Playstation 3 Sells Out At Japanese Launch

s31523 writes "With its high price tag and stiff competition the PS3 was a gamble. Based on the reaction in Japan to the game console's release, there might be a new hot toy on everyone's Christmas list here in the states. According to the article there were 100,000 units [Z: actually, only 80,000 units] available and all were sold out in record time. There are 2 configurations currently offered, a 60GB WiFi enabled box and a 20GB non-WiFi box. The Japanese price for the lower end system is considerably discounted vs. the system to be released in the States." For a look at launch day, Kotaku has photos taken by Sony's Phil Harrison on the streets of Tokyo.

Comments

The very definition of "hardcore"

[antifoidulus]

Tomoaki Nakamura, 41, said: "I've been waiting for this day to come for so long. I'll play it all through the weekend. No time for meals."

Well, I guess that shows who Sony's demographics are, 41 year old men who put gaming ahead of basic biological function. Take that Maslow!

Re:The very definition of "hardcore"

[RonnyJ]

There's an even better quote here:

Apparently one of the campers called in sick (for two weeks?), and had to postpone his engagement to divert the ring fund to a PlayStation 3, while another guy quit his job altogether.

http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/10/ps3-hopefuls-pa rt-ii/

Re:The very definition of "hardcore"

[Mr. Ksoft]

Hm, now we might be able to blame Sony for killing a man.

Re:The very definition of "hardcore"

[Anonymous Coward]

Maslow's "hierarchy" of needs is, presumably, long-term. I often skip meals if I've got better things to do. My body can go several days without food, as can most people's, especially in the West/North.

(And as any knowledge worker will tell you, for any data problem, there's a hierarchical representation that is simple, clear, practical and wrong. Essentially any time you see a neat hierarchy, something is being over-simplified.)

Re:The very definition of "hardcore"

[misleb]

Take that Maslow.

LOL. At first I thought you were making a Real Genius reference, but then I realized that his name was Laslow and I remembered my Psychology courses....

-matthew

Re:The very definition of "hardcore"

[Anonymous Coward]

> LOL. At first I thought you were making a Real Genius reference, but then I realized that his name was Laslow and I remembered my
> Psychology courses....

Sadly, however, I don't remember your Psychology courses, and so your post is meaningless...

Re:The very definition of "hardcore"

[Anonymous Coward]

You obviously didn't remember them very well then. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of _needs

Re:The very definition of "hardcore"

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a reference to Abraham Maslow, I suspect, who was a prominent proponent of Third Force psychology if memory serves. I've read some of his works, and they're fascinating. WTF he has to do with the Sony launch is utterly beyond me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow

Re:The very definition of "hardcore"

[bazorg]

not necessarily a genius or something, but someone who remembers Maslow's hierarchy of human needs - here

Re:The very definition of "hardcore"

[Xymor]

Luckly for sony, that's the group with hundreds of games per console attach rate. And real hardcore gamers get the 120GB pack

Re:The very definition of "hardcore"

[archen]

There's also a nice gem of a quote in the user comments in the BBC article.

since Sony has messed about with the European launch date, I have flown all the way to Japan to get my hands on one.

To myself I think - it must be nice to be able to afford to buy a PS3. Must be nice to be able to afford to go to Japan. Lots of things to see there like districts in Tokyo, shrines, Japanese food. Yeah, interesting that you'd just fly to Japan, get a PS3 then fly home. I'd probably sell the thing, but if you have enough money to fly to Japan for no reason other than to buy a game console, you obviously don't need the money!

Re:The very definition of "hardcore"

[An Anonymous Coward]

Either you're misunderstanding his tone, or I'm misunderstanding your tone. This is the way I read the post:

"LOL. At first I thought you were making a reference to the movie 'Real Genius', but then I realized that the name of the guy in that movie was Laslow, and then I remembered my Psychology courses...."

Re:The very definition of "hardcore"

[Meagermanx]

Maslow had a Hierarchy of Needs. It goes:

1. Playstation 3
2. Physical Survival
3. Safety and Security
4. Social Needs
5. Self Esteem
6. Self Actualization

Re:The very definition of "hardcore"

[bcat24]

I think we can do that already.

Re:The very definition of "hardcore"

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, I think I need to watch 'Real Genius' again. I totally missed that even with the capitalization. But in my defense, it looks like a lot of other people missed it too.

Re:The very definition of "hardcore"

[Anonymous Coward]

The very definition of "astroturf" more like it.

Re:The very definition of "hardcore"

[Omeger]

You don't need all the money you have either, so STFU before somebody takes it from you.

Re:The very definition of "hardcore"

[BJH]

Actually, it's true - a UK travel agent set up a tour for a bunch of people to fly to Tokyo specifically to buy a PS3.

Re:The very definition of "hardcore"

[MouseR]

I'm sure it would have been cheaper to buy it here rather than go to Japan for it.

