Shoppers are splashing the cash in advance of Christmas and manufacturers of games consoles have been laughing all the way to the bank, with both Nintendo and Microsoft reporting record sales.

Americans went console crazy last week on what is known as Black Friday, the first Friday after Thanksgiving when Yanks are encouraged to reach for the wallet and get those prezzies in early.

For Microsoft, Xbox 360 sales went through the roof, with some punters even fighting for their space in the console queue. While many of those angry consumers were pepper sprayed by staff, Microsoft's finances were rocketing.

Almost a million Xbox 360 units were sold last week alone, according to Microsoft. Over 800,000 of those were sold in a 24-hour period. A quarter of a million Kinect add-ons were also shifted.

Meanwhile, Nintendo sold more than half a million Wii consoles on Black Friday, the company's most successful day ever for North American sales, USA Today reports.

The company's latest addition to the Zelda franchise, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword has shifted a similar number of units since release, while Super Mario Land 3D followed suit figure wise and become the fastest selling Mario game of all time.

While Sony has yet to announce its own Black Friday sales figures, it has undoubtedly been a successful period for gaming, especially with the current crop of consoles in their twilight years and next-gen replacements just around the corner.

And who said games consoles were facing extinction? ®