Gamers go ga-ga for consoles – but is PS3 a disaster in waiting?

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Thursday, 18 January 2007 17:52

Your IT - Entertainment

Aussie gamers lapped up games consoles of all flavors in the last quarter of 2006, matching the global trend of gargantuan gaming addiction no match which brand is your favorite – but an online report suggests tough times may be ahead for the PS3.

The Xbox 360 may have won the race to sell the most games consoles over the Christmas holiday period in the US but it’s a slightly different story in Australia, with Nintendo’s Wii selling 51,744 consoles compared to 45,036 Xbox 360s, according to Daniel Morse, from consumer electronics market analysts, Gfk.

This figure is interesting not just because the Wii sold more than the Xbox 360 in Australia, but because the Xbox 360’s sales are for the entire fourth quarter of 2006, while the Wii outsold the Xbox 360 in the period of December 8 to December 31. From that point of view, the Wii’s sales are even more impressive.

Of course, in Europe and Australia, sales of the PS3 were precisely zero, at least officially. Obviously imported PS3s have made it all the way around the world, but in this regard, the PS3 is clearly behind because it simply has not launched in those markets.

That said, the PS2 sold 122,639 units in the fourth quarter of 2006, outselling all the other ‘under-the-TV’ consoles despite the technology being years old. Sony were also quick to point out that sales of software for games consoles is very important, too – after all, that’s where the cream really comes from, not console sales.

In Australia, Sony sold 1.9 million games in the fourth quarter, accounting for 56% of games software sold across all platforms. So, despite battery recalls and PS3 delays, Sony doesn’t look to be going broke anytime soon.

What is very interesting is a report from Playfuls.com quoting Valve’s Gabe Newell where they quote Game Informer’s interview with Newell.

Newell said that "The PS3 is a total disaster on so many levels, I think It's really clear that Sony lost track of what customers and what developers wanted. I'd say, even at this late date, they should just cancel it and do a 'do over'. Just say, 'This was a horrible disaster and we're sorry and we're going to stop selling this and stop trying to convince people to develop for it’.”

Read onto page 2 for the conclusion, and to see what Newell said about the Wii!