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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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There is a difference between a device being replaced under an extended 3 year warranty and a company losing 70million peoples information. And the system isnt up again yet so Sony are looking bad. I am not surprised some people are switching. Sell it before the price goes down etc.
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Mantrhax said:
So Sony, have you learned the lesson?
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Sony can suck a fat one for all the lies on the different dates.
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People should have just created fake e-mail addresses, fake customer information, and used PSN gift cards. The same is true with X-Box Live users.
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Well, I still can't believe some people can't live for a day without it can they. I haven't played in weeks and I haven't lost all hope to the point I would buy a 360. 360 is just as vulnerable as Playstation 3. The same **** can happen on a Xbox 360.
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I agree that it is a bit foolish to be only trading in because you can't play Call of Duty online. However if these individuals are trading in due to losing faith in a company that burned them hard, I completely understand. Especially with reports coming to light that Sony was aware of these issues and did nothing.
Guest said: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...
Guest said: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!!
What are you guys smoking? This is completely different and significantly worse. Not only was Sony running outdated server software with vulnerabilities, which is completely inexcusable for any major corporation storing millions of customers data. Once informed about the problem, they took no action and this was months before the actual hack. Commending and supporting something like this is pretty ridiculous.
A lot of people seem to be missing that this isn't just an inconvenience to gamers who want to play online. Sony's incompetence compromised millions of users data on top of likely tens of thousands if not more credit card numbers.
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Recipe7 said:
Too many impatient fat kids wanting to play videogames rather than play outside for a bit.
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Anyone else thinks that maybe the hackers were paid by Microsoft?
And you "play outside" people, could you please stop posting on tech websites and go play outside, find a woman, etc.?
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I have a gut feeling that Nintendos next console is going to surprise alot of people... especially the hardcore crowd. Can't wait, my PS3 has a layer of dust on it over 5 mos. old. lol Only game I'm looking forward to on it is Uncharted 3.
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Man am I glad I sold my consoles 2 years ago and switched to PC gaming
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This is not a console vs PC issue, any online platform can be hacked overnight and it's not hard to prove it.
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Fml, im losing hair and temper ;/ and switching to shitbox aint worth it ill just wait
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Xclusiveitalian said:
All of this because of other OS being removed.................Sony..............JUST ADD OTHER OS BACK! No one who would hack it would have paid for the games legit anyway.
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"hardcore online shooter crowd" ???
Why would any self respecting hardcore FPS gamer play on a console - absolutely ridiculous!!!
There was the experiment last year where they took 10 experienced FPS gamers on a console and pitted them against 10 gamers on a PC who haven't played much FPS. The PC gamers owned the experienced console gamers as a controller will never be anywhere near as good as a keyboard+mouse combo.
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Well sony reaps what they sow.
i was dissapointed to hear about what has happened. Most big companies these days could care less about people anymore just your money. Sony never cared about keeping peeps info secure till hackers kicked there ****. Goes to show what kind of people they are.
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matrix86 said:
I still plan on buying a PS3 for my birthday. I don't do the whole "on-line" thing anyway, so it makes no difference to me. Call me old school, but I get just the amount of fun I need simply popping in a disk, playing the game by myself or with a visiting friend, and enjoying the game.
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BMfan said:
matrix86 said:I get just the amount of fun I need simply popping in a disk, playing the game by myself or with a visiting friend, and enjoying the game.
Same
I just have fun playing on the console.
What makes this situation sad is that most people are supporting a hacker that has done a bad thing,if he hacked then went too Sony and showed them what vulnerabilities they had it would be different,instead he stole data and now people say it's Sony's fault.
To the guy's that say a PC gamer is so much better that a hardcore console fps gamer then great,if you need that knowledge to enjoy your games then great,because even though i have had that knowledge for a while it hasn't taken any enjoyment from my console gaming.
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Good choice, i have both consoles but one is a door stopper now it'sblack and matches my door with a silver lineing.
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He also noted that those customers tend to be Black Ops or Modern Warfare 2 players.
Brainless zombies, who cannot be without there FIX of COD.
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Well thats what they get for not securing their databases enough lol. You start to show that peoples information on their database isnt safe, and you loose that trust that customers have in you.
they should of handled this problem a lot faster and a lot more efficent. They seemed to have released information that they didnt even know was correct (I.E creditcard information has been taken, or not taken? make ya mind up!)
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Everyone knocking the traders...your all foolish. 1) noone knows how many people that actually is to begin with and 2) you don't know the real reason.It could be trust?I have both consoles and both services. well... had both .When sony gets their network working again they want me to make a new account. I'm stongly thinking about not bothering with it.If M$ ph_ks that up like sony did I would consider not using their service anymore as well.I understand they are working on it and improving, but they already compromised my information and they also put a big target on their heads.I bet these hackers aren't through yet they already nailed them twice.
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Now THAT is the EXACT immature response expected. George Hotz violates laws, distributed IP, and encouraged financial harm to a company merely protecting its stock holders investments.
Maybe you should buy stock instead of games, oh wait, you are in your mommie's basement, whacking off to pictures of your sister, you perv.
Go ahead and get an Xbox,... just means less J'offs in games for the PSN when (it will) comes online. COD... so old news now....hacked servers (MW2), glitchers, campers, cheater.... probably never fired a real weapon...
Anonymous pissed off the wrong people. What Anonymous should be doing is DDOS oil companies, politicians accounts, posting the lobbyists cell numbers, exposing corruption and corporate lies/shills of the telecoms that are affecting all citizens. Instead, some immature, vindictive Linux weenies are a small (disruptive) voice that will eventually be exposed and silenced. Legion my ***, so original...
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Stand up for itself? Are you crazy or just plain stupid? Geohot (& the hackers) were standing up for THEMSELVES by using the LEGALLY PURCHASED HARDWARE in a manor they deemed fit.
Sony was going to lose the lawsuit, so they settled with Geohot instead.
Jesus some f*ckin people I swear to god.
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Geohot never violated any laws, Sony knew that.
If they REALLY thought they could win the lawsuit, do you REALLY believe they would have settled out of court for practically nothing?
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BMfan said:
Geo settled not Sony.
Sony owns the software,it states in their user agreement that you mustn't alter the software he did,which means he broke the law then gets other people to pay for his defense as well.
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