Re:The very definition of "hardcore"

[timster]

for any data problem, there's a hierarchical representation that is simple, clear, practical and wrong

Most knowledge workers stop once they get to clear and practical, or sometimes just clear. Once you have simple, clear, and practical, it's time to whip out the video games. The real world consists entirely of an incredible number of quantum particles interacting in ways that are yet unknown; all data is inherently a simplification.

Re:The very definition of "hardcore"

[Krolley]

There's a flaw in Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs. Playing the PS3 is a "Peak Experience", putting it with Self Actualisation.

Re:The very definition of "hardcore"

[Anonymous Coward]

It exists at both ends. Possessing a PS3 is at the base, before physical survival, but actually playing is up at Self-Actualization.

Re:The very definition of "hardcore"

[root899]

an you no what?
the very same people are so greedy and fanatic.they wouldn help the old lady upstairs with the grocery-bags...the damn lag

gruß /tom

Re:The very definition of "hardcore"

[Anonymous Coward]

The most amusing thing is the submitter assuming that because it sold out, that it will continue to sell well. They restrict the availability precisely in order to SELL OUT. They all SELL OUT at first, even the massive fucking bomb consoles.

Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[nugx]

...by severely, and intentionally bottlenecking the amount of units available in order to create fraudulent demand. Woo go Sony! Havent you used these tricks enough already?

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[Goaway]

What does "fradulent demand" even mean?

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[nugx]

the opposite of genuine demand, ie: the buzz around wii. nintendo didnt have to chop down the amount of launch units to a miniscule portion to get people hyped up about their system, sony did, hence this article and my reply. sony did this same thing with PS2 launch and even with smaller launches like the PS2 network adapter. just a cheap way of creating, what i consider (if its alright with you...) 'fraudulent demand'

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[Pluvius]

IOW, you're full of shit. If people didn't genuinely want the PS3, then they wouldn't have bought it. The only thing that lowered supply does is increase the market price for the console, and looking on eBay makes it quite clear that that price is quite a bit higher than $600.

Rob

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[volsung]

Actually, that's not a particularly good term, since it is both inaccurate and emotionally loaded. Asking friends to shill your PS3 auction on eBay would be "fraudent demand." This is more like "artificial scarcity." Sony might be acting foolishly, but certainly not fraudulently, unless they are secretly paying people to go buy the units in order to ensure they sell out.

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[nugx]

Demand for PS3 has been driven very much by the fact that Sony has been promising people all year that they wont be able to get one. Lowered supply, intentional or not, has more than just one effect. contrary to what you believe, and if you cant see that then I suggest you take a psyschology course.

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[GIL_Dude]

No, he's absolutely right. If there were a couple of million in the channel, there would be no excited crazy reports on the radio, TV, and internet about the people who were in line to get a PS3. This kind of crap makes Grandma's think this is a must have thing for their kid and while it doesn't spur end number demand, it certainly spurs false excitement and false "rush to get it" and even "wow, there aren't many so it's OK to pay this much or I won't get one" types of mentality.

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[Anonymous Coward]

Sony almost certainly have genuine problems producing enough units. Other would-be makers of Blu-Ray drives seem to be having problems too. There's no evidence to suggest that they're artificially restricting supply. (Cue comments from people need the world to know that they don't want a Blu-Ray drive and are OUTRAGED that any product would incorporate one).

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[hotdiggitydawg]

Obligatory VGCats, on topic for once!

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[nugx]

Agreed. "Artificial Scarcity" is a better term for it. Once again it comes down to semantics here on the /.

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[Pluvius]

IOW, it drives up the market price. Which is what I said. Those grandmas already knew that the kids wanted a PS3 (or at the very least would've heard about it regardless of what the media was saying), it's just that they weren't willing to pay $600 until they heard about the low supply. (And I would argue that a lot of those grandmas would've been willing to pay $600 even if there were millions of units available. The going price on eBay currently appears to be about $1500 or more, nearly three times retail price.)

Rob

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[Pluvius]

Lowered supply in itself has no effect on demand. This is basic economics, which, unlike psychology, is actually relevant to the argument at hand. Certainly a lowered supply combined with a fixed price will increase sales, but this is because the fixed price is well below the ideal price point, not because of an increased demand.

Rob

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[Goaway]

And which exact part of the demand is "fraudulent"?

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[Anonymous Coward]

Once again it comes down to semantics here on the /.

Agreed. Instead of focussing on the meanings of words, people should be using their dolphin powers to communicate.

(To avoid any pointless semantic disputes, please note that by "dolphin" I mean "castration" and by "castration" I mean "psychic").

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[Pluvius]

It's pretty silly to think that Sony would be deliberately holding their supply to 80K units in Japan, though. A couple hundred thousand units would be almost believable, but 80K?

Rob

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[Hope Thelps]

Lowered supply in itself has no effect on demand.

I disagree. The demand for diamond engagement rings is almost certainly higher due to the suppressed supply. Otherwise nobody would want them.

