Ben-DutkaIn regards to the UK PS3 launch, Sony said they wanted to "get it right." Well, it appears they have.
Thanks to breaking news by MCV and just recently posted in the GameSpot forums , the PS3 has officially become the fastest-selling home console in the UK's history. The number? ChartTrack reports that 165,000 PS3s found happy homes during the launch weekend.
In total, Sony delivered 220,000 PS3s to the region for the launch, which means that about three-quarters of all systems were sold over the weekend. This is in stark contrast to early rumors that pointed to low consumer interest. Only the PSP topped the PS3 in its debut, selling about 185,000 units in September of 2005.
And also in contrast to the U.S. – and potentially due to the severe PS3 shortages at the time of its launch last November – the PS3 easily beat out the Wii (which previously broke the record). Nintendo sold 105,000 of their next-gen consoles in December of 2006, and the Xbox 360 sold about 70,000 a year before. And finally, per Sony's documented wish to have PS3s available to the average consumer in the UK (i.e., consumers without a pre-order) has worked- in addition to breaking the record, they still have PS3s on store shelves.
This looks like win-win for now. Plenty of units sold, and no reason for crime to run rampant. The system is readily available, which will make consumers happy, and clearly, its popularity is much higher than initially anticipated by some sources. Let's see if Sony can repeat this performance in other PAL regions…
