PS3 Japan launch (the queues..)

LookingFor

So..er..yeah - the PS3 launches in Japan officially in a few hours.



People have been lining up since Friday afternoon (Japanese time), and some of the queues are getting crazy long.

Check some of these vids out:

Yodobashi:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzc1QaxssYo

Shinjuku:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wsmtfg9uWtY

Some people got theirs early..tested out upgrading the hard disk (to 120GB):

http://ruliweb2.dreamwiz.com/ruliboard/read.htm?num=19646&table=game_ps04&main=ps



Very nice.

As for most others, they're still in line. Check out the shinjuku video above, it's just madness. One blog is reporting 1400 people at one store, and it's only a couple of hours into the early morning there now.

You can check out the full user manual in english here, by the way:

http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/index.html

It's a big manual..confirms lots of things. Suffice to say that this thing has a lot of options and can do a lot of different stuff. Personally I'm most excited about this:

http://www.playstation.com/ps3-openplatform/index.html

Looks like Sony will allow any OS providers to put their OS on PS3, if they want. Yellow Dog Linux may only be the beginning.

Anyway, I like system launches I'd like it even better if I was getting one, but hey..

abelard

LookingFor wrote:

One blog is reporting 1400 people at one store, and it's only a couple of hours into the early morning there now.

With only 80,000 all across Japan, I'd say quite a few of them will be disappointed

KdjaCL

Shame theres bugger all games coming out for it for the japanese, sony screwing them big time.

kdjac

LookingFor

abelard wrote:

With only 80,000 all across Japan, I'd say quite a few of them will be disappointed

Yeah, it could be quite messy in some places. Some of the big chains are getting up to 1,000 units in their larger stores, apparently, but looking at some of those queues you'd wonder why some of them even joined the queue past a particular point.

Ho-Hum

Wow!! the Japanese really love Sony.

monument

The Irish do just about the same. Or at least not as near to the Japs as most others.

awhir

hmm will the wii be the same in japan

K.O.Kiki

Are we sure they're not just queuing up to buy a DS Lite?

Ciaran500

LookingFor wrote:

So..er..yeah - the PS3 launches in Japan officially in a few hours.

Pfft, the 360 launch was bigger than that

wba88

jaysus dats mad!

K.O.Kiki

You know what's mad?
Me jokingly referring to the DS Lite being a sellout still.

Then I saw *this*...

The Japs are fvcking mad...

rizzla

Isn't it at a seriously reduced price in Japan? I have a feeling most will be up on ebay at maybe even quadruple the price, there not stupid I can tell ye.

If you directly convert the price the premium package somes to about €400

awhir

400e hmm japan is pal soooooooo ..my cusion live is tyko so she could get me a ps3 l8r on and it will be a 1/2 of the price here

humanji

rizzla wrote:

Isn't it at a seriously reduced price in Japan? I have a feeling most will be up on ebay at maybe even quadruple the price, there not stupid I can tell ye.

I don't know about that. My brother is in Japan and a lot of the people he works with are of the mind that it's a great honour to have one of the first PS3's. It's crazy. They're not the money grabbing b*stards we are over here, that's for sure!

Makaveli

awhir wrote:

400e hmm japan is pal soooooooo ..my cusion live is tyko so she could get me a ps3 l8r on and it will be a 1/2 of the price here

Japan is NTSC (DVDs are R2 though).

awhir

waaa dam was 100% shure japan was pal.oh **** was the psp pal in japan?

Retr0gamer

It might have been if it was made to be hooked up to a TV.

I play a lot of japanese games and they are very much NTSC. You will also need a stepdown convertor due to the voltage ratings being different.

LookingFor

A Japanese news report of impatient crowds:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cjx6MlWZ2LE

And Ken Kutaragi handing out the 'first':




Also thought this was funny.. (it's the same guy!)

tman

awhir wrote:

waaa dam was 100% shure japan was pal.oh **** was the psp pal in japan?

The PSP has its own native resolution and framerates...

awhir

lol love the sound of japanese in speak so funny.

justfortherecor

I find myself being in a bit of a confused state today.

For the past few months I have become increasingly more adamant that I would not be buying a PS3. Sony had done nothing to change my mind with the decisions to screw Europe with its release date, bad release titles and of course, the price.

I had increasingly seen myself as a cert to buy the Wii. It actually appears to be innovative and it seems to be continuing in the same vein of gameplay as my favoured DS Lite (PSP hasnt been charged in a while). Price was also reasonable and it was coming out earlier as well.

But then today...
Seeing that all the hype, BS and hearsay about the PS3 was over and that it was actually on the shelves in Japan, well its almost changed my outlook. I honestly believed that if I was still in Tokyo I would have certainly been one of the people queuing last night to get my hands on one. After telling myself to get the Wii and forget about the PS3, seeing it actually coming out has simply made me think again.