I don't think there's any doubt that low supply (and apparent or actual exclusivity) can boost demand. Of course, it would be absurd to suggest that that demand was any less "real" or more "fraudulent" than demand boosted by showing pretty girls drooling over the latest car, or adverts proclaiming how wonderfully white the latest washing powder washed, or demand boosted by a campaign pushing the wonderfulness of some new controller.

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[Ant P.]

Artifical Scarcity might be more correct, but I think "Fraudulent Demand" conveys Sony's intention better.

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[RichardMarks]

Of course it is silly.

There is one reason and one reason only that Sony has fewer PS3s ready for launch, they are about 1 month behind in their production of lasers for the system.

Second, the reason that Japan is getting relatively few systems on launch day compared to NA is Japan is very close to the PS3 manufacturing plants and there will be a steady stream of new PS3s every week - 100k according to Sony. Unlike the US and Europe where it is more important to get as many as possible for launch since subsequent supplies require either slow ship based shipments or fast but expensive air based shipments.

80 or 100k is probably the smallest amount Sony thought they could do for Japan in order to maximize the initial US launch shipment.

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[c_forq]

Lowered supply in itself has no effect on demand.

What econ did you take? Lowered supply always increases demand unless it is an easily substitutable good, in which case it shifts higher demand to the substitutes (for example a lower supply of milk increases the demand for milk, while a lower supply of butter will increase the demand for margarine).

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[volsung]

I'm curious what the limiting factor is. Yield on the short wavelength laser diodes? Small production lines?

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[Pluvius]

1. The precise reason why people demand diamonds so much is because they're scarce; the scarcity enhances their beauty, and the purpose of a diamond is to look pretty. This doesn't apply to the PS3; very few people would buy one simply because not many of them exist. Especially since there's a near-guarantee that there will be more made available soon.

2. People would still demand diamonds, they just wouldn't demand them at current prices.

Now, I will admit that demand has been boosted somewhat, but not to any great extent, and not by the scarcity of the PS3. Instead, demand has been boosted by the media hyping up the scarcity of the PS3. And unless Sony is paying news networks to hype up the PS3 in their reports, there's nothing fraudulent about it.

Rob

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[Anonymous Coward]

I disagree with your disagreement. Restricted diamond supply is not there to make you want one more, it's there to keep the price HIGH. The HIGH price is what makes people desire them more as the price is what creates the exclusivity of a 10 carrat diamond. Imagine if the supply was low, but a 10c diamond cost $300 instead of >$100K, not so interesting anymore is it?

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[Pluvius]

Lowered supply (whether through deliberate withholding of goods or through production problems) shifts the supply curve to the left and does absolutely nothing to the demand curve. Look at your textbook again.

Rob

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[Hope Thelps]

This doesn't apply to the PS3; very few people would buy one simply because not many of them exist.

I have no way of measuring the effect in relation to the PS3 but there are many many people for whom getting something that others don't have (or can't have) yet is a motivation. To witness companies taking this to absurd extreme, look at some of the ridiculous "collector" editions of games.

This is followed by "keeping up with the Joneses" where those left out need to catch up because just as having something limited is a source of pleasure to many, being the one without is a source of discomfort to many.

I'm also unconvinced that scarcity enhances the beauty of diamonds but maybe that's a problem with my eyes. Seems to me that it enhances their usefulness as a display of wealth (and in relation to matrimony, a display of how much boy is willing to spend on girl).

I already said I agree that this isn't fraudulent.

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[Pluvius]

I agree, the main purpose of withholding supply is to increase price, and that's true for any product including diamonds. But as I've said several times in this thread, that's a function of the supply curve, not the demand curve.

In the case of diamonds, the effect that lowering supply has on the demand curve is a special function of diamonds, not a universal rule. IOW, yes, the high price of diamonds is a big reason why people want them, but this doesn't apply to the PS3. It very obviously doesn't apply to the PS3, in fact, considering all of the people who complain about the high price of the PS3.

Rob

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[Xanius]

Exactly, and the lowered supply could infact be what is making the interest in the wii go up. So the "genuine demand" of the wii isn't because people want the wii any more than they want the ps3, it's because it's a substitute for the PS3.

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm curious what the limiting factor is.

The limiting factor is Sony wants to fraudulently hold back on the supply to induce people to want what they cannot have (and create news stories about what amounts to a fraudulent sell-out). The reason it is fraudulent is because Sony does have more units, they are just holding back in order to exploit a well-known market vulnerability, one you seem to pretend does not exist. The limiting factor is artificial.

Sony, by the way, is a Japanese company. That they should sell many units in Japan is obvious. That they had to stoop to releasing a very limited amount to stoke demand (i.e., manipulate the market by artificially limiting supply) and create stories like this is telling. The population of Japan exceededs 125 Million people. And yet only 80 thousand PS3's were made available.

