Christmas Console Predictions

360 to win, Wii and PS3 will battle for 2nd place

According to a report surfacing today, the consensus among UK retailers is that Microsoft’s Xbox 360 will be the biggest-selling console this festive period, with Sony’s PS3 and the Nintendo Wii left to fight it out for second place honours.

My Voucher Codes UK, which has nine million users and offers discount codes for stores such as Game, Gamestation, Currys, Dixons, Comet, Asda and Tesco, has complied sales data from its partners showing that the 360 is gaining an early lead over its competitors.

Speaking to CVG, the company’s founder Mark Pearson noted that Xbox sales have outstripped those of the PS3 by a ratio of three to one in November. “A couple of months ago, little separated the two in terms of units being sold through our site, but November has seen a huge surge by Microsoft’s budget friendly console, backed by a stellar PR campaign,” he said.

“The PlayStation 3 is undoubtedly a fantastic console, but Brits are still extremely mindful of their bank balance due to the recession, and although they want Christmas 2009 to be memorable, are seemingly more than happy to choose the cheaper option.”

Nintendo’s three-year-old Wii, meanwhile, is still outselling the PS3 but overall sales of the console are down 17 per cent on last year according to the My Voucher Codes UK figures. This ties in to a report from Doug Creutz of analysts Cowen Group, who says that “the Wii bubble could be deflating”, particularly in terms of software sales.

Creutz says that with its audience of non-core gamers, Wii sales are the most likely to fall as a result of the current economic climate as the casual crowd are most likely to cut games and consoles from their spending. He told Gamasutra: “While core gamers who own a Wii own more Wii games on average than casual gamer Wii-owners, the average title ownership spread between the two categories of gamers is much lower than it is for owners of Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles.”