Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) has hit back at criticism that its PlayStation 3 (PS3) console is suffering from sliding sales and revealed it is harbouring treats for gamers up its corporate sleeve to conqure the all-important Christmas market.

Nintendo’s Wii console is currently riding the crest of a wave in terms of market share, leaving both Sony and Microsoft in its wake. But Jonathan Fargher, SCEE representative, said it was wrong to pit the Wii and PS3 against each other.

“The one thing we have always done with the PlayStation is stick to our business strategy,” he said. “We keep an eye on the competition, but it is unfair to put the Nintendo Wii and PS3 in the same category. The Wii is a sub-£200 console and does one thing pretty well. Compare that with a £400 piece of hardware that plays next-generation games, allows users to access photo files and has built-in Blu-Ray technology.

“Many people have said PS3 is not doing well, but in nine weeks we have sold more than one million machines in Europe, which is faster than the sell-through rate of the PS2. The PS1 and PS2 sold 115 million machines worldwide, so we are confident of the PS3’s performance in time,” he added.

“However, the problem has been a boom and bust scenario with the software, particularly in the summer months when many firms tend not to release big-name games.”

Fargher said Sony is looking to counterbalance the lack of games from third-party developers by making other titles available on its online PlayStation Store.

“It will be towards the end of the year when the big titles start to show what the PS3 can really do and hopefully make people feel more comfortable about the decision they made to invest in our hardware.”

Titles due to hit the shelves in the Christmas run-up include the latest installment of favourites such as Grand Theft Auto, Metal Gear Solid, Ratchet and Clank, Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter, he added.

“If you look at the hardware, you do get a lot for your money: as well as playing Blu-Ray, the PS3 also upscales DVDs to High Definition (HD) format, and if a gamer is lucky enough to own a PlayStation Portable (PSP, pictured, below-left) they can access their PS3 remotely using the PSP and a Wi-Fi connection,” said Fargher.

At the PS3 launch backward-compatibility issues had blighted the console, but Fargher told CRN the problems had been ironed out.

“The backwards-compatibility issues have pretty much gone away,” he said. “There are now up to 2,500 playable titles including all the major ones that gamers want to play.”

Read rest of the article

Filed under: Main