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Sony's ongoing PlayStation Network outage is coming back to hit the company where it hurts: in the pocket. Edge spoke with various UK retailers who say customers are growing impatient with the inability to play games online, which has resulted in declining PlayStation-related sales along with a growing trend of PlayStation 3 returns.
One store manager said PS3 trade-ins have increased by over 200%, with about half of the customers requesting cash and the other half taking an Xbox 360 in exchange. A retail employee at another store reported a similar trend of PS3 trade-ins, with many disgruntled Sony customers returning their console for an Xbox 360 -- especially the "hardcore online shooter crowd."
Tom Mestagh of GameSwap, an independent Belgian retailer, echoed those findings. Although it's common for people to sell their consoles for quick bill money, Mestagh has observed a difference in recent dealings. Instead of selling just their console, people are bringing their PS3 with all their games and they want an Xbox 360, not cash. He also noted that those customers tend to be Black Ops or Modern Warfare 2 players.
Edge compared recent game sales from before and after the outage. In mid to late March, 49% to 52% of Black Ops sales were for the Xbox 360 while 37% to 40% were for the PS3. On April 30, 10 days into the outage, Black Ops sales were divided 59% to 30% in Microsoft's favor. That gap widened last week with 66% of sales on the Xbox and 24% on the PS3. FIFA 11 shows the same trend with PS3 sales falling from 37% to 21%.
Unsurprisingly, retailers also said that Sony's customer satisfaction has plummeted. "Overall, people that have traded with us seem annoyed at how Sony has handled all of this, and say they would not trust them with details again in the future," said one source. Edge made it clear that its report is based on a small sample and that UK hardware sales are rarely broken down by platform, so we may never see the big picture.
User Comments: 73
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I support this course of action, don't like the service your getting? Switch to someone else.
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Timonius said:
All part of M$'s evil plan heheheh >
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Indeed. To me PS3 is the superior console, but if the service that comes with it is not equally superior, then ditch Sony and go with M$.
Sony better make a tremendous comeback, because if not, this will just get worse.
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I said it before and will say it again: This may be the last console we see from Sony and with their troubles in other markets, Sony may not last another decade in buisness.
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I said it before and will say it again: This may be the last console we see from Sony and with their troubles in other markets, Sony may not last another decade in buisness.
I don't know about that. Sony's user base is much larger than Xbox's, worldwide that is. Especially in Asia. I do think things could escalate to that point, but, alternatively, this fiasco can only mean a better network and better service for the PS4 in the near future.
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This will most certainly carry over to when/if the PS4 is released. I'm not a console gamer, but if I were and was shopping when the next-gen consoles come out, I'd definitely steer clear of Sony.
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karma is byting sony in the ass. mess around with a helpless kid, your crap is taken down. geohot gets justice after all!
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PSN has been out for 3 weeks running.
tell me how this is worse when a few years back almost all xbox consoles inevitably would break and it would take 4-6 weeks to have it shipped, repaired, and shipped back. and with a margin of people having to do this 3, 4, or even 5 times because xbox consoles would break multiple times...
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phuq geohot he is a low life piece of crap that ruined online for every ps3 owner. i hope he is never allowed again a ps3
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Sony deserves every single bit of this.
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Not an online gamer myself so this doesn't affect me, i'll stick with the PS3, still the best console IMO.
As for the comment about this being Sony's last console, that's about as valid as the comments about "antenna-gate" being the demise of apple
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Cota said:
Timonius said:All part of M$'s evil plan heheheh >
Haha so rite, since if MS screws up in the Xbox the only gaming platform left are PC's xD
Wii doesnt count :P
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People that are trading there console's in for 360's need new hobby's, just saying. I love Call of duty as the rest of the COD fans, but I'm not getting rid of my PS3 because of some hackers. Personally Sony is the only company to stand up for itself and do something about the hackers unlike Microsoft. I commend Sony and will support the in any way. Oh and I will never own a xbox. Just saying!!
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I would probably prefer to see actual numbers instead of percentages.
A 200% increase from one store in Leeds could mean 6 people instead of 2.
But if all you do is play one game, then I suppose trading in your console and game could be a good alternative, but I don't see quite so many people who have invested into a dozen or two games chucking it all.
@foreverzero89
Geohot may have gotten "justice", but in the end tens of millions of PS3 players got screwed over. I hardly think most of them care about installing Linux, or probably even pirating games. They just wanted to enjoy the games that they paid for instead of getting dragged into some ideological pissing contest between anonymous and sony.
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Go outside amd do something. So what if u cant play online for a month or so. Go meet people, or better yet, go meet a girl. worst part of this is it shows.how pathetic american youth has become. Life isn't over, just detoured
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What I do not understand is why people would trade in their Playstation 3 and all their games for just an Xbox 360. I get it how the internet has been down for awhile and I am very annoyed at it as well, but people should just be patient. They are wasting money because they probably do not get nearly as much money as they should from a store and on top of that, Xbox makes players pay for the internet which is even worse and will be more of a waste of money. They will just feel dumb when the network starts to work again because they would have wasted so much money just because they could not wait.
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It is kind of sad when people are trading in there ps3 for this. i remember a time when the first xbox 360s where out there where like 50% chances of them being problematic. in the long run why buy a xbox and pay for all new game system, controllers, game, and then the network, just dosnt make sense to me. Its sad how pathetic people are to where this happends.
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I'm going to be one of the people who stays patient. The way this has all played out does bother me, but there is no chance I would take my PS3 (which is the bulky 60GB version) into a store and exchange it for whatever Xbox's they have. I don't have that much of a grudge against Xbox, I started with one, and it definitely has it's advantages. I think that if the hackers who did this had felt the same way about Xbox, it could have happened to Microsoft, although, being the computer super-giant they are, it must be more difficult. Switching consoles crossed my mind, but I don't have a bunch of money to throw around gaining my collection back, I doubt most stores would just trade you straight-up all your games, controllers, microphones, etc.
If you made it through 2 weeks of online-gaming withdrawal, you're okay now. I'm okay. I'll wait and it'll be THAT much more fun once I can play online.
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are you one of these losers?
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its true the service has been down for a while i understand that but to jus give a a ps3 and games for xbox is jus plain crazy infact that the hackers motive to make em lose their loyal ps3 fans i been for 5 years and am 20 now this is jus bullshit when the system comes alot of people that switch will be thight for years to come
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i personally love my ps3 its just way sony has delt with the situation. i still think that its superior to the xbox but thats just me. for all the ps3 owners out there, just be patient and u wont regret it
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Xclusiveitalian said:
The end of the PS3, there going to have the bring on the PS4 just to save themselves.
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is not the end of the world.but it does suck
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Is it wrong I'm happy?
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The only People returning ps3's are either ones who are taking it too seriously or ones who cant find something to do, some probably only live to play ps3 which imo is pathetic. Go OUTSIDE hang with friends get high, get drunk, get laid, hell get another job lol (dont really recommend that one) anyway dont take this comment too seriously its only an opinion and a comment. Hope PSN i back up soon though i wann a play me some Battlefield and Killzone
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