PS3 Oz launch, a whimper not a bang, so far.

[AussieAtari]

Not the sort of thing Sony was expecting in a big Sony market:

 

The launch of Sony's PlayStation 3 games console got off to a feeble start last night last night with officials, media and security outnumbering customers for most of the evening.

 

Over 500 retailers around the country threw open their doors as the clock struck 12:00am, expecting the frenzy that accompanied the games console's overseas debuts.

But most stores were virtually deserted, despite the 20,000 pre-orders Sony said it had received.

Even at the official launch event held at Myer's Pitt Street store in Sydney's CBD and attended by Sony's local managing director, Michael Ephraim, media and security outnumbered PS3 fans until at least 11:00pm.

 

At midnight, about 40 PS3 buyers had arrived to collect their consoles, causing distress for the army of camera crews who turned up expecting to capture launch mayhem.

 

Desperate producers unashamedly asked the crowd to fake excitement when the cameras were rolling, while a team from 2Day FM let out bogus cheers to convince their radio listeners that a launch extravaganza was underway.

 

How did the UK launch go?

[tantone56]

Dude it's Australia what do you expect from them? Im just joking with you I think that the rest of the world might be a little weary to make on move on the PS3 while they are still so far behind.

[AtariJr]

why did the press want to pretend that the ps3 was doing well.. woudlnt just as many people read the paper or listen to the station to hear about how much of an unexpected flop it was?

[Gregory DG]

No surprise to me. The PS3 is way over priced.

[Cousin Vinnie]

Not the sort of thing Sony was expecting in a big Sony market:

 

The launch of Sony's PlayStation 3 games console got off to a feeble start last night last night with officials, media and security outnumbering customers for most of the evening.

 

Over 500 retailers around the country threw open their doors as the clock struck 12:00am, expecting the frenzy that accompanied the games console's overseas debuts.

But most stores were virtually deserted, despite the 20,000 pre-orders Sony said it had received.

Even at the official launch event held at Myer's Pitt Street store in Sydney's CBD and attended by Sony's local managing director, Michael Ephraim, media and security outnumbered PS3 fans until at least 11:00pm.

 

At midnight, about 40 PS3 buyers had arrived to collect their consoles, causing distress for the army of camera crews who turned up expecting to capture launch mayhem.

 

Desperate producers unashamedly asked the crowd to fake excitement when the cameras were rolling, while a team from 2Day FM let out bogus cheers to convince their radio listeners that a launch extravaganza was underway.

 

How did the UK launch go?

 

If the media reported one thing, how do you know the "TRUTH"?

 

Vinnie

[Atarifever]

why did the press want to pretend that the ps3 was doing well.. woudlnt just as many people read the paper or listen to the station to hear about how much of an unexpected flop it was?

Because they were expecting a big story and cut into other air time. There were shootings, fights, etc, for the release here, and general fanboy madness for every other console release since, what, the Dreamcast. Imagine telling the viewers/listeners you'd be covering the big event and then cutting away to a guy standing up saying

 

"Yes, we're here at a store where an electronic device is being sold. I think, yes, there comes someone. Sir, are you here for the PS3".

 

"Yes. Yes I am".

 

"How long have you been lined up here?"

 

"I got here 3 minutes ago".

 

"Do you think you'll manage to fight your way to the PS3".

 

"Um. I have one right here."

 

"Did you battle anyone for it?"

 

"No. No, I just picked it up"

 

"Oh. Well, this is Richard Weed here for Channel 6 news at the CRAAAAAZZZZY PS3 launch. Here's chuck with the weather"

 

See, you seem under the impression that the news isn't scripted. They'd have had to write a whole new episode if they were trying to report the launch going differently than the writers expected.

Edited March 23, 2007 by Atarifever

[Jess Ragan]

Why did the Playstation 3 launch fail? Because Sony sold its pumpkins after Halloween. Europeans WANTED the PS3 four months ago, but Sony not only refused to give it to them, they made sure that Europeans couldn't get the system from anyone else. They waited... and waited... and waited... thinking that the delay would work Europe's need for a PS3 into a frenzied froth. But they waited too long. The excitement over the system faded because Europeans just lost interest and moved on to its competitors. Say what you will about the Playstation 3's capabilities or the Wii and Xbox 360's shortcomings, but the game system you can buy is always preferable to the one you can't.

 

JR

[thomasholzer]

In the UK Sony given away free TVs worth GBP 2000.00 with PS3

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6474045.stm

 

 

but you all gotta admit, March is not a good time to release a new console. Not many people have those sort of funds for gaming, they are still recovering from Christmas.

 

I remember the Nintendo GC released in May 2002 in the UK, they probably sold 50 units in the whole country (so you can all moan about the 'bad' PS3 launch, other companies didn't do better in the past).

