UK PS3 sales to top 1m over Xmas

[Rs0n1sT]

Hi-def hopes?

Ray Maguire, MD of Sony Computer Entertainment, believes that the launch of a new, cheaper edition PlayStation 3 will help push sales of the console in the UK "well through the million mark".

In an interview published in the latest Edge magazine, Maguire states: "by the time [Edge] goes to press we'll be at around about 500,000 PS3 sales in the UK, and through Christmas we'll take that well through the million mark".

Maguire is positive that this milestone will be breached thanks to the recently unveiled 40GB edition of PS3, which sells for £125 less than the 60GB console's RRP when it launched earlier this year. He claims that the price cut will cause "a huge uptake" of the new PS3 edition. In fact, early signs suggest the opposite - gamers are scrabbling for the 60GB, full-spec editions before they are discontinued.

Elsewhere in the interview, Maguire is positive about another thorny PS3 problem - games. He believes that "we're in the period of crossover now, where people will start to develop on PS3 as the lead [platform] if they're multiformat", as opposed to the current tradition where the majority of multiplatform games begin life as Xbox 360 developments.

"Because of the Cell chip," he continues, "and because it's got a hard disc in every device, the way of generating games - if you start with PS3 - is you can create the optimal, ultimate game. And then you can knock out functionality to put it onto other platforms".

Read the full interview in this month's Edge magazine, issue #182, on sale now.