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EU 'Happy' To Wait For PS3
Eurogamer reports on comments by SCE Worldwide Europe VP Jamie MacDonald almost designed to irk anyone left frustrated by Sony's delay of the PS3 in Europe. According to Mr. MacDonald, Europe has always waited before, so why should this time be any different? From the article: "In Europe, it doesn't seem that the release of our platforms after the US and Japan - in the long run - affects how consumers feel ... If we were sitting here in five years' time, I don't think we'd really think about or notice that PlayStation 3 was four or five months later in Europe. I think in the long run, PlayStation 3 will succeed because of the great product it is and the great software we make for it."
"In Europe, it doesn't seem that the release of our platforms after the US and Japan - in the long run - affects how consumers feel ..."
Hell, I wouldn't mind waiting either. Wii aren't interested in the slightest....
It seems that no executive actually cares about their consumer.
It might not matter once it's released, but being 5 months late to the party just might help the Wii gain even more marketshare, combined with the fed up people who might just go out and buy an Xbox 360 instead.
Instead, I'd try to explain why it's gonna take 5 months to release the PS3 in europe.
I do not see the word anywhere in the article. If it is not in fact a quote, it should not be presented as one, should it?
its like sony are trying to make a documentary on how to ruin your products chances and annoy your customers. It keeps getting worse and worse. Youd have to be insane to be betting your business on the PS3 being a success.
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...they seem very happy indeed.
Because those silly Europeans don't know what they want until you tell them.
So they have to wait '5 months'. Big deal. It's not like there is a handful of must play titles coming out with launch. It's not like within 1/2 a year or more, minor defects will be fixed and a newer and better model of the PS3 will be manufactured. It's not like that extra 5 months won't better show which console is more established to better choose from which system will meet their individual preference for titles and gaming habits. Consider it a blessing in diguise if you will Europe. If the money is burning a hole in your pocket that badly - go grab a wii with Zelda.
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It costs more than US $600 in the UK right now.
If they wait, maybe they'll get the Japanese price of US $406.
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Never mind the "consumers" word. Shouldn't it be "customers" or at least "users"?
I think you mean "DRM-enabled clients".
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These companies don't put nearly as much effort into Europe as they do in the US and Japan because Europeans don't spend money on consoles. Europeans generally earn less than their Japanese and American counterparts and certainly are taxed far, far more heavily. So Europeans are less likely to spend their money frivlously; if they buy something they expect more value out of it. Hence the popularity of PC gaming. Although, there are certain countries there, like England, where console gaming does enjoy a considerable presence.
But regardless, this is why these companies don't care. What Sony's executives have said is stupid, but they could care less. Their income, if they actually manage to sell any PS3's will be coming from the US and Japan not Europe.
I'm interested, did the PS2 have this sort of competition when it was released in Europe? By my reckoning the last console releases for Sony in Europe went something like this:
Playstation: September 1995.
Competition: Sega Saturn (July 1995). The Nintendo 64 was not released for another 2 years.
Playstation 2: November 2000.
Competition: Sega Dreamcast (October 1999). The Nintendo GameCube was not released for another 12 months, the XBOX another 4 months after that.
Playstation 3: March 2007.
Competition: Nintendo Wii (November 2006), XBOX 360 (November 2005).
Sony is walking into a whole world of hurt in Europe. By March 2006 there may not be much of a market left for them. They've faced nothing like this sort of competition in the past.
People that believe in their opinions don't post AC.
Since there is 0% probability that I will spend $600 for a gaming system... sorry, I mean home-entertainment-conversion-system-or-whatever-t hey-want-to-call... I will be getting the game system at about the same time as or later than my European brothers.
Until the price drops significantly and until Sony actually makes due with the promises for a breadth of functionality, I won't have any interest in getting it.
I bought the PSP thinking that Sony would support it with lots of features, such as GPS, etc, but they haven't at all. I feel lied to, because I thought it would be supported by Sony and would be something entirely different than just a portable gaming system. The only thing that makes the PSP interesting is the homebrew stuff that occurs. And stupidly, Sony is fighting AGAINST this!
