PlayStation price cut sees biggest sales of the year

Virgin Megastores' aggressive initiative to drop full price PlayStation games to £29.99 has seen a huge rise in software sales in the past couple of weeks. According to trade paper MCV, there was a 49 per cent rise in full price PlayStation games, with GT's Driver shifting a further 76,000 copies in the week ending July 3.

The massive rise in software sales has vindicated Virgin's initiative, a move that forced other retailers to drop their prices accordingly. "We've taken a lot of stick for what we did, but knew that it was the right thing to do," Virgin's Bart Saunt told MCV. "I would question anyone who says that Driver would have sold the same number at £44.99. And all PlayStation titles have seen a rise over the past week, even the older, back catalogue titles that hadn't been selling particularly well recently."

Electronics Boutique's John Steinbrecher disagreed with Saunt. "I am not convinced that the discounting really had any effect on sales," he told MCV.

Have you been out and bought a PlayStation game because of the price cuts? Would a constant £30 price point mean you'd buy more games? Your comments would be much appreciated, so send 'em to the Editor.