Sony PlayStation 4 named fastest-selling games console in Australia despite early sellouts

NEXT-GENERATION games consoles have a new leader, with Sony’s PlayStation 4 revealed as the fastest-selling machine in Australia.

Advertisement of the newest instalment to blockbuster video game "Call of Duty" is displayed in a gamestop store in New York on November 3, 2014. The game hits the streets on Tuesday, pitting soldiers of the future against a Machiavellian villain played by actor Kevin Spacey. hits the streets on Tuesday, pitting soldiers of the future against a Machiavellian villain played by actor Kevin Spacey. Activision Publishing set out to reload the multi-billion-dollar franchise, bringing in studio Sledgehammer Games to put its spin on the title and taking advantage of advanced capabilities in new-generation PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles. AFP PHOTO/Jewel Samad

IT was almost impossible to find in stores last Christmas, but PlayStation 4 claimed the title of fastest-selling game console in Australia today.

The Sony next-generation games machine, which launched in Australia on November 29 last year, claimed the title over the past year, according to NPD Group sales figures, beating its main competitor, Microsoft’s Xbox One.

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The company would not reveal how many consoles local gamers purchased, but Sony Computer Entertainment Australia managing director Michael Ephraim said PlayStation now “takes 44 per cent of all the sales in the category”.

On top...PlayStation 4 claimed the title of fastest-selling game console in Australia over the past year. Picture: Supplied.

“We haven’t given away numbers yet but it has surpassed the last fastest-selling console by a large margin,” he said.

“Based on the eighth generation console launches, game console sales have doubled in Australia.”

But the battle for leadership this Christmas is not quite as clear, with Sony banking on discounted game bundles and a PlayStation TV game-streaming unit, out November 14, for further sales.

Nintendo will launch new hardware in the important pre-Christmas lead-up, with new 3DS and 3DS XL handheld consoles out on November 21.

Gamers can also expect to be enticed by a range of new titles, including Grand Theft Auto 5, Pokemon Omega Ruby and Sapphire, Assassin’s Creed Unity, Halo 5, and Super Smash Bros for Wii.