What is wrong with me? No matter how pissed off I am with Sony, just seeing that beautiful black box in the hands of Japanese consumers has stopped me dead in my tracks, made me forget about the Wii and start anticipating the release of the PS3 here next March.

Damn you sony, and damn my impressionable mind!!!
I want a PS3!!!!

tba

GOD DAMMIT SONY!!!!

The PS3 is old hat release the PS4 already!!!!!

Fanny Cradock

justfortherecor wrote:

.

Damn you sony, and damn my impressionable mind!!!
I want a PS3!!!!

Repeate after me:

"You will give Fanny €500. You will give Fanny €500. You will give Fanny €500..."

Who cares what's going on in Japan! It's not like it going to be at your local xtravision any time soon.

Froot

Well a friend of mine pointed out that the PS3 release date will have a shiny new console and SFA to do with it.

In 18 months time, and onwards, it will be worth buying, but tbh I dont see myself paying that amount of cash for something which cannot provide an integrated online facility. ala xbox live, and has been f*cked about so much. I never owned a PS2 or a PS either, I couldnt think of one game that the playstation had that I wanted to play. Thats not a stab at the Ps or the PS2 but If they had nothing for me I dont see what the PS3 is going to offer.

ATM I'm playing the pc and the 360 and I'm happy with that.

Ri_Nollaig

rizzla wrote:

Isn't it at a seriously reduced price in Japan? I have a feeling most will be up on ebay at maybe even quadruple the price, there not stupid I can tell ye.

well people are trying to sell pre-orders for as much as 2,500euro so i guess thats a yes

/edit here is one now, currently at 750euro but 2 days left, wonder how much it will be by then?

justfortherecor

Theres a good number on Yahoo!Japan's auction site. There was a serious number of them for sale yesterday but there's still a few lingering around today. Average selling price is up around the 100,000yen mark (c.700€). I think there is usually a huge amount of last minute bidding.

http://list4.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/2084006668-category.html

Sure these wouldn't work in Ireland though, would they? NTSC and PAL and all that?

Retr0gamer

A lot of auctions will be fake so the sellers can gauge the price people are willing to pay.

awhir

There's no region code for PS3. It able to play all region games and moives

hmm sooo

Ri_Nollaig

im pretty sure its still region coded for movies

honru

http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/top/foreigners-and-fights-ps3-jpn-launchs-dark-side-214130.php

Thought that article was interesting. Looks like Japan is becoming no different to the West when it comes to "touting" the lastest game console.

Froot

f®eak s&#169 wrote: »

Thought that article was interesting. Looks like Japan is becoming no different to the West when it comes to "touting" the lastest game console.

You have to admit they are in a far better position to do that than 99% of other countries, earliest release dates etc

Wertz

lol just watching a few PS3 auctions this evening....why would anyone pay >€1500 for a f*cking console?

Where's Sony's lawyers now? Quick enough to issue writs against lik-sang...no such action apparent toward eBay or the sellers making huge mark ups on these.

The mail in the Kotaku post makes for interesting reading; who could argue that these limited Japan only releases play right into the hands of opportunists and create a frenzy for Sony's product? Some of the more cynical mong us might say that this is exactly what Sony intend to achieve with these tactics...

[edit]

http://search.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQsassZsoccergoodsQQhtZ-1

lmao

Pacifico

Wertz wrote:

Where's Sony's lawyers now? Quick enough to issue writs against lik-sang...no such action apparent toward eBay or the sellers making huge mark ups on these.

Quick enough?? You havin' a laugh?!

Lik sang were selling PSP's since launch, and it took them till a few months ago to act. You expect them to shut down ebay auctions within days?!

Stoichkov

Wertz wrote:

The mail in the Kotaku post makes for interesting reading; who could argue that these limited Japan only releases play right into the hands of opportunists and create a frenzy for Sony's product? Some of the more cynical mong us might say that this is exactly what Sony intend to achieve with these tactics...

Yep, Sony purposely only released 90,000 or so ps3s to whip up a storm. They secretly have a few million in storage but decided not to release them because they actually hate making money and want to help out Nintendo and Microsoft this christmas.:rolleyes:

Retr0gamer

They probably didn't do that for the PS3 launch but they purposely limited the amount of PSP and PS2 consoles at the American and European launches.

KdjaCL

Stoichkov wrote:

Yep, Sony purposely only released 90,000 or so ps3s to whip up a storm. They secretly have a few million in storage but decided not to release them because they actually hate making money and want to help out Nintendo and Microsoft this christmas.:rolleyes:

They intend to have 6 million sold by march 2007, i worked in a blue chip company before and if they are being produced at that rate (ie 4 months 6 million inc 500k for launch) that leaves 5.5 million to be made in 4 months.

