Are you giving up your vacation for gaming?

by Alan Tsang { Nov 19th 2008 at 7:30PM }

John Koller, the director of hardware marketing at Sony, was asked by MTV Multiplayer one of the hot-button questions in this type of economy: is the PS3 recession-proof? Koller, the sly guy that he is, didn't give a direct answer. "Good question, given the reality of how things are from a macro perspective. First off, I want to say that we're very bullish on sales for this holiday season and beyond. In fact, we're very excited about the numbers we've been seeing coming in. There's a lot of talk about whether gaming is recession proof. I'm not sure I can answer that. I can say the PS3 is selling extremely well. Maybe those rumors about people forgoing vacations for gaming might be coming true a little bit here."

The less than stellar numbers last month would suggest the PS3 isn't quite recession-proof -- in October it sold 190,000 units, which doesn't sound too bad ... until you realize the Xbox 360 sold almost twice that amount. Maybe Koller is right; maybe people are giving up their vacations to buy a PS3 (or some other console, for that matter). What do you think?

Tags: John-Koller, playstation-3, ps3

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Jacksons @ Nov 19th 2008 7:34PM

I'm not giving up anything yet.

Jerses @ Nov 19th 2008 7:37PM

I have a ps3 and no vacations on my work....so i will spend it on some new furnitures for my home.

Gambit07 @ Nov 19th 2008 7:50PM

I hate a traveling vacation, when you come back to reality, you realize your life sucks.

eNriqueLeGrand (PSN) @ Nov 19th 2008 11:11PM

Well, you are certainly right, but that also happens almost every time i turn off my Ps3.
Anyway, Im going 50-50.

kentuckyfried @ Nov 19th 2008 10:25PM

The only "real" vacation is if you live/work in the place that you're vacationing to if you're traveling between jobs. 2 weeks is hardly ever enough time to enjoy anything at all, I always get a good chuckle when my friends have to take extra vacation time to recover from their vacations...

justsomeKAI @ Nov 19th 2008 7:52PM

I will condemn myself to hell and obtain both?!?!?!!1!1

I already own the ps3 i just need to splurge on games and plan a vacation that will rape my wallet then all will be fine and dandy.

mozz @ Nov 19th 2008 8:08PM

Keep seeing these US figures... where are the worldwide figures for october?

themizarkshow @ Nov 19th 2008 8:33PM

I have a ps3 and plan to work through the holidays for some sweet overtime pay. But there will definitely be a lot of cash dropped on software...

Ayrkain @ Nov 19th 2008 8:51PM

We don't really do vacations anyway. Maybe when my littlest is a bit older we'll think about it.

Akamaru @ Nov 19th 2008 9:11PM

Actually being a field tech, travel always feels like work to me. I'll take my vacation on the couch in front of the PSTriple

The Aggie CEO @ Nov 19th 2008 9:27PM

not giving up a thing.....and on top of that Gas has gone down($1.79 in Greensboro, NC)...........I wish gas was this cheap over the summer when I spent over $200 in gas on a trip to VA Beach............coulda saved a LOT of money........

Jack Tretton @ Nov 19th 2008 9:53PM

"[W]e're very excited about the numbers we've been seeing coming in."

What, the PS2 and PSP numbers?

"I can say the PS3 is selling extremely well."

It's not a lie if *you* believe it.

turkeybaster @ Nov 19th 2008 10:54PM

Not sure If I follow you. PS3 has one slightly down month in a year where it's lead Xbox 360 almost non-stop, and it's a lie to say that they've "been" (as in past-tense) seeing sales come in?

Kspraydad @ Nov 20th 2008 12:19AM

Weekly sales for October were slightly HIGHER than September...they didn't fall off at all and year over year were MUCH higher. Infact the % increase same month year over year was much better than the Xbox even with a huge price slash.

NPD Sep was 5 weeks and Oct was 4

SlickD @ Nov 19th 2008 10:02PM

That's what my PSP and DS is for! Not gonna stop gaming!

Syn @ Nov 19th 2008 10:49PM

Sadly.. I haven't touched my PS3 in weeks ever since I built my new computer. Ah well.

turkeybaster @ Nov 19th 2008 10:54PM

Do you ever have this problem where you seem to sort of switch allegiances between PC gaming and console gaming? I have that problem all the time. I'll get completely immersed in PC games and disregard my consoles for a good chunk of time, and vice-versa.

Syn @ Nov 19th 2008 11:09PM

So true. I'm usually an avid PS3 player, tons of games. But recently find myself wanting to play PC games. I suppose a switch to PS3 is due at some point.

Dark_Emerald @ Nov 19th 2008 10:49PM

I am taking off for alittle over 2 weeks in December to play video games on my PS3. Much cheaper than buying plane tickets and traveling.

Heruka @ Nov 19th 2008 11:16PM

GUYS !!!
Please REMEMBER that Playstation 3 EXPENSIVE than xbox 3 times! That means that xbox DOESNT make profit!
so relax... everything going good with sony :D and im happy

Kspraydad @ Nov 20th 2008 12:17AM

PS3 sold the same number of consoles per week in October as they had in September.

ducttapeBigSexy @ Nov 20th 2008 12:43AM

At first I thought this post would be about people who spend their entire vacations playing video games instead of going places, doing things, etc... I was going to say that's my idea of the perfect vacation! (Seriously - I'm off all next week and that's what I'm going to do :D )

reakt @ Nov 20th 2008 8:40AM

Jeeeesus no! I have a life outside of gaming. I think I'd get pretty depressed having to stay at home playing games rather than going out and doing something with my family on my time off. If push comes to shove and I run out of funds then I'll go without games before I go without a vacation.

reyes @ Nov 20th 2008 9:51AM

I'm rounding out my first year on the job, right out of college, and I just don't think that taking the typical vacation makes sense right now. I get 2 weeks off per year, and it seems like I have two options:

1. Take my vacation time all at once. Go to another country and blow some cash. Have a good story to tell and possibly some new foreign friends. Come back and realize that it's time to get back to work, only with no vacation time in sight for a year.

2. Spread my two weeks out over the year, taking one day off at a time (Mondays, love that three day weekend). I'll sleep in, catch up on my backlog of games, and get some errands done that I can't do as easily on days I work (ie. going to the bank, which closes too early on work days). I find that I save money, even if I end up going to see a show or something on that day off. I also find that when I return to work the next day, I feel more refreshed and the week flies by more quickly (four day week!).

Maybe next year, when I've had a bonus cycle under my belt and presumably will get a bit more time off I can spend some of that time and money traveling. That doesn't mean I'll spend all my vacation time on one trip though. It just doesn't make sense when you consider that that's all the vacation time I'll get until next year.

Mr. Joe @ Nov 20th 2008 10:41AM

hey, i'm in the same boat. just started my first "real" job out of college. the days off aren't bad, but it's nothing like winter break. my vacation time is taking way too long to accrue. my father-in-law wants me to take a big trip with him and i'm up for it. but i'm worried about using all my hours in one go.

however, this dilemma is minimal compared to the lack of money i had during university. i couldn't afford food, let alone a real vacation!