DodgingCars

PS3 kicks off most successful home console launch in UK... ever
http://www.joystiq.com/2007/03/26/ps...aunch-in-UK-e/

Looks like they finally got a good launch! Though they didn't sell out -- there were 220,000 available units for sale.

DarthMarino

Obviously, the Sony fanboys in the United Kingdom went out and got the system at launch but the real test will be the next few weeks. They didn't sell out which can't be a good thing. Sure Wii ONLY sold 105,000 at launch there but how many would it have sold if the supply was much greater? Obviously we won't know but it will be interesting to see if the intial sales of the system are an inidication of its popularity or just all the Sony fans blowing their load at once.

fujishig

Arguments about supply aside (how many would the other launch consoles have sold if they had sufficient supply) I wonder what the "killer app" in the UK is... and whether some upcoming game is fueling this demand.

Draven

Yeah, I'd be curious how many Wiis and 360s were left on shelves at launch.

I'm going to guess "none".

KurrptSenate

at the oxford UK launch, they gave out Sony Bravia HDTVs for everyone that had a preorder!!


I'm jealous

Noonan

Yup, the TV and a paid taxi ride home. Lucky bastards.

DodgingCars

Hell I'd buy an $800 console if I got a free tv with it.

KurrptSenate

well, i bought and sold 2 of em...


but yea, i would have kept at least one that way

slop101

I thought this was a pertinent rant:

Joystiq has a story about Sony Entertainment head Phil Harrison, who at this point is pretty much the Glass Joe of the gaming world.

The story recounts a blog entry from Edge magazine’s Paul Rose, who witnessed Harrison’s latest misstep. According to the blog, Harrison who was attending a Marillion (no idea) concert (he’s friends with the band), offered up a PS3 for auction. After the band started the bidding at €100, Harrison not liking the lukewarm response jumped on stage, ranted about the PS3’s greatness and then upped the price to €600 (the store price) because its great value. Well as anyone living in the civilized world could imagine, the crowd didn’t react all that well and there were no bidders. Harrison in response became frantic to the point where people became embarrassed for him. After what must have been an eternity of awkwardness, someone shelled out the €600, with the promise he would have it signed, by the band.

Now, I’ve mentioned this before, but after this latest PR disaster at what point does Sony smarten-up? Shouldn't Sony be focused on things like promoting the fact that its machine is more powerful and much less fragile than the 360? Instead of taking dumps on the Wii, the Worldwide consumer and anyone who criticizes them, wouldn't Sony be wise to just close its big dumb mouth and just show us the value of its big expensive product. Maybe, just maybe, then Sony could focus more on the loss of its exclusive titles rather than defending its latest gaffe, which was in response to a previous gaffe.

Better yet, maybe its time they close Phil Harrison’s big dumb mouth because he seems to be the source of most of these screw-ups. If someone a year ago recounted the various Sony PR fuck-ups of the past 12 months, I’d think they were writing one of those awful gaming web-comics or they were an Microsoft employee.

At some point people will come around to the PS3 ($100 price cut), but the fact is that Sony could be winning the lastest console war if they weren't such morons about it. They have a powerful machine that appears to have worked the kinks out and offers something to gamers the Wii and 360 does not. Instead of working with that, Sony has to focus its PR machine on picking up the elephant shit it's employees leave behind after every single interview. Its madness.

And in this latest of Sony's long line of colossal fuckups, the new PSP commercials jump into the realm of ephebophilia, depicting a grown man seemingly examining a teenager's penis at a bank of urinals. Except, as it turns out, the penis is a PSP! Oh ho ho. Good job, Sony, topping your racist billboards with an even more hot-button issue. I've got nothing clever to say. Fuck you, Sony; these ads remind me of the dork in grade school repeating all his dad's dirty jokes to score some friend points on the playground. Except no one laughs and someone puts a dirt clod in his lunchbox.

fumanstan

I agree with this part:

Deep down, the PS3 is a solid machine. It's got better hardware then the 360, has something fairly interesting in the SIXAXIS, has some great franchises and still has some great developer support behind it, a huge fanbase from the PS2... but instead of working all of it to their advantage, they come out and say stupid things, make up excuses, try and attack their competitors... it's a shame really.

Original Desmond

PS3 is also going well in Australia

nodeerforamonth

Maybe it's just that the machines were actually available!

