Wii Is 'Expensive Niche' Says Sony’s Stringer

Ahead of this week’s E3 expo and the all important pre-conference media briefings from the three console manufacturers, Sony CEO Howard Stringer has spoken out against the Wii – again dismissing it as not being a direct competitor to the PlayStation 3. Speaking at a media conference, Stringer was quoted by a new Bloomberg report, as stating, "I've played a Nintendo Wii. I don't see it as a competitor. It's more of an expensive niche game device. We're selling a lot of PlayStation 3s now and it's still the best way to buy a Blu-ray player.” Stringer dismissed the Wii as a director competitor due to its lack of media features and, according to the Bloomberg report, access to the Internet. The Wii is currently priced at $249 in the U.S. and the PlayStation 3 at $399 – neither company is expected to announce a price cut at E3. Although the PlayStation 3 is still in third place overall, in terms of both worldwide and U.S. installed userbase, the console outsold the Xbox 360 in the U.S. for the first five months of 2008. Quoting NPD Group data, Bloomberg indicates that the Wii has sold 2.8 million consoles through to May this year, compared to 1.2 million for the PlayStation 3 and 1.12 for the Xbox 360.