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PlayStation 3 Launches in EU/AU

Posted by Zonk on Fri Mar 23, 2007 01:38 PM
from the it's-everywhere-it's-everywhere dept.
PlayStation (Games)
stpk4 wrote to mention some articles discussing the launch of the PlayStation 3 in Europe; London saw Phil Harrison handing out HD sets, while Microsoft's party barge and lackluster crowds marked the Parisian launch. The Australian launch went well but also saw disappointing crowds, with media, security, and store officials outnumbering the customers for much of the event. Eurogamer has a comprehensive list of launch titles, for those of you in the new territories thinking of picking up a console.
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[+] PS3 Breaks Records in UK Launch 131 comments
Aided by racing titles MotorStorm and Formula One, the PlayStation 3 had the best UK console launch ever, according to Joystiq and MCVUK. This generation saw the Wii kick off with 105,000 units and the Xbox 360's sell through 70,000. The PSP still holds the record at 185,000 for a portable console, but I imagine Sony's pretty happy about this either way. "With plenty of consoles left in the 220,000 strong initial shipment, it would appear that a strong supply is the key to launch victory. Will sales remain brisk in the foreseeable future? We'll find out soon enough, but until then, expect some elaborately spun responses from Sony's competitors. Perhaps UK journalists ought to return those stacks of beer to Microsoft -- then again, alcohol already seems a likely explanation for steering the Xboat to the wrong continent."
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PlayStation 3 Launches in EU/AU 50 Comments More /

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  • Whee (Score:3, Funny)

    by SDuensin (67959) on Friday March 23 2007, @01:41PM (#18462203) Homepage
    (crickets)
    • What's not mentioned in TFA is that MS were handing out Chairs [bbc.co.uk] in London as well as their stunt in Paris. [insert oblig. Ballmer joke here]

      Seems like they were doing their best to ruin Sony's night.:

      At the Virgin Megastore in London's Oxford Street, the software giant handed out chairs to those queuing that had a website address printed on them.

      Anyone visiting the webpage saw an Xbox 360 branded site that "welcomes" Sony to the next generation and chides the electronics giant for being "late". Microsoft's Xbox 360 launched in late 2005.

  • Folding (Score:2, Informative)

    by cxreg (44671)
    Coinciding with the EU and AU release was the new firmware, including the PS3 Folding@home client. This has caused the project to explode, with PS3's putting up more than 20x the performance of a Windows PC [gizmodo.com]

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Rycross (836649)
      Thats not surprising, considering cell is specifically designed to excel at the sort of calculations involved with protein folding. Its not indicative of the overall power of the system, or how well that power relates to a PC at all. Saying that a PS3 has 20x the performance of a Windows PC based on these numbers is ridiculous.

      • Re:Folding (Score:4, Interesting)

        by AArmadillo (660847) on Friday March 23 2007, @02:22PM (#18462935)
        Indeed. To put it in perspective, the average GPU client is doing twice as well as the average PS3 client.

      • 'Overall' power? (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Funk_dat69 (215898) on Friday March 23 2007, @02:40PM (#18463269)
        And what exactly is the 'overall' power of a system?

        Performance always has a context (despite what some marketers will have you believe) and in this context, yes, the Cell in the PS3 really is that much more powerful than an x86 chip.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Rycross (836649)
          For a gaming system? How well it plays games. Basically, how well it performs the tasks it was created for.

          Yes its more powerful in that context, but thats not what I was arguing. I was arguing that you can't extrapolate the numbers out to say that, overall, the PS3 is 20 times more powerful than the PC, which is what it seemed like the top poster was trying to do.

          I doubt that the PS3 could beat a Core 2 Duo in a highly branching area, like AI.

        • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

          by BarneyL (578636)
          No worse a conclusion than the parent post's. I would have thought that a GPU is by far the best part of a PC to make a fair comparison against the PS3 with.
          The F@H web site certainly seems to agree http://folding.stanford.edu/FAQ-ATI.html [stanford.edu] it links between their information on the GPU and PS3 versions stating it's using the same technology behing both clients. The client is admittedly exclusive to ATI cards (X1600, X1800, and X1900 class GPU's) but I would assume that Nvidia's offerings would offer similar

  • In my store... (Score:4, Informative)

    by Kazzahdrane (882423) on Friday March 23 2007, @02:00PM (#18462489)
    we sold about 26 machines at our midnight launch this morning. That was only about a third of our pre-orders, and Sony got us 120 machines for day one. I know everyone's heralding the death of Sony's gaming division these days, but they've done a fantastic job with getting stock out there to stores (admittedly they've had months to put this in motion). I won't be buying one myself but I think Sony are starting to turn their fortunes around.

    Just as long as they don't let any of their execs do anymore interviews.

    • Re:In my store... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by jandrese (485) <kensama@vt.edu> on Friday March 23 2007, @02:04PM (#18462577) Homepage Journal
      Of course it's easy to ship enough stock when your demand is low.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Rycross (836649)
        120 units is a lot more than they shipped to American stores though. Around these parts, stores got between 20 and 30. Although one Circuit City in the 'burbs got 100.

        • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

          by powerlord (28156)
          True, I was in Best Buy on Monday and today (Friday). They have a stack of PS3s and XBox360s by the checkout area (noticeably more 360s than PS3). In the past 5 days, assuming they haven't restocked the piles have both shrunk, the PS3 pile by about 16, the 360 pile by about 8 (none of those missing were 'core' units). (for the record there were originally 26 PS3s and 46 360s, 4 of which were "core" units).

          I realize that this is hardly scientific, but it I found it interesting on a number of fronts.

          1) yes
          • Well I was talking launch numbers, but yes, I agree mostly with what you've said. Although based on last month's NDP numbers, 360 was outselling PS3.
          • if "piles of units just sitting there" then the 360 is in deep trouble, worse than the PS3.

            The problem with this argument is the timing. I would certainly expect to be able to buy a console at any store whenever I wanted to once it had been out for more than a year. When a system has just been launched, and was launched amid all sorts of press about the production problems they were having, seeing piles of them in stores is a little dismaying.

            Having said that though, in the stores here locally, I can usua
          • I know you posted several cautionary expressions throughout your post, but that "assuming they haven't restocked the piles" assumption is a big one!
    • Well, compared to the original sales, that's not so great; I mean, yeah, it's a fair number of units, but it's not much for a "hotly anticipated launch".

  • PS3 (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ObiWanStevobi (1030352) on Friday March 23 2007, @02:00PM (#18462501) Journal

    Well, now having a Xbox 360 and Wii, and a lot of playing time on thePS3, I'd have to say the PS3 gets a worse rap than it deserves. Well, at least it doesn't deserve the ire it is shown. They could have been more competetive by making the Blu-Ray optional (which there is little use for as of yet). As far as the interface goes, the PS3 is a bit more versatile than the 360, but the 360 is much easier. Combined with a PSP, it can do some pretty sweet stuff. I hear you can do some sweet stuff on the 360 if you have a Windows Media Center PC as well, but I don't know and won't find out.

    The PS3 is quieter than the Xbox, and has a much better hard drive setup. However, for all it's much advertised power, I certainly haven't noticed it. It could be the games, but nothing I have seen would lead me to believe it is more powerful. Which, I guess, brings up games. So far PS3 is far behind the 360 in games. And that's saying alot with the 360 not having a super line-up yet.

    But, I'm still waiting for my Xbox back from MS after the dvd drive crapped out. Just like the original xbox, the DVD drives seem to be good for about a year, while my original PS2 drive is still working.

    Anyway, for the money, I'd take a 360 and a Wii over the PS3 anyday. The 360 for playing alone & online, and the Wii for when friends are over.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by The_Sock (17010)
      I don't know, I really hate optional hardware on a console. If you develop games for a console, you should know what hardware is in it. You should only have to worry about that one piece of hardware (per vendor), not any of this stupid core, plus, platinum, xtreme, wtf, models of a console. I personally believe, from a developers point of view, you can do more if all the neat gee-wiz options are there in every console.

