Analysts: Sony was saved by Wii success

Sony and the PlayStation 3 were saved by the success of the Nintendo Wii, says marketing research group DFC Intelligence.

Speaking in its piece, 'is it time for the PlayStation 3 to shine?', the group claims that the success of Nintendo's console in this generation ultimately blocked Microsoft from snatching the top slot from Sony. So in a way, Nintendo did Sony a favour.

"While Sony's strategy was to crush Microsoft, and ignore what it considered to be an out-of-the-race Nintendo, consumers had other ideas," it says.

"The lowest priced system, the Nintendo Wii far outsold the others. In North America, the PlayStation 3 was soundly outsold by the Xbox 360. Even in Europe, a market normally dominated by Sony, the Xbox 360 slightly outsold the PlayStation 3. The past few years, Sony's very existence in the game business seemed to be in peril."

It continues: "The main danger Sony faced was that the Xbox 360 would become embedded as the system of choice. Instead consumers flocked to the Nintendo Wii.

"The Xbox 360 had solid sales, but they have not been enough to give Microsoft anywhere near a breakout market position. In many respects, Sony was saved by the success of the Wii."

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Here's a thought: Had X360 picked up a large portion of Wii's sales, in our hypothetical world where Wii doesn't exist, the RROD fiasco would have been much, much worse.