Edited March 23, 2007 by thomasholzer

[Atarifever]

 

 

I remember the Nintendo GC released in May 2002 in the UK, they probably sold 50 units in the whole country (so you can all moan about the 'bad' PS3 launch, other companies didn't do better in the past).

Right, and I remember that part where the Gamecube bounced back to claim the whole market afterwards, right?

 

I don't understand it. The PS3 is priced at $600, and Sony fans compare to the Neo Geo and 3D0 as if those systems owned the market. The PS3 sells poorly compared to the Wii and Sony fans start to say "total dollars spent on the system (as if that matters) is a true predictor of success". The PS3 costs more than the Xbox 360 and Sony fans say "well if you tie a rocketship to the 360, then it costs a billion dollars". Now we're going to start comparing it to the Gamecube saleswise as though that's a model of success? If the PS3 were selling at a profit,and the argument were "hey they're making money now, and hey the Gameube made a lot of money overall, even with low sales", then it'd make sense. However, arguing that "hey, maybe it isn't doing as bad as the Gamecube", as though that means everything is alright, well that's silly.

[thomasholzer]

>>>>>Atarifever says: Right, and I remember that part where the Gamecube bounced back to claim the whole market afterwards, right?<<<<<

 

Yep, they wished :-)

Edited March 23, 2007 by thomasholzer

[darklord1977]

you have to understand..Sony's marketing department is run by a bunch of retards..who dont know what they are doing.. thats why the ps3 is getting lack luster response...personally, i think its a great system and im happy with mine.. as well as my 360....never wanted the wii.

[AtariJr]

you have to understand..Sony's marketing department is run by a bunch of retards..who dont know what they are doing.. thats why the ps3 is getting lack luster response...personally, i think its a great system and im happy with mine.. as well as my 360....never wanted the wii.

 

a system isnt everything. the saturn was an awesome system, with many many great games. but the marketing sucked, and they did a lot of moves that were plains stupid.. ringing any bells? and look where that ended up. in fact, many "good consoles" die quick deaths because of the marketing or inner politics.

[thomasholzer]

you have to understand..Sony's marketing department is run by a bunch of retards..who dont know what they are doing.. thats why the ps3 is getting lack luster response...personally, i think its a great system and im happy with mine.. as well as my 360....never wanted the wii.

 

 

they can't be doing that bad, having two of the worlds best selling consoles (PSX, PS2)

[Atarifever]

you have to understand..Sony's marketing department is run by a bunch of retards..who dont know what they are doing.. thats why the ps3 is getting lack luster response...personally, i think its a great system and im happy with mine.. as well as my 360....never wanted the wii.

 

 

they can't have done that bad in the past, having two of the worlds best selling consoles (PSX, PS2)

Fixed

 

The problem is that, like many products that are around a long time, Sony has lost touch with it's customers. They honestly thought that "All I want for Xmas" thing would catch on. They thought, "hey, that guy is the kind of stupid our fans will think is funny", instead of realizing that "hey, that guy is a total moron, and no one will want to buy what he wants. Also, our fans aren't idiots and will figure this out."

 

With the PS3 they thought "hey, our fans don't read. I mean, I can make press releases saying they'd buy millions of our systems even without any games, basically calling them sheep. They'll take it though because, I mean, no one wants the Saturn or N64. I mean, this is still 1995 right?".

 

They also seem to have thought that their fanbase is willing to spend ANYTHING to get a console, even though both competitors had appeal to the same audience and were cheaper.

 

I think they just haven't been willing to change with their market, and haven't been able to push their systems the way they used to.

Edited March 24, 2007 by Atarifever

[Tempest]

I think the biggest problem is that Sony thought people would pay the PS3's exorbitant price because they would:

 

A. Want a Blu-Ray player

B. Want the best possible HD graphics for their games

 

Now while games may indeed want these things, they don't want them bad enough to pay $600 for a console. At this point in time most gamers:

 

A. Don't have an HD TV (making Blu-Ray useless)

B. Don't value graphics over gameplay

 

I think Microsoft did the smart thing by making the HD DVD drive a separate add on. Perhaps if the Blu-Ray player was separate and they brought the price of the console down by $200 Sony might have something going.

 

Of course the biggest killer for the PS3 is the fact that it has no "Must Have" games. I actually went looking at the PS3's meager library and was not impressed. Resistance might be considered the PS3's killer app, but since it's a FPS it lacks the broader appeal that a platformer or action game has. If Sony gets a few must have exclusives going for the PS3 then they might be able to make it work, but at the moment they're not going to sell many consoles at $600 considering that its a struggling system at the moment.

 

Tempest

[Math You]

*deleted*

Edited May 25, 2007 by MRB

[tantone56]

I wanted a PS3, but it is just too expensive. They have alot of balls setting the price so higgh and claiming that it's fair because it has blue ray. Maybe Sony should take into account that 95% of the population could give a F@(l< about BluRay. They really bet the farm on thinking bluray would become the next big thing. Hopefully next time they will realize that the number one thing that gamers want to pay for if something that will play the games, everything else is just an add on. Oh well.

