PS3 outsells competitors in Australia in first half of 2012

Sony Computer Entertainment Australia (SCEA) today revealed the PlayStation 3 home console has outsold its competitors in the Australian market in the first half of the calendar year.

Citing official NPD Group Australia data, Sony said the PS3 came in at number one in the console sales position in the first half of 2012. The publisher also stated that the PS3 was the only games console in the Australian market to achieve double digit unit sales growth year-on-year over the same period.

In addition, Sony said its PlayStation hardware family--including the PS3, PSP, and the PlayStation Vita--combined accounted made up 43 percent of hardware sales in the Australian market for the first six months of 2012.

Sony also revealed local pricing for the upcoming Wonderbook augmented reality platform, which will launch in Australia in November this year (no firm release date as yet). Wonderbook will launch with two bundles: the first bundle will include the platform and its launch title, Book of Spells, for an RRP of A$49.95; the second bundle will include the platform, Book of Spells game, PlayStation Move motion controller and PlayStation Eye camera and will be available for RRP A$99.95.

Last week, Sony announced a new PS3 model which will launch in Australia on September 27. The new model will come in two versions: a 500GB model, and a 12GB flash memory model. The two models will retail for A$400 and A$300 respectively.