Protracted PlayStation Network outage causes gamers to cash in PS3s, games

More than three weeks into the outage of Sony’s PlayStation Network, some PlayStation 3 owners have had enough and are beginning to trade in their consoles. The outage appears to be having an effect on the resale value of games, as well.

Edge Magazine reports that gamers in the UK are now trading in their PS3s, with an even split opting for Microsoft Xbox 360s or cash.

As reported by IndustryGamers, the Video Game Price Charts blog indicates that PlayStation 3 game resale prices are dropping, as well.

Sony, for its part, is still waffling on when, exactly, the PlayStation Network will come back online. The latest missive on Sony’s PlayStation Blog, posted May 10th, says “likely a few more days.”

So far, the gamers trading in systems and games are the ones most likely to be affected by the outage, namely players who favor first-person shooters and others feature a strong online multiplayer component.

In other words, exactly the sort of games that are now unplayable because the PlayStation Network is offline.

While some gamers are fleeing the PS3, a new study from industry tracking firm NPD (reported here by Bloomberg) indicates that new PlayStation 3 sales are actually doing quite well. NPD didn’t release actual unit sales numbers, but said that Sony’s PS3 sales were up 13 percent year over year for April, the month the PSN outage started.

It’s worth noting, though, that Sony’s woes only came to the fore fairly late in the month. Whether the company can sustain that growth is a different question, and only time will tell.

In the interim, the vast majority of PS3 and PSP users, along with subscribers to Sony’s online role playing games, which have been similarly afflicted, sit and wait for Sony to restore the service.

And wait.

And wait.