Contrary to the claims of both Sony and Microsoft, two highly-respected analysts have made the assertion that Grand Theft Auto IV did almost nothing to influence the sales of new PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles.

Analysts Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan, and Colin Sebastian of Lazard Capital Markets, believe that while software sales were up this past month, console sales remained relatively unaffected by GTA IV, which was claimed to be a major system mover by both Sony and Microsoft.

The Wonder Twin analysts noted that software sales saw an excess of 30 percent growth, largely on strong sales of GTA IV, Iron Man, Wii Fit, Quake Wars, and Mario Kart Wii. At the same time, Sebastian noted that, "We do not believe the recent release of GTA IV has generated meaningful incremental demand for the Xbox 360 or PS3 platforms.

Pachter states that a price cut would do far more to move units than any game will, and that there is room for "significant sales growth" if the companies decide to bring their prices back down to levels deemed more reasonable by consumers. While both Sony and Microsoft have created lower-priced, less feature-heavy models in the hopes of wooing consumers who are on the fence, the analysts believe that the prices still haven’t come down to a point at which reluctant buyers in a slow economy will make the investment.

If nothing else this news give fanboys one less thing to argue about. GTA IV didn’t sell either one of your systems, so quit bickering over that and go back to calling into question the exclusivity of Metal Gear Solid 4.