Microsoft’s sales of Xbox 360 consoles beat Sony’s PlayStation 3 by a three-to-one margin during the Black Friday holiday shopping opener.  Microsoft credited its low price point ($199.99 USD) and broad range of game titles as the reason for surge in Black Friday sales.

According to Microsoft:

Strong game sales rounded out a historic Black Friday for Xbox 360, with record-paced software sales continuing for key Microsoft titles, such as “Gears of War 2,” “Fable II,” and “Lips.” Xbox 360 continues to have the highest game attach rate of any console at 8.1 games per console.

“We entered into the Black Friday sales period with cautious optimism, knowing that dollar for dollar, Xbox 360 offers more social entertainment value than any other console on the market,” said Don Mattrick, senior vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “Record Black Friday sales in the U.S., coupled with our existing global install base of 25 million and an online community of more than 14 million Xbox LIVE members, have laid the groundwork for continued global sales momentum in 2009.”

Considering that, according to Forbes, Microsoft just about breaks even with sales of its Xbox 360 console, the high attach rate for games and millions of Xbox Live subscribers is key to Microsoft making any money from the Xbox platform.

Meanwhile, in the same article by Forbes, Nintendo is rolling in money from the success of the Wii, making $6 on each console sold, and selling more of its own game titles than any other platform.

Filed under: Gaming, XBOX