      • Good point, although DVD vs. Blu-Ray isn't nearly the hurdle to developers as hard disk vs. no hard disk is. I agree in thinking that excluding the hard drive should not be an option, but I think the optical disk drive type being optional is more benign. I do see your point though.
      • The differences offered in the hardware shouldn't make a difference in the game programing.

        On the PS3... the differences are:
        -20GB of hard drive space or 60GB of hard drive space
        ---Doesn't make a difference how much space you have as long as you have enough free.
        -The inclusion or exclusion of a WiFi adapter
        ---Doesn't make a difference since you're just piping data through whatever connection is set in the dashboard
        -The inclusion or exclusion of legacy PS controller ports
        ---Only used for Backwards c
        • -One includes a hard drive the other doesn't
          ---The hard drive is removable and games are required to run with or without it... so there really is no difference to developers

          Nice way to gloss over the problem for developers - do we or do we not require a hard drive. That's a choice that could have been hard to make if the gimped system sold just as well or even a large percentage of the better system. Then you have to make the choice of whether it's better to make a more technically impressive game by cach
          • Nice way to gloss over the problem for developers - do we or do we not require a hard drive. That's a choice that could have been hard to make if the gimped system sold just as well or even a large percentage of the better system.

            No 360 is gimped by not having a HDD. Some people didn't even sign up for Live Silver, so if you can't even access the free downloadable content, why would you need a HDD?

            Then you have to make the choice of whether it's better to make a more technically impressive game by cac

        • I was speaking of the Blu-Ray vs. DVD as suggested, and by extension, the HD-DVD add-on for the Xbox360. If developers know the Blu-Ray or HD-DVD drive is there, they know they can make their games over a certain size, otherwise, they either make it fit to DVD, only, or make two versions. As games get bigger and more immersive, the extra space could become important. Now, do they cut out half their audience by putting it on HD-DVD, or do they slim it down to fit it on DVD? Or do they make two different vers

      • Well, their most direct competitor is MS, who have done worse in one move (charging money for Windows ME) than anything Sony has done. So if the hardware is to be shunned due to the corporate policies of it's maker, the Wii is the only logical choice (as far as console gaming is concerned, btw - disclaimer to avoid the flaming from PC-only gamers). But the Wii just doesn't have the power and graphics to satify the gaming population. So if corporate policy is the basis, I then really don't see how Sony de

        • Re: Wii is plenty powerful... (Score:5, Insightful)

          by trdrstv (986999) on Friday March 23 2007, @02:53PM (#18463519)
          But the Wii just doesn't have the power and graphics to satify the gaming population.

          Sure it does. In fact it already has about half the install base of the 360 and more than twice that of the PS3. Remember that if the 'most powerful machine' wins the race, Sony would never have been a contender. People seemed pretty content with their PS1/PS2's despite there being more powerful systems competing with them.

          • How many Wii owners would identify themselves as part of the "gaming population"? Moreover, how many Wii-owning gamers are still satisfied with the console now that the hysteria over it is starting to wear off? The sales of the Wii don't really say much about gamers' tastes, especially since they're a mere fraction of the sales of the PS2, or even of the XBox and GameCube.

            As for your argument concerning the PS2's processing power, I would submit that the PS2 wasn't nearly as weak as the Wii is by comparis
            • As for your argument concerning the PS2's processing power, I would submit that the PS2 wasn't nearly as weak as the Wii is by comparison.

              The gap narrows considerably when using composite cables (480i) like 83% of the USA (and the US has the best rate of HD adoption). Gears of War looks great in 720p. I'm sure Lair will wow in 1080p. If you plug these into an SDTV they still will look nice, but not that much nicer than say, Ninja Gaiden Black.

              HD is the future, but it isn't the present. It will still t

              • The gap narrows considerably when using composite cables (480i) like 83% of the USA

                That rate is shrinking rapidly, and most of the people who don't have HDTVs also are not in the market for new game consoles. In a couple of years most gamers will have HDTVs and use them with their PS3s and/or 360s. Nintendo simply isn't looking long-term, and that is a big mistake.

