I rarely comment on threads but this one had me pretty exasperated.

Ethomaz hasn't really changed what he was trying to say - he has only changed how he has gone about saying it.  I find it hard to believe that those commenters who took him to task didn't really have a grasp of the message he was trying to convey.

Kowenicki - earlier in this thread you acknowledged the imperfect medium that text-only communication presents, yet up until the above post you seemed unwilling to take this into account in your assessment of what Ethomaz had to say.

On the other hand I completely agree with your assessment of our 'business analyst' - a market is not defined by the population of a country but by the consumers that are interested in the the products that you (and your competitors) have to offer.  This generation is pretty mature now so it's unrealistic to expect major changes in those markets - thus the UK can be expected to remain by far the biggest market in Europe even though it has a smaller population than France. Therefore the biggest opportunity for Sony is the UK's existing Xbox and Wii customers - Sony has itself identified Wii & Xbox owners as the target for this price cut.

I wonder if it's really asking too much of us all to try to understand what others are trying to say rather than trying to score points over one another.  As has already been said depending on how you interpret strongest/weakest/most important can make either side of this argument seem like the 'right' one.

On the other hand perhaps winding each other up is all that's left in a market with few surprises left up its sleeve!

I was upset after price cut of ps3 because i bought a ps3 much more expensive. And my ps3 controller broke down. So I want to ask you guys whats the average lifespan of a ps3 controller?seems it is easy to break. And which color should i choose? do i need to buy a silicone case to protect it? ....

PS3 launched March 2007 in UK I believe with 360 launching December 2005.  So roughly speaking PS3 has had 53 months on the market and 360 has had 68 months which means that average montly sales for each has been 77,766 a month for the PS3 and 96,417 for the 360.  So demand for the PS3 really isn't that much behind 360.

Now, that's a flat average, and of course a lot of sales occur for Christmas, so of course the fact that 360 has had two extra holiday spikes means that it has an extra weight of advantage.  Personally I'd say the evidence is that the 360 doesn't dominate the UK market over the PS3 and that the PS3 still sells pretty well in a crowded market.

To me the 360's lead is simply a function of two additional peak spikes plus additional time in the market and a lower price rather than some huge preference, and that's what the numbers strongly indicate.

The UK is actually close to evenly split across the HD consoles with the Wii being the closest to more dominant.  The US, Japan and other European countries are where the PS3/360 see much more divisive gaps.

I always find the assumptions about the UK funny, rather like Kow TBH, as in fact the market comes close to equally supporting both consoles, both offer unique features right now specific to the market (SKY on 360 and iPlayer on PS3 for example) and in fact it's Wii software that sells the most with the Wii still ahead despite recent dips.

not unless you want to,i've had 2 controllers since late 2007 and both my sticks won't do what they are told now,menus can be interesting

i need to replace both of them but damn they are expensive,the next time i see one f those game + controller packs for £40 i'm snapping it up

ot that was a fun wasn't it us and uk are weak for sony but have strong sales,my head hurts

they all sell pretty well in the uk really and its only going to improve the cheaper things get,i'll have another one

With all due respect, thats because you didnt understand the argument behind the discussion.  Weak when compare to possible sales, not weak when compare to overall sales, thats all, no head hurting needed ; ).

well i mean't the back and forth of the thread hurting my head aswell,i'm not really one for debating but i think we all know sony have been crushed in the us/uk compared to their PS2 days but the US is where it really matters

Sorry I didnt understand that is what you meant.

no need for apologies you are right aswell,i was just trying the light hearted approach

is your profile pic a game or a painting i can't quite read the words,i like it