The week the Xbox was released, do you know how many PS2's, a product introduced 18 months earlier, were sold in Japan? That's right - 80 thousand. And the PS3 is supposed to be a new product. And you would have us believe Sony could only produce enough of these to match the number of units of the last-generation console sales in one week 18 months after its launch. Seems a little convenient. Seems a bit fraudulent.

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[KDR_11k]

No, those reports would be there. Remember how Sony released a probably pre-written press release that all PSPs sold out in record time on the US launch and later had to retract that because people kept wondering about those huge stocks of PSPs many retailers still had at that point?

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[Opie812]

What econ did you take? Lowered supply always increases demand...

Wha? I have one weiner (a low supply you will agree?). Yet there is very little demand. *sigh*

I'm sure you can argue how I'm wrong with my interpretation of your comment, and you could very well be correct in that argument. I'm just joking around, is all.

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[mark-t]

Artificial scarcity can, in fact, cause an increase in the demand as well, though. But it's a psychological thing: if one sees that product X is selling out all the time, they conclude that it is popular, and in a "keeping up with the Joneses" sort of thing, they further conclude that they should endeavor to get one at the earliest opportunity as well, causing the rise in demand.

Even imagined peer pressure can affect a person just as much as real peer pressure, so of course, artificial scarcity doesn't do a single thing to the demand curve among the demographic of people who would not be inclined to submit to such outside influence in the first place.

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[snarlydwarf]

Nonsense.

The scarcity is real: there are problems producing blue laser diodes, and Sony has already postponed orders for diodes to other companies and is allocating the entire production to PS3 right now. Sony delayed their own Bluray player for this reason.

There is a reason why both BluRay and HD DVD players are spendy: the diodes are the bottleneck.

Irony: there are more PS3's slated for release day in the US than Microsoft had ready for the 360 release date last year. But in typical "let's bitch about Sony" slashdot crap, this fact is ignored.

As for selling 80,000 PS2's a year ago: well, duh... When a platform is 5 years old, you have very nice stable and predictable manufacturing yeilds. New hardware is always harder to make.

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[StingRay02]

As I understand it, what lowered supply does, though, is make Sony's sales numbers look better than they really are. Correct me if I'm wrong.

For the sake of argument, I'm going to make up some demand numbers here. If the PS3 has a market of 1,000,000 people, and Sony only releases 500,000 units, those units get snapped up immediately, and Sony can say, "Hey, look! We sold out! What a success!" As the weeks and months go on, the demand numbers will increase as more people see the machine in action and want one, and Sony will be able to continue claiming huge successes with the "Selling out is better than supplying demand" philosophy.

I get the feeling that if Nintendo releases 4,000,000 units, and sells only 2,000,000, the gaming press will look at it as a failure. "They only sold 50% of their stock, what a shame. The Wii isn't nearly as popular as we thought it was going to be." Never mind that they've sold four times what Sony did. Never mind that as demand increases, supply is there. Never mind that Nintendo is making a profit out of the gate. The story will be, "Wii fails."

Sony, time and time again, has shown that the Playstation brand is built on hype and a sell-out only increases the hype.

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[zoney_ie]

It may be built on hype, but you have to do a bit more than that for people *still* to be buying Playstation 2s (even right now, today, even with the Xbox 360 there and Wii and PS3 around the corner). And that's not to mention the success of the predecessor.

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[FordPrfct]

Perhaps if yours differed significantly from the other three billion out there?

And, even then, it could be seen as an easily substitutable good, as described earlier in this thread.

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[Anonymous Coward]

Hang on, so you are saying that having fewer units available, will increase the number of units that people want to buy? In that case I have a unique, one-off, never to be repeated, cat shit for sale you might want to buy.

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[volsung]

Whoa buddy. You seem to be cramming words into my mouth here. (Perhaps rehashing the console wars over and over again is making people cranky.)

If we agree that fraud is for lying for person gain, then yes, Sony selling fewer units than they actually have and then claiming to have "run out" is fraud. (Although not the criminal kind, I suspect.) The fraud part of course being the second part, where they lie about the supply.

And, strictly speaking, I am pretending this "market vulnerability" you allude to does not exist, since I don't know what the heck you are talking about. (Seriously. This isn't some passive-agressive debate tactic. What are you talking about?)

And as for the last part: Asking for what is causing the shortage does not mean "I would have you believe" anything. I understand that a fake shortage can be used to pump up prices, especially luxury goods whose market price is highly dependent on "buzz". But create too big of a shortage and you are just leaving money on the table. As you point out 80k units is ridiculously small for a launch in Japan. So small, that I can't see how it would generate enough buzz to compensate for leaving hundreds of thousands of potential buyers out in the cold. Maybe Sony really did engineer a shortage to justify a $500-600 price tag, but maybe they just bet the farm of on a poor supply chain. Either way, I don't think this will ultimately be good for their bottom line.