Gallant Pig

How do they figure this? To me the PS3 is a rickety, cheap feeling POS when I pick it up. The 360 is solid.

fmian

Based on what info???

Australia has sold 20,000 units in 2 weeks (as a side note only 8000 users have registered for their Casino Royale BD). For comparisons sake, the 360 sold 30,000 in 4 days, and the Wii sold 32,000 in 4 days.
All accounts from people at the opening launches were of dismal turnouts. At one location there was more press than customers.
At our AV/IT store (part of a major chain) we sold about 10 every day for the first few days (over the Friday launch and through the weekend) and 2 weeks later we have sold about 50-60 total. Friends from 2 other stores in the chain from around Sydney have reported about the same decline in sales.
This isn't so much an indication of how many units are being sold in stores, but how interest has seemed to drop so rapidly.
I'm trying not to say it from a biased POV as well (I own a 360), since I'd love to sell more so I can make more commision on the sales. I wish the sales were better.

I gotta say though, it's quite a flexible unit in terms of features, and we haven't had any complaints/returns, apart from one guy who couldn't play the games he bought from Cambodia. On the other hand I was really dissapointed with the performance of Fight Night 3 on it. What is up with that?

taffer

Probably means that the 360 is known for its faulty hardware ie red ring of death problems. The PS3, so far as I am aware, does not have problems like this.

darkside

Exactly. I have run mine all day with folding@home and movies and never had an issue. I know people that can't run their 360s more than an hour without it locking up.

So far it seems like Sony put some actual quality into the PS3 unlike their previous consoles.

BTW, the Phil Harrison as the Glass Joe of gaming killed me.

Fandango

What's wrong with Fight Night 3?

fmian

I've played it extensively on the 360 with a SD projector, SD CRT TV and HD LCD TV so I had my experiences on those as a guide.
Played the PS3 version on a 52" X series 1080p Sony lcd. The colour was washed out to the point were the fighters didn't look natural anymore. Like they had pasty skin and the edges around the fighters was kinda dark. Other games/movies we have been playing through that PS3 look fine, from Motorstorm, GT HD, BD movies... so it's not a setting issue on the TV.
Also, the frame rate was sucky. I'd say it was slightly under 30fps. I know gamespot did a PS3 vs 360 comparison of the game where they briefly mentioned this but said it was only during the close up KO's. I didn't get to that point in the match though and it was low FPS all the time.
On top of that the analog controller sticks didn't seem very responsive, half of the punches I was trying to make didn't even register.

I'd say EA just did a lousy job of porting it over since other games are fine. Shame really.

Anubis2005X

PS3 is my first Playstation and I love it, great machine! But yeah, there's no way I'm gonna try and defend Sony's PR...man it sucks, and downright embarassing...

PerryD

I don't have a 360 yet (I have every other conceivable gaming machine though including the 3DO and Jaguar), but the PS3 is a beautiful substantial-feeling console. I have absolutely no qualms about the quality of the build of the unit at all, especially compared to earlier PS generations (which are the more standard plasticky feel).

PixyJunket

I have to admit.. other than the obvious reasons (ridiculous price and severe lack of software), I'd be afraid of buying a PS3 simply based on Sony's history of console build quality (they're 0-3 in my opinion). Hopefully the added cost this round equates to a stronger build.. but with so many new components (Blu-Ray, Hard Drive) I'd still be very cautious.

darkside

I would have to disagree about the PSP (stuck/dead pixels aside). I had two of those and they were very rugged. I dropped them, sat on them and spilled a soda on one and never had any issues. Now the original Playstation, PS2 and PStwo I had nothing but trouble with so no arguement on those.

It is still early so who knows? The PS3s might start self destructing any day and they do run hot so the fan vents have to be kept clean. So far though I am pretty impressed with the quality.

Gallant Pig

Mine runs ridiculously hot, is highly incompatible with my tv at 1080P over HDMI and even DVI, and has a tendency to lockup.

Gallant Pig

When I pick it up, it has this odd shape, and build, the plastic "creeks" when I hold it and has a lot of give.

PixyJunket

Somebody needs to go inside! I know that the innards of the PS1 and PS2 are sheer nightmares.. the cables and wires of the PS2 are almost purposefully brittle to ward of would-be modders, getting to the "meat" is like cracking a safe and reassembly is almost never successful on the first attempt.