Nielsen/NetRatings revealed last week that Nintendo.com was the most popular official game console website in the month of February. But Net4now.com says the tide is turning in favor of the PS3 due to increased activity in internet searches for the PlayStation 3. Approximate figures show that search activity for Sony’s machine have risen 14%. But before Sony can break out the champagne in celebration, Hitwise, an internet activity tracking firm, says that the upswing in activity is still far behind the increase in activity leading up to the launches of the Wii and Xbox 360.
Heather Hopkins, Vice President of Research for Hitwise in the UK, said, "The Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360 benefited from well timed and much hyped launches in the lead up to the busy Christmas shopping season. Stock shortages and aggressive pricing strategies made the Wii and the Xbox 360 must-have Christmas gifts. The PlayStation 3, suffering a delayed launch due to a manufacturing fault, has been launched in a down-time for games consoles and is therefore missing a critical seasonal boost."
At the moment, there is a lot of conflicting information on just how anticipated the PS3 is in Europe, but with only a day to go before launch, everyone will finally find out if the sales live up to all the hype.
