I live in a PAL territory (Australia).
The amount of 360 specials leading up to christmas (complete with a $50 cashback offer) at ALL the major retailers was astonishing. As was their prominence in catalogues leading to christmas, and TV advertisements (I watch a lot of Pay TV - 360 ads outnumber PS ads about 3:1 and Nintendo 2:1). Friendly exchanges with local managers said that while PS3 was steady, 360 had jumped over %25 in sales. Anecdotal. Sure.
It just astounds me that with all these people talking about PAL Country = PS3 country (with the obvious exception of the UK) - no one's actually thought - hey this casual/Kinect effect that was so big in the USA the last couple of Christmases - may have actually caught on a tad elsewhere? Or did the Wii only sell bonkers in the USA because they're the only market with a large casual base? That maybe they may have waited a year to see how it all went, and now a year later - Kinect, with a larger game library of titles that appeal to them, and all this talk of "world records" and "big in the states" may have turned their head?
Even here in "PS3/PAL country" I've been quite surprised by the amount of (casual) PS2 owners telling me they want to upgrade to Kinect. These are people whose first console was a PS1, then went to PS2. And have been waiting for them to "put PS2 Backwards compat" back in before they buy PS3's - as that's what they've grown accustomed to. I was at Big W (large chain department store) and while looking through the video games (I was the only person in the section) I was joined by a dad and his two young daughters who yelled to mum "we're just gonna look at the DS and Kinetic* (sic) games". This surprised the hell out of me! They were the only other people in the games section the whole 5 minutes I was there (apart from my wife and son).
I'm not saying all of a sudden "PS3 country" has been burnt to the ground, just that to take it as some kind of gospel that PAL territories are blinded by Sony's shiny goods and are swearing a lifetime allegiance to the brand that will never be broken - is kinda shortsighted, and takes us for granted a little , just as Sony have of late with lack of BC, late launch, insane PS3 pricing $999 AUD on launch. Australians buy more tech goods per capita than most developed nations, including consoles, and often want the "hot item" of the month/year. Which as far as console mainstream/casual appeal - the Kinect definitely has at the moment.
So I've got no hard figures, no hard facts, and really very little speculation. It's just very surprising to see people get their panties twisted about something that really, with less than a %5 christmas swing (that VGC may not have accounted for) in a lot of these PAL territories is not an entirely unrealistic prospect.
I'm not disputing anyone's "research" either in this (or other) thread/s or indeed on this site - but some of you are being kinda narrow minded about this. The world is bigger than the US/UK/Japan - and indeed France. And to call Ballmer's (I think he's an arse regardless) claim ludicrous, when NOT ONE COMPETITOR has disputed it - incredibly naive. Do you think he made the figures up? I'm pretty sure Sony or Nintendo would call him out on that , don't you think? Or even if they had no hard figures to prove he was wrong say something along the lines of "that doesn't match with our figures at this stage" or "we're awaiting our final figures, don't believe MS just yet!" - or just hand him the free "best selling of 2011" PR card for no charge. What's it been now - a week? And nothing but tumbleweeds.
Anyway - it's been fun, keep the passion alive!
*Many aussies don't care too much for "correct" language. I had a friend who continued to call Han Solo's ship The Minellian Falcon all through primary school, as did his brother and dad! Liza should sue!)
