BengaBenga on 31 March 2009
Since you say it's partly serious I'll reply seriously:
Reason being there are a staggering 100m ps2 owners who have been waiting for this 'price drop'.
Most PS2 owners that haven't switched yet are casual gamers that are more likely to go to Wii.
With Ps3 having been 'Outselling' the Nintendo Wii for a few weeks now, the japanese consumers are finally embracing the 'HD' console.
With three major releases (Yakuza 3, RE5 and Mosou) it's normal that the PS3 sees a boost. The Wii hasn't seen any important game since Animal Crossing. The Japanese aren't embracing the HD consoles at all. The sales numbers for PS3 are only good compared to Wii, which is completely failing there at the moment. Pure sales numbers (~30k weekly) are nothing special.
With the 'Price cut' later this week. I expect sales of 2m on weekly basis in America alone, I feel that those 'Ps2 gamers' will finally enter the 'HD arena'.
Yes. PS3 will sell more in a week than any console ever did in a non-holiday month...at a pricepoint that still more expensive than the competitors and with a library that at least doesn't outweigh its direct competitor.
A $100 pricecut will definitely help and adds pressure to Microsoft, but it will never be market leader. It's 30 million behind Wii, which is still selling at record level (as in: above PS2 levels). Even if PS3 started to outsell the Wii by 500k a month (which would mean annual shipments of ~35 million and is quite frankly absolutely impossible) it would take 60 months or 5 years to catch Wii.
And obviously the potential costumer base will increasingly be more casual, as the hardcore have already switched to a current gen system.
