Forget United States or Japan, the fate of the console war will largely be determined by how well each console maker can conquer the European market, according to Electronic Arts' international publishing head Gerhard Florin."I believe the biggest fight will be in Europe," said Florin, speaking at this week's Reuters Technology, Media and Telecoms summit in Paris. "Whoever wins the hardware war in Europe, most likely will be the overall winner."
Defining how one "wins" the hardware war can be tough enough -- is it sheer quantity of units sold, profits, or something else? As the NPD reports have shown, almost any statistic can be spun to show victory. And if Nintendo continues its dominance in United States and Japan while magically losing ground in Europe, can we really call it a loser?
Ubisoft may already be cognizant of the importance of Europe as a battleground, today hinting at a European exclusive PlayStation 3 title. So long as these words mean smaller or even nonexistent delays between PAL releases and releases elsewhere, we think the console owners are ultimately the winner.
