Anyone else noticed how many top console titles were going for a song (and some still are!) over the Christmas period?

I've never seen its like before!  Though welcome to not have to pay £40+ for a game it is also slightly worrying when you feel it's probably desperation driven in these recessionary times with many retailers going to the wall and game producers laying off staff. Is our once dependable, constantly growing games industry on the start of a decline?

Of course we can always fiddle while the games industry burns and pick up the following for around 1/2 price

Banjo Kazooie 3 (360) for £24.99

Dead Space (PS3/360) for £24.98

Fable II (360) for £24.98

Far Cry 2 (PS3/360) for £17.99

Little Big Planet (PS3) for £19.75

Mirrors Edge (PS3/360) for £14.99

Motorstorm 2 (PS3) for £19.99

Resistance 2 (PS3) for £19.99

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Wii/PS3/360) for £24.98

Tomb Raider Underworld (360/PS3) for £24.99

Trauma Centre: New Blood (Wii) for £19.98

or are they selling these too cheap and there is a danger of the market not being sustainable?

Too many titles being released at the same time.

Well, the industry has been in decline for years, profitwise that is.
But the reason for selling the games cheap, is propably due to the retailers overestimating the demand for the titles in question and wanting to clear additional stock. Since the list had mostly PS360 games, which usually sell pretty badly outside the first two weeks, it's pretty useless to keep too many copies of the games in stock for longer periods.