KEY POINTS:
Sony may have sold nearly 22,000 Playstation 2 video game consoles in the run up to Christmas but it says pre-sale orders are strong for its next generation PS3 console which goes on sale here on March 23.
The PS3 will debut with a price $1199 making it the most expensive video games console on the market.
But Warwick Light, general manager of sales and marketing at Sony Computer Entertainment New Zealand, said the inclusion of a high-definition Blu-ray disc player in the PS3, allowing owners of high-definition TV screens to display video and audio at higher quality than DVD, made it a reasonable buy.
"Price wise, for what it does it represents great value for money," he said.
"I don't think consumers will have really realised 1080p [high definition] until this launch."
The PS3 arrives late to market following delays in the manufacturing of the blue laser diodes that go into the Blu-ray drives. Now a million consoles have been put aside for Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. They will ship with 60GB (gigabyte) hard drives, though 20GB versions may be made available at a lower price later in the year if there is a demand for them.
Light said he did not expect any more supply shortages where New Zealand was concerned.
"Early news on production looks good. I think we'll get about what we need."
Pre-sales of PS3 consoles had been strong, with one game store chain alone receiving 400 orders.
"When the PS3 was delayed they rang every one of those four hundred and only six people cancelled their orders. We expect 70 – 75 per cent of our initial order will be pre-sold," said Light.
The PS3 will launch here with 30 games titles, including Resistance: Fall of Man, Genji: Days of the Blade and Ridge Racer 7.
Less certain is when the high-definition movies the PS3's built-in Blu-ray drive is capable of playing will start to be stocked by retailers.
Light said he had spoken to local representatives of Columbia TriStar and other movie distribution companies but did not yet have a schedule of movie releases.
"We're expecting them to come online quickly with movies," he said.
Like Microsoft's Xbox 360, which has been pitched as a device for storing music, video and pictures and downloading movies via the internet, Sony expected the PS3 to appeal to a wider audience than just hard core gamers.
"We're positioning the PS3 more in the centre of the home than at the front edge of core gaming. That shows the paradigm shift," said Light.