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[StingRay02]

If anything, that shows the power of good software over hardware. God of War, the GTAs, Final Fantasy, Guitar Hero; great games make a great system. More and more of Sony's previously locked in brands are defecting to the 360 and I think that'll be the real downfall of the PS3 if they don't turn that around. Hardware shortages plus game that can be found on either 360 or PS3 are likely to drive 360 sales more than anything else. The PS3 will continue to sell out to the hardcare and the fanboys, but once that base is installed, the question is how do they pull in the rest? I'm not sure that Sony, despite the hype and the media coverage, has an effective plan in place for that.

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[advocate_one]

diamonds are not scare... DeBeers hoard them and create an artificial scarcity in order to keep the price high.

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[metamatic]

They're just doing the same thing Microsoft did for the 360 launch.

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[c_forq]

Except for their being an almost unlimited supply of one-of-a-kind cat shits, along with the abundance of substitutes from dogs, horses, squirrels, deer, rabbit and countless others.

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[Daniel Phillips]

This is more like "artificial scarcity." Sony might be acting foolishly, but certainly not fraudulently, unless they are secretly paying people to go buy the units in order to ensure they sell out.

It's not artificial at all, it is about the rate that Cell chips can be supplied and Blurays built. Also consider that unlike Microsoft, Sony does not intend to throw billions down the drain on their console business, and therefore has not written a lot of blank checks to scale up the early production. The early production costs the most and is most prone to defective returns. Better to build fewer units at first and spend more money on quality control.

What Sony needed to do is end the questions about whether the PS3 actually works like it is supposed to, and whether the launch titles are actually ready. Meanwhile at last count the PS2 was still outselling XBox 360. Now that the PS3 is out and launch titles (Fall of Man) are being reviewed, time is on Sony's side.

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[Pluvius]

As I understand it, what lowered supply does, though, is make Sony's sales numbers look better than they really are.

Not exactly. It does allow them to say that they sold out at lower numbers, but the numbers are still low. The reason why the Wii launch would be considered a "failure" if it only sold half of the units produced isn't because it didn't sell out, but because it didn't sell to expectations. It bears noting that the PS3 hasn't yet sold to expectations either, though for different reasons.

Rob

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[Pluvius]

I think the 360 threat has been overblown, at least a little bit. The big advantage to the 360 is XBox Live, and only a minority of gamers is really interested in a pay service when you can play online for free on the PS3, no matter how good that service may be. Combine that with the fact that the 360 is basically dead in Japan, and we'll probably see Microsoft stay in the second-place position, though probably not as distant as it was last generation.

Rob

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[gullevek]

Well, but if you just look to the sales in Japan and compare the sales of xbox 1 & xbox 360 compare to the ps2 & ps3, then there is a huge difference.

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[gullevek]

The high price? I'd rather say, because they are rather rare and special, thats why people want them.

You could also then say poeple want a Ferrari because it is so expensive. And I would say, no, they want a Ferrari, because it is special to own one. (which could be traced back to the fakt that you need gazillions of money units to get one).

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[Ash-Fox]

If people didn't genuinely want the PS3, then they wouldn't have bought it.

You lie!

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[Anonymous Coward]

So you think that Sony have warehouses full of PS3s somewhere that they deliberately aren't selling, just to create hype?

Really?

Even though the whole reason that the console was delayed was because of yield problems in production?

the /. crowd is so anti Sony it's hilarious.

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[alienw]

What makes you think "basic economics" has anything to do with the real world? Economics is a pseudoscience based on rules of thumb and ideology, and most economists are full of shit.

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[Pluvius]

Who do you think those businessmen are selling the PS3s to?

Rob

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[Nossie]

considering how many millions of people live in Japan... it hardly surprises me that 80,000 of them want and can afford a ps3

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[ded_guy]

Artificial scarcity is still scarcity as far as demand is concerned.

Re:Yeah, Hot new Xmas Item...

[MikeFM]

Demand is demand. If you own a business you do whatever you can to create demand for your products and services. If you don't then you won't be in business long. I don't see the point at bitching at Sony for being better at creating frenzy for their products than their competition. Do you remember when the original Matrix movie came out? They understood what Sony is doing. There was little hard evidence as to what the movie was about before it's release and they teased you with rumors of awesome tech, kung fu training for the cast, etc without ever giving away details that would give away the movie. People were going nuts wanting to see that movie. That's exactly what Sony does and it's a good reason why Sony will continue to beat their competition. Naive people think that making the units harder to get and more expensive will make them sell fewer units while people who actually have experience in markting know that usually the reverse is true. It's not cheating - it's smart business.

People buy a Ford Focus but what they really want is a something fast, expensive, and harder to get. It's true in any market really. I've sold hot tubs and it's that way. The first time people often buy they go for the $2000 crap-o-spa from Costco but next time they buy the $10000 wonder spa that does more, works better, and lasts longer and they're much happier. Given that people will easily hand over $10000 for a glorified bath tub I have no trouble seeing people shelling out $600 for a PS3. The high cost and limited supply will make them sell more units.

