E3 2013 has come and gone, but the buzz from the event is still ringing in the ears of the gaming community. For two parties, the conference, which took place June 11-13 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, will long be remembered as a historic period of record-breaking proportions.
According to Financial Post, the PS4 and Xbox One wasted no time in shattering some impressive Amazon.com pre-order records. On day one of E3, the two rival systems combined to surpass the online retailer’s previous record for all-time video games sales, breaking the number tallied on Black Friday in 2012 by nearly 200 percent.
Overall, pre-order sales during the week of E3 topped Amazon’s year-over-year totals from the same period in 2012 by a whopping 4,000 percent. The company says that at one point, orders were coming in at an astounding rate of 2,500 consoles per minute. Amazon itself is directly attributing the enormous increase to E3 and the huge buzz it generated around these two systems.
While the pre-order activity on Amazon.com is nothing short of amazing, it isn’t the only retailer moving the next generation consoles like hot cakes months before they officially hit the shelves. As Games Radar reports, Gamestop was forced to halt pre-orders for the Xbox One at brick-and-mortar locations because demand was so high it ended up selling out. Although there has been speculation of Microsoft only supplying a limited number of consoles to imply that demand is actually higher than it is, the fact remains that Xbox loyalists are eager to get their hands on the new system.
As far as which console is generating the most demand, the PS4 appears to have the edge. The Playstation 4 is not only outselling the Xbox One on Amazon; the popular online marketplace is completely sold out of the Launch Edition. Early numbers support the projections of analysts such as those mentioned in this PS4 Daily article, who see Sony’s system outselling Microsoft’s console by as many as five million units in the first year of availability.
There are quite a few factors giving Sony a competitive edge in the pre-orders department, including user-friendly policies that provide gamers with a comfortable level of control over their titles and the fact that its console is roughly a hundred bucks cheaper than the rival system, which definitely appeals to the budget-conscious shopper.
Many pundits believe that Microsoft’s botched handling of the initial Xbox One announcement may have cost it a bit of steam. The outrage from the gaming community was so fierce that the company reversed its policies on DRM, internet connectivity, and used game restrictions. Microsoft is surely hoping this 180 drives demand even higher.
Industry rivalry aside, the PS4 and Xbox One are shaping up to be two of the hottest selling items of the holiday season. Both consoles are slated for fall releases, which should give consumers more than enough time to take care of the gamers on their Christmas lists. Retailers are no doubt looking forward to the spending frenzy.
[cf]skyword_tracking_tag[/cf]
Comments