Sony: PS3 Outsells 360 In Europe, Ten-Year Plan Still In Place

During Sony's PlayStation Day press event in London, the company highlighted successes on its various platforms, and acknowledged that although in the case of the PS3 there has been a bit of a slow start, the system is in it for the long haul. According to a a comprehensive live report of the proceedings from UK-based site Eurogamer, Sony Computer Entertainment president and CEO Kaz Hirai commented: "I've always thought of PS3 being a long-term play for us," reiterating the ten-year life cycle Sony has pushed with each of its home consoles. To date, Sony has sold some 12 million PSPs, 48 million PS2s, and 5 million PS3s in Europe - the latter number of which SCEE president and CEO David Reeves pegged as tracking comparably to PS2 in its early years despite the considerable price difference. Reeves was also sure to note that Sony's current-gen console has outsold Microsoft's in Europe, despite the latter's lower price and earlier release date. During a recent press release highlighting Xbox 360's European success, Microsoft did not include actual console sales figures. Kaz Hirai admitted to growing pains in the first year of PS3's release, but noted that "things have improved greatly." Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and Grand Theft Auto IV have been this year's only flagship PS3 releases, yet 2008 is already "off to a great start," he pointed out, with further standouts Metal Gear Solid 4, Resistance 2, LittleBigPlanet, Haze, Buzz, and MotorStorm 2 on the way. Hirai restated the company's previous announcement that its PlayStation Home social world would be "open to the public to towards the end of the year," pinning the service's long overall delay on a mandate to perfect it as much as possible. "As great as it currently is, it needs a little more time," he said. Home's parent service, PlayStation Network, has broken 8 million worldwide signups, 3 million of which are in PAL regions.