It's been over three weeks since the PlayStation Network first went down. Users are understandably frustrated as they can't enjoy the full advertised features of their console, nor their games.
It's beginning to have a negative effect at retail; PlayStation 3 consoles are being traded in, and multiple console owners are swapping PS3 pre-orders to the Xbox 360 version instead. One source, while speaking to Edge under strict anonymity shed some light on the situation at retail:
…from the second week (of PSN down time) onwards we have seen an increase of over 200 per cent on PS3 consoles being traded in, split almost 50/50 between those trading for cash and those taking a 360 instead.
Sony is losing a significant amount of users to the Xbox 360 due to the PlayStation Network being down. Games that are built around an online multiplayer model like Call of Duty: Black Ops and Modern Warfare 2 are the biggest driving factor of users making the switch. This "hardcore online shooter crowd" are the most affected by this outage:
…they are bringing in PS3s together with all their games and they don’t want money, they want an Xbox 360. In every case it is because of Black Ops and or Modern Warfare 2.
Any game that relies too heavily on online functionality is essentially DOA. Bethesda's recently released Brink is a prime example:
People are cancelling their order of Brink for PS3. People that have an Xbox 360 have switched their pre-orders – others are just cancelling entirely.
This is only the beginning in terms of the ramifications Sony is going to face due to this security breach. Tell us, has the outage caused you to make any trade-ins or change your game purchasing behavior?
