PS3 and Blu-Ray pulling away?
Railton
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Jan 07, 2008 07:47 AM
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TOKYO Sony said Monday that PlayStation 3 game machine sales totalled 1.2 million in North America during the key holiday season, boosting the strength of its console's Blu-ray next-generation video format.
Competition is intense among the latest video game machines pitting Sony Corp. against Nintendo Co. and Microsoft Corp. Competition is also fierce between two of the latest video formats Blu-ray and HD DVD.
The PlayStation 3 also works as a Blu-ray player.
Sony Computer Entertainment, the Japanese electronics and entertainment company's game unit, also said sales of the PlayStation Portable handheld reached 1.4 million in North America during the Nov. 23 to Dec. 31 holiday shopping period.
Including sales of 1.3 million for PlayStation 2, PS3's predecessor, retail sales of the three PlayStation machines combined reached more than 3.9 million in North America, Tokyo-based Sony said.
Sony has been struggling against the popularity of the Wii machine from Nintendo, which went on sale about the same time as the PS3. The Wii has succeeded in attracting newcomers to gaming with easy-to-play games that use a wandlike remote-controller.
The Wii was one of the hottest holiday gifts and its North American sales are likely to have been booming. Nintendo officials in Kyoto, Japan, were attending a New Year's ceremony and weren't immediately available for comment.
Sony has had more favourable news recently for its Blu-ray technology.
The rival HD DVD movie disc format, backed by Japanese electronics maker Toshiba Corp., was dealt a potentially fatal blow by the weekend defection of Warner Bros. Entertainment to Blu-ray.
Only two major U.S. studios now support only HD DVD Viacom's Paramount Pictures, which also owns DreamWorks SKG, and Universal Pictures, a unit of General Electric.
Although both formats deliver better image quality than the DVDs more common today, one format is expected to emerge the winner and attracting movie studios to the format is critical for making the format widespread.
Sony can hope to gain more sales in its core electronics products, including Blu-ray recorders and high-definition flat-panel TVs, if consumers choose Blu-ray.
"The PlayStation brand ended the year in a very strong position and clearly indicates more positive momentum going into 2008," said Jack Tretton, president and chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment America.
"The strong PS3 sales also further establish Blu-ray's dominant position as the high-definition medium of choice for games and movies," he said in a statement.