                Rob

                • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

                  by MemoryDragon (544441)
                  Actually Nintendo is looking long term, their strategy is dead on, consoles are commodities, and hence they have to be cheap (have you read the interview where they wanted to get the price below 100$) you do not need an uber machine doing everything, the pc already does that way better than any console can do it, and a pc can be found in every house. HDTV does not make sense yet because the market saturation is not good enough, so what can you do, build a machine which is cheap and a no brainer to pick up,
          • Look I love my Wii, but the PS2-GameCube gab is a lot smaller than the PS3-Wii gap, graphics wise. It may not matter now, but can we say the same thing in 2 or 3 years? And limited processing power doesn't just effect graphics. You're also looking at weaker AI, less enemies, less physics, etc.

            I think Wii will do well, and it was worth the $250, but I'm doubtful of its staying power.
          • The Wii is fun, but It can't pull off a game like Oblivion, where half the experience is the visual world and characters around you drawing you into the game. It also doesn't have the power for an very immersive environment for an FPS. Although it is possible for a game to have weak graphics and still be more fun, thats up to the game developers. I'd rather have a syatem where they can have the potential to do both well, rather than one that can only do one of them.
            • The Wii is fun, but It can't pull off a game like Oblivion, where half the experience is the visual world and characters around you drawing you into the game. It also doesn't have the power for an very immersive environment for an FPS. Although it is possible for a game to have weak graphics and still be more fun, thats up to the game developers. I'd rather have a syatem where they can have the potential to do both well, rather than one that can only do one of them.

              So by this logic games like Ninja Gaid

        • So if the hardware is to be shunned due to the corporate policies of it's maker, the Wii is the only logical choice

          Since you mentioned Me, which surely has no relevance today, I'm assuming that you're saying that any major mistake that a corporation has ever made would disqualify it. In that case, you wouldn't be getting a Wii either; Nintendo made decisions that were far dumber back when it was in the position of dominance than Sony has.

          Rob
      • Also, some fanboys^W hardcore gamers may be resentful regarding the Dreamcast (destroyed by the PS2's bullshit-filled hype)

        Yes, I'm sure that rampant piracy, poor marketing, and the lack of good games after launch had nothing to do with it.

        What's sad is that in the likely event that the Wii becomes thought of as a joke like the Dreamcast in a couple of years, people like you will be blaming the PS3, 360, and stoopid sheeple gamers for it instead of placing the blame where it belongs.

        Oh, and WD was ruined by
        • Seconded. Sega sunk their reputation by rapid-fire releasing addons for the Genesis, then screwing releasing the Saturn shortly thereafter. Saturn was a 2D oriented system in a transition to 3d. Yes it could do 3d, but it was easier for Playstation. The main result was Saturn not doing well, and that reputation carried over to the Dreamcast. No, Sony marketing didn't help, but the Dreamcast was already in trouble by the time it was announced.

          And yes, I am a Dreamcast owner. Its an awesome system, and
        • I don't see the wii being thought of as a joke in a couple of years. As long as the games keep coming for the system, which they appear to be, it's price point will keep it in millions of entertainment units for a long time coming. For anyone who has a second console, it will most likely be a wii, whether the other console is the PS3 or the xbox360. I can see it selling more then they other two consoles, while the buzz in the gaming world will always be about the next big game for Xbox360 or PS3. I mean, wh

      • The bad rap is not because of the hardware itself. It's about Sony's behaviour as a whole: rootkit-infected CDs, exploding laptop batteries, general arrogance, all that crap. Also, some fanboys^W hardcore gamers may be resentful regarding the Dreamcast (destroyed by the PS2's bullshit-filled hype) and Working Designs (ruined by SCEA's retarded anti-2D policies).

