Famitsu Publisher Puts PS3 on Top

The president of Enterbrain, publisher of Japanese videogame magazine Famitsu, said the PlayStation 3 will have a tough time out of the gate, but will eventually come out on top in the worldwide next-gen console war.
"The PS3 will have a tough time globally at the initial stage. Its launch titles in Japan and exclusive software titles overseas are quite limited," said Enterbrain President Hirokazu Hamamura during a seminar as reported by Reuters.

He added, "But its overwhelmingly realistic graphics will give it a long life span. It will stay competitive even when a game console battle breaks out among a newer generation of machines in 2010. Sales should grow every time Sony cuts prices." He said that the initial high price tag will turn off would-be early adopters.

While Sony aims to ship 6 million PS3s by the end of its fiscal year in March 2007, Hamamura said that he expects Sony to actually sell 4.13 million units by that time. By comparison, he expects Nintendo to sell 5.47 million units in that same period.

Enterbrain expects PS3's sales to hit 34 million worldwide by the end of 2009, Wii sales to reach 25 million and Xbox 360's to reach 28 million in that time frame.