In typical Sony fashion, their NPD response is heavy on combined sales, heavy on percentage increases. You don't need to know exact figures, you need to know how much money they're making, and how much more money it is compared to this time last year! And for Sony, that news is all good, with both hardware and software sales strong across the board.

To recap, MGS4 topped the software charts. And it propelled the PS3 to a big win over the 360, and an even bigger win over their June 2007 PS3 sales, which are up - according to Sony's crack numbers team - by around 300%. PSP sales were great, PS2 sales were, relatively, great, and all around, it was a good month for Sony.

Cue Jack Tretton, who enthuses "The PlayStation brand is truly hitting its stride on its long-term opportunity across all three platforms". For the rest of Jack's take on the June numbers, click through.

PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3?), led by the launch of the highly anticipated Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots PS3 bundle, continued to experience tremendous momentum in June 2008, selling 405,488 hardware units ? 84% higher than Microsoft?s Xbox 360 (according to NPD June 2008 sales data). PS3 year-over-year hardware sales growth exceeded 311% in June, with month-over-month growth exceeding 94%.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, exclusively for PS3, was the best-selling title on any platform in June 2008, with 774,647 units sold. More than 2.4 million software units were sold for PS3 in June, representing an increase of more than 300% from this time last year. (Software totals do not include software units sold as part of the Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots PS3 retail bundle).

* The launch of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots kicks off the beginning of a blockbuster software line-up for PS3 in the back-half of the year, including highly-anticipated exclusive titles such as SOCOM: US Navy SEALs Confrontation, Resistance 2, Motorstorm: Pacific Rift, NBA ?09: The Inside and LittleBigPlanet to name a few. These monster titles promise to further drive PS3 sales into the holiday season and beyond.
* The PLAYSTATION®Network community continues to grow in popularity with more than 10 million registered accounts worldwide and 180 million pieces of content downloaded worldwide.

Fueled by enthusiasm for the launch of the God of War: Chains of Olympus PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) bundle, PSP experienced strong sales in June, with 337,356 PSP hardware units sold. This represents a sales increase of 85% month-over-month.

PlayStation®2 (PS2) also had a solid month in June, selling 188,798 hardware units, an increase of 42% from May. The popular console continued to experience strong software sales, with 3.9 million software units sold. More than 42.4 million PS2s have been sold in the U.S. as of June 2008.

Power of the PlayStation Portfolio

The PlayStation brand continued to generate impressive sales, earning $626.7 million in June.

· Year to date (Jan-June), the PlayStation brand generated almost $2.9 billion in revenue, representing an increase of 24% year-over year.

· PlayStation total hardware revenue was $265.5 million in June, representing a year-over-year growth of 90%.

· PlayStation total software revenue in June was $298 million, representing a year-over-year growth of over 52%.

CEO Perspective

"The PlayStation brand is truly hitting its stride on its long-term opportunity across all three platforms. Our strong June numbers serve as proof to the continued momentum of the PS3 and affirms that we?re exactly where we expected to be. This month?s success can be attributed to the exclusive blockbuster Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and we?re poised for continued growth into the back half of the year with a much anticipated line-up, including LittleBigPlanet, SOCOM: Confrontation, Resistance 2, MotorStorm: Pacific Rift, and NBA ?09: The Inside. Additionally, the new PlayStation Network video delivery service will be a big driver for the PS3 and PSP, allowing consumers to extend their multi-media and entertainment experience.?

- Jack Tretton, president and CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment America