PS3s traded in for Xbox 360s as PlayStation hack hits Sony

As Sony fights to bring the hacked PlayStation Network back to life, the patience of gamers is wearing thin. Unable to play games online over the PSN, gamers are increasingly trading in their PlayStation 3 consoles, often for Xbox 360s.

Edge contacted numerous European stores and discovered there’s only so long Call of Duty addicts can hold out. Here’s what one store manager had to say:

“In the first week of downtime we did not really see any major change in sales or trades. However from the second week onwards we have seen an increase of over 200 per cent on PS3 consoles being traded in, split almost 50/50 between those trading for cash and those taking a 360 instead.”

And this experience wasn’t unique, as another shop owner revealed:

“At the end of each month people come to sell their consoles. People that need money [to pay bills]. What’s different this time around is that that they are bringing in PS3s together with all their games and they don’t want money, they want an Xbox 360. In every case it is because of Black Ops and or Modern Warfare 2.”

Stores also reported a drop in the sale of PlayStation Network points cards, while the Xbox 360 version of Call of Duty: Black Ops is now healthily outselling the PS3 iteration. Sony has previously promised to have the PlayStation Network fully operational in the first week of May, but has now revised that to the end of this month.

[Via Edge]