Sony's PSX A Hit In Japan, PS2 Launches In China

Thanks to Reuters for their story revealing Sony's PSX 'media center' has been a major hit in Japan, after the PlayStation 2, DVD recorder and DVR combo "went on sale on December 13 in Japan amid a flurry of media attention." According to Sony boss Ken Kutaragi: "We sold 100,000 PSXs in the first week. It sells for almost 100,000 yen ($941) and it still sold out. There are no products out there that can say that." CNET News are also reporting that the PlayStation 2 has finally launched in China, after "the company... shelved plans for its December launch but failed to provide a full explanation for the change." The PS2 roll-out seems very low-key indeed, though, as "the electronics giant cut down its distribution to two cities from the original five."

Comments

Still sold out?

[ObviousGuy]

I walked through Yodobashi this afternoon and the PSXs were all sitting quietly next to the Digas and Pioneer sets.

None of it was moving very fast.

They may be selling quickly, but you'd never know it by the amount of stock still in the store. Perhaps someone in the article was exaggerating?

$941???

[Anonymous Coward]

You could buy all the different players seperate and still come out ahead, sheesh.

Re:$941???

[iainl]

"You could buy all the different players seperate and still come out ahead"

Yes, you could. However, they wouldn't then be all in one stylish box. Sony haven't really made much fuss about these boxes being aimed at anyone other than people who want cool gadgets that look good next to their plasma screens and iMacs; boxes aimed at the more cost-conscious buyer, or at least price-cuts to reach them, will come once the first lot have been sold for a fortune, just like with the PS2.

Big sales in Akihabara

[WebTurtle]

In the US such a roll-out might be marked by long queues and frantic buyers worried about the store running out of stock. Not so here in Japan.

When I was in Akihabara last week they had huge banners in front of AsoBitCity (and other stores) under which there were several salesmen holding PSX units, running raffles, and demoing systems to crowds of people. However, there were plenty of units in stock and everyone around me was pretty calm.

I think the media center concept is a great one for Japan because space is at such a premium here. So having one unit that combines console gaming with DVD is huge since it reduces the number of items clogging up your precious shelf space.

Also note that most unmarried adults in their late 20's live at home with their parents, and like to have their own TVs and whatnot in their small bedrooms, so again, this device saves a lot of space... that's why it's so attractive to buyers here, whereas in the USA, where your living room is huge by comparison, there is no need to worry about space as much, so you have have multiple components sitting around being redundant.

In China...

[taxevader]

..grey imported machines, fully modded with two original controllers and 5 free games (which only cost 6RMB a pop anyway) cost 1800RMB. The offical non-modded Chinese PS2's with only one controller and no games cost 2300RMB. In two cities where the average income is below 1500RMB per month, who would buy the official version?

hey!

[Anonymous Coward]

Nice freakin' job Slashdot! How about some links to pictures of the product and sony's page on it!!!

Definitely more supply than demand right now

[Alita]

I live near Nagoya (Japan's 3rd largest city) and just like the Tokyoites are saying, PSXs all over the place.

Not only that, remember when PS2s were hard to find and they were going for ridiculous prices on eBay? Well, I checked out Yahoo Japan Auctions and PSXs are going for about 10000 yen (~$100 US) LESS than retail. Obviously, not a lot of demand.