Sony’s new PlayStation 3 video game console is bringing more married couples together this holiday shopping season — Just not for the reasons one would expect.
 
“We are interviewing shoppers and a lot of husbands said they will shop with wives because they are concerned about crime and violence surrounding the PlayStation 3,” Britt Beemer, founder of America’s Research Group, told Reuters.
 
The PS3 debuted on Nov. 17 to big U.S. crowds eager to be among the first to put their hands on the long-awaited and very limited supplies of new machines from the world’s leading console maker. The launch was marred by violence when bandits shot a man waiting in line at a Connecticut Wal-Mart after he refused to hand over his cash.

Following the shooting, Sony issued a statement calling the attack an isolated incident.

“There are two or three times more men out today,” said Beemer, whose firm specializes in consumer behavior marketing.

(Reporting by Aarthi Sivaraman; Photo by Reuters)