Sony's Strategy

[d3ik]

1. Manufacture a ridiculously low amount of units 2. Sell out of those units at a highly discounted rate 3. MAKE NO PROFIT!! 4. Declare victory

Re:Sony's Strategy

[Anonymous Coward]

according to the pictures, the prices were set at 62,700 and 49,980 yen for the 60g and 20g models...
that's approx $533 for the 60g and $425 for the 20g...discount over the US version yes, but hardly 'highly discounted'

in fact, sony's own msrp on the 20g is 49980 and 60g is 59980 yen...so in reality the 60g units were selling OVER 'suggested' sony pricing

Re:Sony's Strategy

[Anonymous Coward]

except that eBay Sellers make close to thousands in profit. Current bid is $1450

Re:Sony's Strategy

[BJH]

The high-end box didn't have an RRP - it was "open price", which means the retailer can set whatever price they like.

Re:Sony's Strategy

[KDR_11k]

60g? 20g? That thing is much lighter than I expected.

Okay...

[Anonymous Coward]

... And what are they going for on the Japanese eBay and CraigsList? I need to know what kind of profit margin I can be expecting to make.

Re:Okay...

[Lead Butthead]

... And what are they going for on the Japanese eBay and CraigsList?

Actually eBay bowed out of Japanese market some years back. Online auction in Japan is dominated by Yahoo. That said, as of this writing there are 2435 entries returned for search keyword "Playstation 3" and "3" with some bid for 20gb unit hitting 1.2 million yen, or about 103k in USD.

Re:Okay...

[Dorceon]

http://page7.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/g5053 3791 This 60GB one's going for ~10 billion yen, or approximately $100M.

Like ther was any doubt

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't think anyone expected anything less. When stores are only getting in 3 or 4 units, you're pretty much guaranteed to sell out. The test will be next year once you can actually find them in stores and when there are any games worth purchasing. That's a lot of time for the 360 to continue selling more units, and plenty enough time for Nintendo to sell the much cheaper Wii that seems to be gaining so much momentum before it's release date.

Sony Rhetoric

[dublinclontarf]

Sony are going to be touting the "fastest sellout ever", I mean, if I had only a single console to sell, and I sold it straight away, wouldnt that be the fastest sellout ever? I'm really wondering how Sony are going to do when they actually are able to produce more. Will the PS3 be a success?

Re:Sony Rhetoric

[Jerf]

Because the VGCats comic is inevitable, might as well come from someone with maxed-out Karma.

(It is pretty good though. I love the auction in the background of the second-to-last panel.)

Re:Sony Rhetoric

[Goaway]

Perhaps you should wait until Sony actually does this outside of your mind, too, before starting the posturing.

If they're so technology hungry..

[Channard]

.. how come only one of them seems to have had the sense to bring along a portable console to play with while waiting? God only knows what it'll be like when the store I work at gets these in. When the 360's came in, we had people qeueing in the dark from 9PM to 9AM in the morning - just to get core consoles!

Re:If they're so technology hungry..

[TrancePhreak]

They probably had to save all their money by not getting anything portable in order to afford the PS3.

Re:If they're so technology hungry..

[chrismcdirty]

They did pack handheld consoles. But they were all PSPs so they died an hour after joining the line! HEY-OOO!

Re:If they're so technology hungry..

[krotkruton]

One of my roommates and I have been talking about camping out for a ps3. Have you seen what they are selling for on ebay? At those prices, you could buy two, sell one, and still make a profit.

$1400 for a ps3 on ebay? Assuming I'd spend about $800 on one with games and whatnot, that'd leave $600 for profit. 24 hours standing outside for $600 is about $27 an hour. It might suck (especially in the cold where I'm at), but that's pretty good money when you think about it.

On that note, I didn't think most stores were offering pre-orders. When I went to Best Buy a few months ago, they told me they weren't doing it. Is this true or did I get some idiot who ruined my chance at getting a ps3?

Re:If they're so technology hungry..

[mgabrys_sf]

Except you can only buy one in most lines. Going to stand in 2?

Perhaps if we cut you right down the middle into 2 descrete halves. Oh shoot you turned into a pile of meat, and ick - look at the goo.

Re:If they're so technology hungry..

[krotkruton]

From my original post: One of my roommates and I.... I thought it was clear that I was talking about the two of us each buying a ps3 and selling one, since we don't need two ps3's in our apartment, but I guess I wasn' that clear about that detail. Also, that does change things to make it only $13.50 an hour or so.

The end of Sony bashing?

[Karganeth]

Hopefully, this story will reduce the amount of people randomly bashing Sony (and how their PS3 will "obviously" fail) for no reason. Right now I'm just happy for Sony and the rate of sales they've had. Aren't you?

Re:The end of Sony bashing?

[Penguinoflight]

Not really, I can't see why anyone would be happy with sony getting 80k units out on "launch day". I'm pretty sure their sales numbers weren't as good as the numbers on xbox 360's launch day, they just had so many fewer units that they sold out sooner. The mocking won't stop here.

