GTA IV drives PS3 sales, PS3 momentum picking up

According to SCEA, the high demand for Grand Theft Auto IV on the PlayStation 3 is driving sales for Sony's system exponentially just within the first 24 hours of the game's release. Senior Merchandising VP of GameStop Corp., Bob McKenzie, chimed in backing up the claim on the retail side of things: "From our position, the launch of GTA IV has been tremendous in driving traffic to our stores, as well as providing a vigorous lift in PS3 console sales over this time last week. We attribute the growth to a huge fan base of PS2 owners who see this title as the trigger for the PS3 upgrade they've been planning."

GTA IV as the trigger for a PS2-to-PS3 upgrade? It's quite logical considering that Grand Theft Auto as a series is very closely associated with the PlayStation brand. However, GTA IV is not exclusive to the system, yet is still able to cause such a boisterous push in sales. Imagine what will happen when Metal Gear Solid 4 comes rolling in?

[Via press release]