        Yup... that's pretty much why I hate them (particularly the Dreamcast part). The PS3 isn't a bad machine, perhaps a bit overpriced, due to the inc

  • The cheapest way... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by F-3582 (996772) on Friday March 23 2007, @02:12PM (#18462743)
    Intelligence says that some German retailer had a crazy stunt: Bring your Xbox360, smash it in front of the audience and get a PS3 for free! Limited to the first fifty people...

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward
        er.. is it so utterly inconceivable that some people actually want to own a ps3?
        for them, it would have been an easy way to save ~300 euros...

  • A whistle stop tour of electronic stores (Score:3, Interesting)

    by hine_uk (783556) on Friday March 23 2007, @04:10PM (#18464861)
    I had the day off today due to the dryer at home deciding to stop working. This took me on a tour of Comet, Curry's, Woolworths and Big W.

    All stores had huge signs outside saying "PS3 stock available inside". This was from 12 oclock through till 2pm. Everywhere had huge stands and what looked like large amounts of stock, I also only saw one person show interest.

    Later this afternoon I decided to take a trip into Cardiff (S.Wales vally boy just so you know). Gamestation, Virgin, Game, HMV and more all had signs saying "stock available".

    I think at this point that I should note that in all stores the Wii was totally sold out. Supply chain problems,lack of interest whatever. I think it speaks for itself that at £425 just for a base unit console the numbers are going to suck. People want value not extra's and to put a long story short, if you really do need that PS3 get to Newport and Cardiff in S.Wales.

    Pete

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by MemoryDragon (544441)
      If you need a PS3 they can be obtained in huge numbers in most european countries... The picture seems all over the same, almost no units sold, boxes stacking up left and right

      I have heard preorders were better, sales really were not that good, in german forums there were reports of people, who reported 3 ps3 sold on launch day by big chains the entire day, not one of those reports a lot of them, and they are pretty well in line with local sightings of friends of mine over here, and what the reports tol

    • Re:wtf?! (Score:4, Funny)

      by twistedsymphony (956982) on Friday March 23 2007, @01:53PM (#18462367) Homepage
      The real question is: did they also provide the HD cables to connect the PS3 to those TVs? (since the PS3 doesn't come with them)

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Churla (936633)
      My bet is that Sony realizes that the PS3 is only really a value for people needing HD, and many people simply aren't running HD yet. (I have a 36" standard def tube set at home which still looks great for everything I watch).

      That known the best way to get people evangelizing about the product is to make sure they are using it in the most optimal scenario.

      Also, I am willing to bet he knows the PR quagmire/sinkhole the PS3 is in and knew it would get him good publicity pop.
      • "My bet is that Sony realizes that the PS3 is only really a value for people needing HD, and many people simply aren't running HD yet."

        The current Spanish PS3 advertising campaign pushes the Sony Bravia 1080P TVs as an ideal companion to it for this reason (in addition to Sony hoping to sell a bunch of Bravias, obviously!). Big screen TVs are reasonably popular, but HD isn't because there are no HD services on standard broadcast, digital terrestrial, cable, or digital satellite, so there's not really been a

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by MemoryDragon (544441)
      That happened only in London, and even there the reception was rather cold (they had 100 tvs for the midnight lines in London and given the fact this was a secret even there were almost no lines). The biggest documented thing was in Paris, where 60 people basically bought a PS3 in a big launch event, where they had 1000 PS3s lingering around, to the worse, a Microsoft boat drove by before. Actually locally here (central europe) there were some boxes sold, but they had them stacked up so most of them basica
    • Finally we find out why the PS3 costs so much more in the UK.
      It has an HDTV bundled with it....

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Pluvius (734915)
        If only the Japanese were as bigoted and racist, they would have many cases of American mispronunciations of Japanese words, but then again we don't even try because it's beneath us.

        You're kidding [wikipedia.org], right?

        Rob
      • I'm quite sure the Japanese have plenty of in-jokes to make fun of us Westerners. And, yes, I totally screwed up "desperate". Oh well.

        P.S. From Help/About:
        Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.0.11) Gecko/20070312 Firefox/1.5.0.11

        P.P.S. Fuck you

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