PlayStation 3, which got both a $100 price cut and a slimmer profile back in August, was the best-selling console in September, beating out (finally) both the Wii and the Xbox 360.

According to Joystiq, EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich believe that about 400,000 PS3s were sold last month, compared to 375,000 Wiis and 370,000 Xbox 360 consoles. Meanwhile, Kotaku quotes gaming analyst Michael Pachter, who's predicting that the PS3 topped 410,000 consoles sold, versus 390,000 for the Wii and 350,000 for the Xbox 360 (which also got a recent price cut).

If the numbers hold up (and we'll find out next week, when the NPD Group releases its monthly tally), it'll mark the first time that the PlayStation 3 has been the monthly top-selling (non-portable) gaming console since the console's launch in November 2006.

Indeed, according to Kotaku, Pachter thinks that the PS3 will continue to clean the Xbox 360's clock (although probably not the Wii's) "for the rest of the year," thanks to "the recent round of price cuts."

Long the priciest of the next-generation consoles (and given that they've all been on the market for almost three years, it's probably time to start calling them the "this-generation" systems), the PS3 finally got a $100 price cut in August, to $299.

That price cut surely gave a boost to PS3 sales in the past few weeks, although it's not like Microsoft and Nintendo have been sitting on their hands. A few weeks after Sony's PS3 price drop, Microsoft slashed the price of its 120GB "Elite" Xbox 360 by $100, to $299, while Nintendo chopped the price tag of its staggeringly popular Wii by $50, to $199.

Related:
EEDAR expects PS3 to be top selling console in Sept. [Joystiq]
Analyst: The PlayStation 3 Could Dominate The Holidays [Kotaku]