Sony spin up Australian PS3 sales figures

By Mike Bantick
Thursday, 05 February 2009 11:27

Your IT - Entertainment

Ephraim continued, “PlayStation platforms have played a significant role in growing and evolving the family game genre since its inception. Having introduced what was arguably the first social gaming franchise, EyeToy®, since then we have experienced huge success with Buzz!™ and SingStar® social gaming franchises. Well over 2 million SingStar games have been sold in Australia since launch, with 700,000 microphones now in homes across the country."

"The SingStar phenomenon has further engaged PS3 users, with these consumers finding the ability to download tracks off the online SingStore™, via the PlayStation Network, incredibly appealing. In the Australian market alone, nearly 240,000 tracks have been downloaded by the legion of SingStar fans since the store launched.”

The SingStar franchise certainly has been lucrative to Sony, seeing a 47 percent uplift in sales during 2008, much of this attributed to SingStar Abba , with 92,000 Agnetha impersonators exercising their vocal talents.  In 2009, out will strut the Freddy Mercury  wannabes with SingStar Queen set to hit shelves.

Sony continue to analyse the figures: PlayStation’s current hardware install base across all platforms is now almost 3.5 million units in Australia. After nine years on the Australian market, the PS2 continues to have the biggest install base of all time, with 2.4 million consoles in Australian homes.

With continued strong software sales, its $199 price point provides family fun at an affordable price, combined with offering the biggest catalogue of software available on the market. By the end of 2008, the PSP has an install base of just over half a million units.

Ephraim said, “2009 is set to be an even bigger year, as SCE Aust. looks to broaden its range of both first party exclusives and third party titles. Kicking off the year with a bang, 26th February sees the anticipated launch of Killzone 2 exclusively on PS3, followed by an impressive line up of other eagerly awaited exclusive titles releasing throughout the year, including the cinematic Heavy Rain™ and action packed inFamous™.” Increased functionality of the PS3 is also planned in 2009, with new functions, such as PlayTV and VidZone, in the pipeline, while the free PlayStation Network will continue to expand its exclusive range of free and paid for content.

An interesting year ahead for Sony and the PS3 flagship, with Blu-Ray players getting cheaper by the moment, it will be the gaming and, to a lesser extent, the media centre attributes of the machine that will need to distinguish it from the (cheaper) competition.