Re:The end of Sony bashing?

[William_Lee]

Hopefully, this story will reduce the amount of people randomly bashing Sony (and how their PS3 will "obviously" fail) for no reason. Right now I'm just happy for Sony and the rate of sales they've had. Aren't you?

Kutaragi-san, don't you have better places to be right now than the slashdot forums?! You should be working on production issues, better developer tools, and lack of strong launch titles...

Re:The end of Sony bashing?

[Adult film producer]

The nazi's have just taken France.. why don't you stop complaining about them and Hitler, just be happy for them .. just once would ya.

Re:The end of Sony bashing?

[Anonymous Coward]

Euhm try 80k xbox 360 over a full year in Japan, then you will be much closer to reality... .

Re:The end of Sony bashing?

[shoptroll]

Does anyone remember how many units they originally said they were planning on having for launch? Selling 80k units in your home territory isn't exactly "news". Hell the PS2 managed to sell 900,000 units in its first weekend in Japan. Somehow a 92% reduction in the number of units you managed to push is "newsworthy"? Give me a break.

Re:The end of Sony bashing?

[Psychotext]

I'm really interested, so don't take offense... but why on earth would you be happy for a corporation? They don't give a shit about you, you shouldn't give a shit about them. I've really never understood it. Sure, stand up for and shout all about some small operation that needs the support but don't cry when a corporation gets bashed.

Re:The end of Sony bashing?

[Anonymous Coward]

Euhm try 80k xbox 360 over a full year in Japan, then you will be much closer to reality... .

Hardly. In the real world, untouched by the delusions of either XBox or Sony fanboys, the XBox 360 sold about 65,000 units in the first two days on sale in Japan.

As you say, not as good as the PS3, but I'm afraid you're as far from reality as the guy you're contradicting.

Re:The end of Sony bashing?

[FooHentai]

As popular as it is to hate on large corporations, it's often overlooked that large corporations are formed from large bodies of employed persons. While one might be entirely guilt-free in hoping a corporation does not entirely dominate their market, it would only be to the detriment of the 'little people' if a corporation got into serious trouble.

Mass layoffs aren't something anyone should be cheering on, IMO. Most of the anti-sony noise started out (I believe) as a hope that Sony would have its wings clipped and its arrogance tamed, rather than wishing the wholesale destruction of the 'evil corporation' and the massive job losses that would accompany it.

Re:The end of Sony bashing?

[HappySqurriel]

Hopefully, this story will reduce the amount of people randomly bashing Sony (and how their PS3 will "obviously" fail) for no reason. Right now I'm just happy for Sony and the rate of sales they've had. Aren't you?

The average sales for the Nintendo DS Lite in a give week are about 100,000 units ...
On a good week (when they release a highly popular game) the DS Lite sells about 250,000 units ...

Claiming that the PS3 won't fail because it sold 80,000 units in its launch week is foolish; hell the XBox 360 sold 55,750 in its first week in Japan ... The PS3 is selling at about 133% the rate of one of the worst performing systems in the history of consoles in Japan ...

Are you sure it is doing all that well?

Re:The end of Sony bashing?

[mgabrys_sf]

Well actually, it's not so much home turf as much as the area which is a gadget freaks paradise. Now - if you COULDN'T sell there - then you'd have some news.

Oh wait - Microsoft failed to do just that - TWICE.

Re:The end of Sony bashing?

[Anonymous Coward]

Claiming that the PS3 won't fail because it sold 80,000 units in its launch week is foolish; hell the XBox 360 sold 55,750 in its first week in Japan ... The PS3 is selling at about 133% the rate of one of the worst performing systems in the history of consoles in Japan ...

They only had 80,000 units, but Sony did sell each one of those and left who knows how many potential customers empty-handed. If they had 200,000 units, they likely would have sold out that figure as well. The 360 did not sell out its original batch, and has only ever sold out, what, one time after a year of availability?

I'm no fan of Sony, I won't be getting a PS3, and I don't care for Japan's taste in electronics, but this quoted statement here sounds like pure stat manipulation.

Re:The end of Sony bashing?

[Anonymous Coward]

100k were planned for Japan last I read. I'm sure that was revised off of some BS number Sony made before E3 though.

Re:The end of Sony bashing?

[The PS3 Will Fail]

"Mass layoffs aren't something anyone should be cheering on, IMO."

Why not? Those people that you are so concerned about are either the ones who have made the decisions that have been obvious attempts to destroy consumer rights or they are implementing those decisions. Either way, I would like to see everyone who works for Sony get fired. People will find new jobs. The video game market is going to be a certain size; if Sony falls out of it, the dollars will go to another company. One can hope it would go to a more consumer-oriented company but that's probably a pipe dream. Regardless, Sony and all their minions should pay for lik-sang and the root kit.

Re:The end of Sony bashing?

