Gamertell

Citing a subpar holiday season and Sony’s Playstation 3 still being the most expensive console, an article in the Wall Street Journal this week indicates there is almost no way the PS3 can catch the Xbox 360 or Nintendo Wii in sales. In early results, November 2008 sales of Sony’s controversial console were down 19 percent from the same period in 2007.

During that same time, the Nintendo Wii’s sales doubled and Microsoft Xbox 360 went up 8 percent according to stats supplied by research firm NPD. That makes Sony’s corporate goal of selling 10 million PS3s by March 2009 seem like a long shot. The article also notes that at $399, the PS3 is far and away the most expensive console on the market. During a global recession, that’s not a great distinction to have. It’s hurting Sony’s overall bottom line as the company’s electronics division isn’t as profitable as it used to be. Many analysts think that prevented Sony from slashing the PS3 price for this holiday season.

These numbers may surprise economists but probably not gamers.

Nintendo has ridden its newly harvested crop of casual gamers to the top of the industry with the Nintendo Wii. That console has become a huge hit in spite of a large percentage of shovelware and lack of any big titles released since Mario Kart in the spring. Hardware shortages made the Wii a tough find again this Christmas season, earning it a great deal of publicity in mainstream media. Microsoft Xbox 360 is becoming the console of choice for the hardcore gamer as exclusives like Gears of War 2 propel its holiday sales. The 360 cut its price to $199, earning it a solid hold on second place for the time being.

One of Sony’s major selling points touts the PS3 as an inexpensive Blu-Ray player but, with customers being slow to adopt that technology, regular Blu-Ray players have dipped to $200. There’s still a lot of this console war to go, but Sony does appear to have a climb comparable to the one its game hero Kratos undertook when he climbed Mount Olympus.

Read [Wall Street Journal] Via [Joystiq]