[thomasholzer]

of course it would had been a total different matter, if Sony had released the PS3 in Europe and Oz in November like originally intended.

I'm sure many Europeans would buy a PS3 for X-Mas and Wii would've been too late.

[AtariJr]

you have to understand..Sony's marketing department is run by a bunch of retards..who dont know what they are doing.. thats why the ps3 is getting lack luster response...personally, i think its a great system and im happy with mine.. as well as my 360....never wanted the wii.

 

 

they can't be doing that bad, having two of the worlds best selling consoles (PSX, PS2)

 

and the 2600 did bitchin till the other pos consoles they launched after that... sega kicked mucho ass with the genesis until it made bad marketing and internal decisions... etc etc etc...

[Jess Ragan]

i think its a great system and im happy with mine.. as well as my 360....never wanted the wii.

Hi Darklord. How does the PS3 compare to the 360? Is there much of a difference?

 

Matt

 

Not Darklord, but I personally think they're on even ground. I like Resistance: Fall of Man much much much much better than Gears of War (why the hell is this even popular?!), but there are a lot of Xbox 360 games that are even better than that. The graphics shine on both consoles, but there's a touch more color in the average Xbox 360 release.

 

JR

[AtariJr]

i really wish that they would make a cheap version of the ps3 with no blue ray... then id get one when a few games came out. but i guess that will never come as they say that you need blue ray for this generation of games.. that would kinda go against thier marketing stradegy. wasnt it resistance that had like 200 gigs of filler on the disk though?

[misspent_youth]

maybe 200 megs of filler, since the disk only holds 25 gigs on a single side.

 

I have no doubt that the early games will not take advantage of the extra capacity, because there is no other system that offers that capacity unless it is on multiple discs, which is a no-no. Once some developers truly take advantage of it (I'm thinking of the environmental size possibilities in open-ended games like GTA, etc.), Microsoft may be sorry that they've committed to not offering games on their HD-DVD add-on.

 

To me, the extra storage capacity is the only real stand-out difference for Sony on the gaming side of the PS3, and they should do all they can to push this aspect.

[darklord1977]

you have to understand..Sony's marketing department is run by a bunch of retards..who dont know what they are doing.. thats why the ps3 is getting lack luster response...personally, i think its a great system and im happy with mine.. as well as my 360....never wanted the wii.

 

a system isnt everything. the saturn was an awesome system, with many many great games. but the marketing sucked, and they did a lot of moves that were plains stupid.. ringing any bells? and look where that ended up. in fact, many "good consoles" die quick deaths because of the marketing or inner politics.

yep the saturn was a great system..i still play all my sega systems...all of these systems had a lot of promise but they somehow get ruined by corporate greed, screw ups, and marketing...im a business major and my professor used sony once as a example of poorly ran marketing practices... a lot of my classmates said playstation 3 even my professor agreeded

 

 

personally, i think the gameing companies should STOP trying to cram everything into a system making it a "all in one" package because that drives up the cost etc....if you want to surf the net..get a computer (i dont know anybody that even wants to use a video game system to surf the net with thats ghetto..get the right tool for the job)

 

if you want to watch videos get a dvd player(but ill give props for this one though i use my ps 3 and ps 2 as back up dvd/blu ray players) besides all that extra wear and tear could mess up your system down the road...

Edited March 25, 2007 by darklord1977

[Atarifever]

maybe 200 megs of filler, since the disk only holds 25 gigs on a single side.

 

 

To me, the extra storage capacity is the only real stand-out difference for Sony on the gaming side of the PS3, and they should do all they can to push this aspect.

25 gigs = extremely expensive to fill = potentially huge losses for a developer = not going to happen.

 

Years from now, once the market has adjusted to bigger storage, high def, the larger market, in game advertising, microtransactions, multimedia connectivity, etc there will be enough of a market to make making games that huge somewhat consistently profitable. I think right now it'll prove nearly impossible for anyone to bother making games anywhere near that big. The result: a lot of empty space or WAYYYY more cut scenes.

Edited March 25, 2007 by Atarifever

[misspent_youth]

Sure, but you don't need to start out making games that are a full 25 GB.

 

The same argument was also applicable when games went from CD-Rom to DVD-Rom. Companies adjusted when the first few games came out that took advantage of the extra space sold well. SCEA would do well to make sure that at least some of the games it puts out take legitimate addvantage of the space; it would be a smart loss-leader for SCEA since they would be helping the PS3 in the long-run.

 

What I think would be the major drawback is related to the expense argument that you made, which would be that the market price of the games would likely increase, further alienating the average gamer.