Sony's Karraker Says Wii An 'Impulse Buy'

As part of a new New York Times report investigating the relative demand for the Wii and PS3, Sony spokesman Dave Karraker dismissed links between the two consoles, saying the Wii was more of an 'impulse buy.' The article looked at retail demand for the consoles at a number of outlets across America, finding that post holidays, as has been previously reported, PlayStation 3 stock appears to be generally easier to find, while the Wii remains sold out in almost all locations. Noting each company's respective hardware and software sales for the holiday, with Nintendo announcing it shipped 3.2 million Wii's and sold 17.5 million games compared to Sony's 1.84 million PlayStation 3s shipped and 5.2 million games sold, the article spoke with Sony spokesperson Dave Karraker about next-gen sales. In response, Karraker said the two consoles didn't exist in 'the same category,' with Wii geared toward gaming newcomers and the PS3 targeting the hard-core, adding, “Wii could be considered an impulse buy more than anything else." Karraker maintains that Sony continues to sell out the 100,000 PS3s it ships each week, though he points out that “the frenzy [Sony] saw at the holidays has subsided a bit." The article also took on Nintendo's take on demand, asking Nintendo marketing VP Perrin Kaplan if she agreed with Sony's claim that the higher demand for Wii was in actuality simply lower supply. Kaplan, who 'bristled' at the suggestion, said, "That’s absolutely inaccurate,” maintaining that Wii shipments were going out in at least equal numbers with the PS3.