Black Friday and video games have been going hand in hand for years. Last year, the post-Thanksgiving discounts coincided with the release of two of the most highly-anticipated consoles in years: Sony's PS4 and Microsoft's Xbox One. In spite of limited initial consoles leading to a slim Black Friday in the US, the Sony device won out in the November sales race, leading to several months in the driver's seat as the market leader.

This year, with the new video game consoles available and beginning to establish themselves, it was up to Microsoft and Sony to duke it out for the top sales spot, with a number of enticing deals. According to purchase insights company InfoScout, there was a clear winner for this year's Black Friday sales, with Microsoft coming out on top.

InfoScout revealed its findings in a blog post yesterday, after collating data from panelists who submitted over 180,000 receipts over the course of Black Friday. The data included receipts from purchases at all major retailers carrying electronics, including Walmart, Best Buy, Target and more. The data reveals that Microsoft's Xbox One was the big winner, with a 53% share of console sales. The PS4 came in second with 31%, and the Xbox 360 beat Nintendo's Wii U to third with 9%.

Xbox One's domination was not the only finding that InfoScout revealed, either. The retail analytics firm also polled its panelists on their specific purchases. 90% of console purchases were bundled with a game, 75% of those panelists aid that the bundled game was a major influence on their purchase decision. Both Walmart and Target had the Xbox One Assassin's Creed Unity bundle as their bestsellers, with the PS4 GTA V and The Last of Us: Remastered deal coming in second.

InfoScout's post also revealed that 66% of  all its panelists confirmed they purchased the console for their children. Unsurprisingly, the Wii U came top of this poll, with 92% of all purchases made for the panelists' kids. Xbox One came second here, with 66% of all purchases made for the family. Meanwhile, PS4 buyers went against this trend, with over half of all panelists buying the console for themselves.

So what are the likely reasons for the Xbox One's success? The popularity of bundles was certainly a factor, and Microsoft's console took advantage of limited, time-sensitive discounts ($50 off Xbox One bundles plus other Black Friday deals) to full effect over the course of the sale weekend. It's another boost for the Xbox One, after a series of improving sales figures. Let's see what the future holds in this console race.

Did you pick up a console in the Black Friday sales? If so, what did you buy and why? Do you think Xbox One deals were the best of the lot? Let us know in the comments.

Source: InfoScout