Sony confident following 40 per cent rise in PS3 sales

Sony has said it's confident of its momentum going in to 2009 following a rise in full-year PlayStation 3 sales of 40 per cent.

Over 3.6 million PS3 units were sold during 2008 in the US, with NPD data showing that 726,005 units were sold during December.

PS3 software sales reached almost 6 million units in December, and grew 116 per cent for the full year. Hit titles included LittleBigPlanet, Resistance 2, Call of Duty: World at War and Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.

"We remain confident in our momentum into 2009 as we continue to deliver to our consumers the best entertainment content and technology out there," commented Peter Dille, SVP of marketing and PSN.

"And we delivered on that promise this past year with one of the best software line-ups in the industry, a dramatically expanded PlayStation Network with the launch of the video delivery service and the beta of PlayStation Home, as well as extended hardware offerings with the PSP 3000 and Uncharted 160GB PS3 bundle.

"We also hit a remarkable milestone for the PlayStation 2 platform in North America with 50 million units sold. It’s truly an amazing testament to the power and legacy of our brand," he added.

According to Sony, the top three most downloaded games in December via its PSN service were Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, Soldner-X: Himmelssturmer and Linger in Shadows.

With more than 17 million users signed to the service, 330 million pieces of content have been downloaded via PSN.

The PSP sold 1.02 million units in December, with more than 3.7 million games sold for the system. The top two games for 2008 on the PSP were Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII and God of War: Chains of Olympus, selling a combined 1.31 million units.

According to Sony, the PlayStation brand generated more than USD 6.4 billion in revenue in the US during 2008.