New info yields this: PS3 comes out waaaaay ahead of others

Now this is good news. Leave it to NextGen.biz to bring us the new information about estimates on console sales... and leave it to the information to indicate the PS3 coming out way, way on top. Los Angeles based Interpret conducted a study that said approximately 8.9 million people are prepared to pay the full price for the PS3. This is in comparison to the 5.7 million prepared to buy the Wii and a paltry 800,000 willing to pay for the XBox 360 (possibly because a lot of people already have it?). The details of the study are on NexGen's article... we won't cover the market research angle -- just report the findings.

Interpret's CEO, Michael Dowling, had this to say in regards to the research conclusion: "Actual sales will be dictated by supply constraints, but if Sony had enough supply in the marketplace to fulfill demand, Microsoft would have a very difficult time at its current price point. What Microsoft is hoping for is the early lead helping to drive stronger installed base for them. It's certainly helped them over the short term." And does Microsoft not focus on the short-run more than the long-run? If it focused on the long-run, maybe it would take the time to make an OS that doesn't... well... suck.

One last point of interest we all know by now, but it never hurts to keep hitting it home: "The research also found that despite all of the bells and whistles of PS3 and Xbox 360 with next generation DVD capabilities, online gaming and downloadable content, the key driver for consumers purchasing a new console was the games, especially exclusive games." Yes. It's so true... and Microsoft has been buying the hell out of exclusive deals to help out. Maybe they see this information as a threat (should they have looked into it a few months ago). Check out the report here. It's really interesting.