Sony PlayStation 2 (PS2) has made the most of its head start against upcoming rivals from Microsoft and Nintendo in the Irish market.
Ms Alison Duffy, marketing and PR manager for Sony Computer Entertainment Ireland (SCEI), the distributors for Sony PlayStation, said from the launch of PS2 in Ireland last November, to the end of April, 34,000 people have bought one. "We're delighted," she said.
SCEI also claims, based on its research, that with both the original PlayStation and PS2, the Japanese company has captured 87 per cent of the Irish marketplace for games consoles. In other words, that's one PlayStation for every three households, which is "the highest per capita rate of PS ownership after Japan".
Microsoft Ireland could not confirm a launch date for its Xbox in the Republic, beyond indicating that it would happen in the early spring of 2002. The software giant's entry to the games console market begins in the US on November 8th, three days after Nintendo is scheduled to unleash its contender, the GameCube.
No details were available on price of the Xbox, although it is expected to be competitive with Sony's PS2, which retails here at £379 (€482). This is considerably more expensive than its older brother, but it can also function as a DVD and CD player.
SCEI says that the Sony PS2 is available from a wide range of outlets, from games specialists to traditional product stores to music stores, including Gamesworld, Smyths Toys, XtraVision, HMV and Virgin. The average price for PS2 software is around £50.
Ms Duffy said that it would not be until the end of next year before SCEI could gauge how much impact the two new competitors would make to PlayStation's market share. Gamesworld, one of the official distributors for Nintendo in Ireland, could not give any indication of the price of the new GameCube, nor a specific release date. Like the Xbox, games enthusiasts can expect to get hold of it sometime early next year.
Mr Michael Finucane, managing director of Gamesworld, said he was confident that the GameCube could put a dent in PlayStation's dominance of the Irish market. "Nintendo has a great games heritage," he said. Ms Duffy and Mr Finucane have just returned from Los Angeles, where they were attending the Electronic Entertainment Expo, a major video and computer games industry trade show. Many of the 62,000 retailers, developers, distributors and media representatives were able to sample the latest incarnations of PS2, the Xbox, and the GameCube.
