It seems that the PlayStation 3 launch is more about eBay and grey markets and not so much about actual gamers being able to play a next-gen system — no shock there. Is this sad? Yes. Why did this happen? Because Sony rushed a console out before they could have the proper numbers and now all of us will suffer under the thumb of eBay whores. Check out what happened in Japan with games sold per console:
Enterbrain, publisher of Famitsu, has revealed the the tie-in ratio of software to PlayStation 3 sales is 0.98 – less than one game per console.
The figure suggests that a portion of the 88,400 units sold were bought with the intention of selling on as part of the ‘grey market’, the unofficial channel for second hand machines via internet auctions and retail stores, which label the stock as ‘used’.
Think it’s going to be any better here? I wouldn’t count on it.
