The recent $100 price cut of the Sony PlayStation 3 game console has led to a drastic sales boost, which may lead to a supply shortage.
"We are up about 300 percent over where we were pre-price drop," Sony America CEO Jack Tretton said in a recent interview. "We are up significantly versus last year."
The 300% gain in about three weeks really shouldn't be too surprising, especially considering the game console also can be used to play Blu-ray movies. The price cut could lead to a possible PS3 shortage, although Sony officials didn't speculate as to when this could happen.
Prior to the price cut, most major brick and mortar retailers had piles of PS3 units available, while it was extremely difficult to locate Nintendo Wii consoles. The Microsoft Xbox 360, which also received a price cut down to $299, will have to wage a more carefully designed battle against a cheaper PS3.
The Nintendo Wii -- which hasn't had to cut prices -- recently confirmed a $50 price cut from $249 down to $199.
The video game industry has suffered the past six months due to the bad economy, but Tretton, along with other gaming industry experts, hope lower-priced game consoles and new video game releases will help each company make the best of the situation.
"In a very difficult economy, I couldn't be more optimistic about our fortunes for the rest of the year and for the future. If things continue at this pace, it is conceivable that there will be product shortages."
