Gamestop Managers Worried Over PS3 Launch

The Opposable Thumbs column has commentary today from some managers who attended the annual EB/Gamestop preview event. The reaction from the attendees to the PS3/Blue-ray presence is not inspiring. From the article: "The difference between HD DVD and Blu-Ray was striking as well. 'Blu-ray had a tiny presence in the very back of the show floor, while Microsoft had large displays and surround sound systems in their hospitality suite so you can take a look at what their HD DVD drives would look like. It was impressive, and gave the feeling that HD DVD was real and Blu-ray wasn't ready for the show.' I asked him his feelings going into the PS3 launch with no word on allocations or preorders, and no news on what will happen towards the holidays. 'It's going to be ugly, there is no way this launch is going to go well.'"

Comments

Alright everybody

[Anonymous Coward]

Time to break out those "zonked" tags!

TFA

[Anonymous Coward]

Dammit Arse Technica, I'm sick of four paragraph "articles" dressed up with a shit ton of ads.

TFA:

Gamestop manager: "There is no way the PS3 launch is going to go well."

EBGamestop's big yearly show is over, and boy were managers left in a tizzy afterward. I've had the chance to talk to a few managers I trust on condition of anonymity, and their words don't inspire confidence about the system launches coming up.

"I asked the regional manager about PS3 preorders," one told me "and he paused and then said he can't answer the question. He said there is a plan, but they can't talk about it; we should know in a week to two weeks." He started to sound tired. "Sony just didn't seem like they had a plan with the show. No plan at all. Barely a mention of the PS3, and almost nothing playable. On the other hand, I waited two hours for Gears of War. There is a feeling that Nintendo and Microsoft really set out to wow us, and Sony didn't have much to show. There was a PS3 under glass you could look at, and that's about it."

The difference between HD DVD and Blu-Ray was striking as well. "Blu-ray had a tiny presence in the very back of the show floor, while Microsoft had large displays and surround sound systems in their hospitality suite so you can take a look at what their HD DVD drives would look like. It was impressive, and gave the feeling that HD DVD was real and Blu-ray wasn't ready for the show."

I asked him his feelings going into the PS3 launch with no word on allocations or preorders, and no news on what will happen towards the holidays. "It's going to be ugly, there is no way this launch is going to go well."

The fact still remains

[Anonymous Coward]

The XBox 360 and Playstation 3 will give you 1080, while Pretendo will give you Piss. Sony & Microsoft are at least thinking ahead while Pretendo simply repackaged the Gamecube as another system and still decided to use 'Never Twice the Same Colour.' HDTV sets will be less expensive next year and the average Joe Sixpack should be able to purchase it in no more than two years, Standard Def in no more than one year. The reason why I call Nintendo 'pretendo' is because they pretend the world is not moving forward with better technology. If they don't wake up soon, they may join Sega by getting out of the console business. They also pretend that mario, link, pikachu, and other old overused characters will still save them.

Re:Look In The Mirror

[JordanL]

I was talking about the price, I was talking about the product, what they are getting. Consumers have been hearing FUD about what their $600 will and will not buy for the last 6 months. Is it any wonder then when the retailers turn around and try to sell it to them, they are somewhat skeptical?

Retailers dug their own graves on this one.