So, until all of Sony's promises about the PS3 pan out, then they won't see a red cent from me. This might take it to 2008 or 2009, who knows!
So Europeans, don't worry, I don't think anyone except the rich early adopters will be getting the PS3 anyway.
Sony completely missed the opportunity to point out to Europeans that they now have an extra 5 months to work overtime and save up for the PS3.
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The division of Sony that makes em broke off and formed their own company. Its Corporate forcing the games division on what hardware must be put in. They are still living in the past trying to make money off the consoles on other technology what the PSO did for DVDs in Japan.
Back in the 90's before the PSO came out DVDs were not very popular in japan. but they had a strong foothold in the states, with a lot of content already out in the format. They included a DVD player with the PSO. and soon after people in Japan started trying DVDs and DVD sale then went up in Japan. But since the format already took off in the US and there were plenty of content (although different region) The existing manufacturers could cheaply put stuff out for the different region.
So when the Games division wanted do put a hard drive in the PSP, the higher ups wanted to promote the UMD format so they forced them to use that instead. And the UMD has failed, and there isn't much good content for the PSP.
Now when they come out with PS3, the other divisions had Blu-Ray, and so corporate force the games folx to include that hardware.
Sony forgot although they made DVD format popular in Japan with the PSO, there were large libraries of content already out for it in the rest of the world.
Those currency exchanged prices are pretty misleading though.
Here in Europe we tend to get paid a heck of a lot more than in the US and Japan which is why the exchange rate schews the figures so much. I remember moving to London from florida and thinking everything was soo expensive while I still converted everything back into U.S. dollars (1 British Pound = almost 2 U.S. dollars). Then I got my first paycheck and when I converted that back into U.S. dollars I felt like a very rich man!
Although with winter approaching, I'm kind of missing Florida a bit atm.
Well, if the price they pay then drops below the $406 Japanese customers will pay, instead of the $600 plus they pay in the EU, I can see how that would make them happy.
Besides, think of all the fun they'll be getting from their new Wii's while they "wait".
The only problem will be if they forget to buy the PS3's when they actually arrive in the EU.
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You know, wireless controllers need batteries... That's gonna be fun!
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The problem is that nearly every country in Europe speaks a different language and thus requires redoing the screen text, the voice acting, and the signs on all the walls. You can't just bring over your English/French game from North America and expect to sell it outside the United Kingdom, France, and those parts of B*lg**m that speak French. People outside the UK will female-dog that they got shafted with cheaply done voice acting.
Or at least I will be when I get my wii for Christmas.
Seriously Sony, stop rubbing salt in the wounds. You are years late, with a machine that has been cut from having 4 9-core Cell chips to 1 7-core chip, and here in England we are still smarting from last Christmas when there were too few PSPs to go round and we were forced to buy up to 4 bundled junk games if we wanted one.
If you don't put a foot wrong for the next few years, I'll eventually pick up a cheap secondhand PS3... but only if Gran Turismo 5 is any good, and that's about all you can hope for from this once loyal PS2 purchaser.
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Having said that, I really don't know why anyone would want to own *any* console in its first few months of life. There no console in the world that justifies an instant purchase. Not one. Most even offer a level of backwards compatibility so chances are you'd be playing stuff you already own. If its a great console, it will still be a great console a few months from launch when there might be a few games to choose from and a chance that the thing will work out of the box.
People who buy a new system in the days preceding a launch are morons. It doesn't matter if it's a Wii or PS3. Buying something sight unseen is just stupid.
Did you even read my post?
It is all about the exchange rate. 1 British pound = 2 U.S. Dollars, 1 Euro = 1.5 U.S. Dollars. My measily £20,000 salary in London (which is pretty damn low for a graduate in London) = $40,000 in U.S. dollars, I don't know a single recently graduated mate back in Florida on anything near that (and most of them have far better jobs than I).
To over-simplify things somewhat, the exchange rate disparity is largely due to the high minimum wages of European countries. But this also obviously means that people in the 'decent' European countries on average get paid far more (equivilantly) than any other nation.
And we don't even get a mention.... I think they forgot us again! *Waits for the pissants at Sony Australia to tell us that Sony do care~~*