In console war terms, the PlayStation 3 lost in the UK. Not only did it sell significantly less than its closest competitor the Xbox 360, but it also fell behind in mindshare. Stores would stick Sony’s latest releases right to the back of their video game sections, and newspaper promotions would always show green boxes rather than black and red ones. Fortunately for the firm, it’s completely turned the tables.
Speaking anecdotally, our local shops boast entire walls of PlayStation 4 branding, with virtually every multiformat game promoted on the Japanese giant’s next-gen system – and rarely its nearest counterpart. And that sea change has resulted in the platform holder’s newest console racing to an advantage on British shores, as to mark the release of Destiny, the company’s announced that it’s already moved one million units in these parts.
It’s taken the console nine months to hit the milestone, making it the nation's second fastest selling system ever. Fergal Gara, who’s in charge of SCEUK, though, reckons that it could have been so much more. “Our biggest problem last Christmas was that our forecasts were more modest at the time when we started calling things like manufacturing capacity,” he told Eurogamer.net. “So while the team did a brilliant job of getting us more than we thought that we would need, it still wasn't enough.”
Fortunately, the firm doesn’t anticipate any problems this holiday. “I'm expecting both a very strong sales Christmas and healthy volumes this Christmas,” he added. “I don't anticipate any consumer problems.” Still, with Microsoft coming back strong, it will be interesting to see whether the company can maintain its lead over the Redmond-based organisation, which is rumoured to sit at a ratio of 1.5:1. We suppose that that Destiny bundle will help today, huh?
[source eurogamer.net]
Comments 9
Hmmm it's selling faster than the Juggernaut PS2 and the fall from grace PS3 in terms of weeks from launch...
Then that could mean... No it can't be! All done with the majority of first party studios in hiding,
It's a huge achievement for Sony, but they can't afford to slack now. Microsoft cannot be underestimated, as they don't take defeat well. Hopefully Sony can capitalise on this and make the Vita shift a few more units, as that thing seems like the unloved child at the moment.
@Johnnycide Seems like? Well if you say so!
Sony just needs 3 solid months of PS plus to crush xb1, they have a few decent games they can throw out there. Drive Club Oct, Killzone Nov, Second Son Dec, Knack Jan.
The lineup of forthcoming games for ps4 is leagues ahead of what xb1 is offering imo so I think ps4 will maintain its dominance for a while, just keep that psn online and keep those firmware updates coming.
Sony dominating a console generation isn't really surprising to me given their track record.
@Johnnycide they (Microsoft) take defeat like Nintendo does, by just sticking their fingers in their ears and going "nanana I cant hear you". They have had many products that failed to launch (like the Zune) and some that they hold on to by a thread (Windows Phone) and their stance is almost always to pretend like everything's Ok! That being said, the new guy leading the Xbox team seems to have his head on straight.
Considering how small of an island Britain is, to represent approximately 10% of PS4's world-wide sales is pretty good going, console gaming on these shores is very much alive & well
I really don't see the Xbox One coming back strong. Where is that coming from O.o
As for the PS4....
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