If they ship as per QA there would be another 250k available in japan by xmas but there isnt going to be.


kdjac

projectmayhem

Froot wrote:

I dont see myself paying that amount of cash for something which cannot provide an integrated online facility. ala xbox live

ATM I'm playing the pc

just wanted to point that out

iregk

I'm sure most of that is a Sony PR rent a crowd. Same thing they did for the PS2 and as MS did for the XBOX...

Zombrex

It funny, you can't give away a Xbox 360 in Japan ...

Screw the PS3, I'm sticking with my SNES, best console ever TBH ..... wonder if Mario Galaxy will come out for it .... *crosses fingers*

Wertz

Pacifico wrote:

Quick enough?? You havin' a laugh?!

Lik sang were selling PSP's since launch, and it took them till a few months ago to act. You expect them to shut down ebay auctions within days?!

Sony hadn't as much of a problem with lik sang selling the PSP pre-US/EU launch as it meant more asian sales for them at the launch prices....but the moment those sales started affecting local sellers due to lower prices (and the impending PS3 launch) they got their day in court.
Regardless of that, it doesn't take lawyers to shut down ebay auctions....in a company like Sony's case, it more than likely only takes a few phonecalls....but why bother, when it adds to the hype?

Stoichkov wrote:

Yep, Sony purposely only released 90,000 or so ps3s to whip up a storm. They secretly have a few million in storage but decided not to release them because they actually hate making money and want to help out Nintendo and Microsoft this christmas.

Assuming that :rolleyes: is meant for me, no of course they haven't got a few million units in storage...you missed my whole point.
They haven't got enough units to go with a proper full blown release even in Japan alone....but they go ahead with it anyway, leading to the scenes above and the profiteering and eBaying, since no matter what it's more free promotional material and webnews.
They're already f*cked for xmas at the end of it all and include all their problems with laptop batteries they're royally f*cked for the whole finacial year...M$ and Ninty have nothing to d o with it...

Stoichkov

How did I miss your point? You intimated that the numbers released were low on purpose and I disagree with that.

Wertz wrote:

They haven't got enough units to go with a proper full blown release even in Japan alone....but they go ahead with it anyway, leading to the scenes above and the profiteering and eBaying, since no matter what it's more free promotional material and webnews.
They're already f*cked for xmas at the end of it all and include all their problems with laptop batteries they're royally f*cked for the whole finacial year...M$ and Ninty have nothing to d o with it...

The fact is Sony had to launch now, even with such small numbers. If another christmas went by without even an appearance by the ps3 the jibes of vapourware and such would return. They simply couldn't afford another release delay as it would have damaged both customer and developer confidence even more.

As for Sony as a whole, the battery fiasco has damaged them hugely and the gaming division has been making large losses due to ps3 development. While that may all sound bad, it was only a couple of years ago that the company was being kept afloat by the ps brand alone, now they have bravia, SE phones and cybershot cameras making decent profits.

Wertz

Wertz wrote:

The mail in the Kotaku post makes for interesting reading; who could argue that these limited Japan only releases play right into the hands of opportunists and create a frenzy for Sony's product? Some of the more cynical among us might say that this is exactly what Sony intend to achieve with these tactics...

Okay I'm not sure where in that bit I intimate that I think Sony are holding back product on purpose, I'm sorry if that's how it's interpreted. I most likely didn't put across what I intended my point to be in that post.

The actor/performers motto of "always leave them wanting more" is used to full effect by a limited release in a single market region....fair enough, Sony haven't got the product to sell, and I agree that they do need to release to quell the rumours, but if they'd been more realistic in the last years' press releases instead of promising the earth and more, then they wouldn't be on the backfoot like they seem to be with this console.

The whole thing is a mess and it's left a situation where a small number of people are profiteering and loyal PS fans the world over are being left disappointed.
At least when M$ did this last year they managed to do it with a global launch...

Just to add, I'm not an xbox fanboi and I'm not purely anti-Sony. This saga just leaves a bad tsate in my mouth and it's only intensified by the whole hype, that even a joke of a launch like this, continues to generate.

Smellyirishman

Wertz wrote:

Where's Sony's lawyers now? Quick enough to issue writs against lik-sang...no such action apparent toward eBay or the sellers making huge mark ups on these.

Well, actually... click me.

They may not have persude them (maybe they did) but they certainly instilled enough fear to make e-bay prempt the law suit. Ridiculous.

sprinkles

That's retarded. How the hell can Sony stop an individual selling his PS3 to anyone?? That's bringing this whole episode to a new level.