[KDR_11k]

Yes but it sold very little after that.

Re:The end of Sony bashing?

[KDR_11k]

I think his point is only that we cannot derive from this instant sellout that the PS3 will be a success overall.

Re:The end of Sony bashing?

[FatherOfONe]

300+ people camping out for a console many days in advance, that most people on Digg and Slashdot said wouldn't sell.

Selling out ~100k consoles in record time in Japan.

Selling out every preorder in America in record time.

Seeing that people are already camping in the U.S. over a week in advance.

Selling another 100k per week for the rest of the year in Japan.

More than likely selling 400,000 units in American as fast as the stores can process the orders on launch day.

Obviously selling out the second shipment to America ~600k by the end of the year.

Having a launch lineup of around 20+ titles, downloadable demos and music day one.

Seeing that you just sold more BlueRay players in Japan, in one day than all HD-DVD players world wide for the entire year. :-)

Seeing that you will sell 8X as many BlueRay players in America, in one day than all HD-DVD players sold last year world wide, and giving them a "test" movie to help them try out playing movies. :-)

Seeing that a ton of people are willing to pay 2 and even 4 times the list price to get a PS3 on Ebay.

Being able to produce ~6 million consoles by March of 2006, and having a market that looks like it will buy every last one of them.

Having a "last gen" console still continually outsell your competitors "next gen" system month after month.

Providing support for Yellow Dog Linux out of the gate and also helping with OpenGL (setting it as the default for all PS3 games, thus helping out the entire open source community).

Helping to make 1080P a reality in console gaming.

Priceless...

Now I am not going to say that Sony could have done a ton better by getting all 6 million consoles out before Christmas, but their future doesn't look too bad from a lot of peoples perspective. It is very safe to say that Sony will sell 6 million consoles by March of 2007, and then they can decide if they need to do anything about the price.

So, Mr Gates, I realize that you are still stinging from dropping over 4 Billion in the last XBOX and never making a profit, but don't worry I am sure that someone will want a 360 this year. I hear that they are going like "fire", or was that they are actually "on fire"... either way you should get some people that will want to buy/replace one until they can get a PS3. Good luck on the new Xbox 720, I heard that you may release it next Christmas, and I am sure that won't make too many of your customers angry. You obviously have learned a lot from Sega. Their partnership with you has worked out great! Come to think of it, your partnership with every company has worked out great. Well, perhaps not so great for your partners... Oh yeah, one last thing; keep up the point system, people love it! Whatever you do don't use real currency, that would confuse them.

Re:The end of Sony bashing?

[Gnostic Ronin]

300+ people camping out for a console many days in advance, that most people on Digg and Slashdot said wouldn't sell. People camp out for lots of things. With the DS, there were people camped out for the launch of each new color

Selling out ~100k consoles in record time in Japan. The Japanese will always buy the Japanese console, no matter how cheap or how good the Gaijin console is. Bill Gates could pay the Japanese to take an Xbox360 home, they'll still buy Sony because Sony is Japanese.

Selling out every preorder in America in record time. Wow, 40,000 pre-orders. Compared to millions of literal working Xbox360s in homes right now. A pre-order simply reserves one and gives you the option of buying, not every pre-orderer will return to pay for the ps3. It happens with all preorders.

Seeing that people are already camping in the U.S. over a week in advance. People camped out for months to watch Phantom Menance. So there's actually less interest in ps3 than Jar Jar Binks. Color me impressed.

Selling another 100k per week for the rest of the year in Japan. Where did you get the time machine, dude? Ps3 has been out in Japan for less than a week. You have no idea what will happen for the rest of the year. Just wait until the Wii comes out in Japan. I doubt as many ps3s will sell with competition from a Japanese console.

More than likely selling 400,000 units in American as fast as the stores can process the orders on launch day. Another message from the Future? Now you can predict the sales before they're even available for purchase in America. Your talents are wasted shilling for Sony. With this uncanny ability to predict the future, you should work for Homeland Security.

Obviously selling out the second shipment to America ~600k by the end of the year. Seriously stop predicting stuff no one can possibly know.

Having a launch lineup of around 20+ titles, downloadable demos and music day one. And our Gigantic System Seller? A game the average gamer is dying to play? Anyone? Anyone? Buehler? Buehler?

Seeing that you just sold more BlueRay players in Japan, in one day than all HD-DVD players world wide for the entire year. :-) Seeing that HD-DVD is cheaper to make, both for the players and the media itself, and thus is cheaper for the public, I don't see an advantage. :-)

Seeing that you will sell 8X as many BlueRay players in America, in one day than all HD-DVD players sold last year world wide, and giving them a "test" movie to help them try out playing movies. :-) Seeing that a ton of people are willing to pay 2 and even 4 times the list price to get a PS3 on Ebay. Seeing that you can buy a grilled cheese sandwhich with a burn mark that looks like Jesus, or if you prefer Elvis, all I see is that people are willing to pay lots of money for items of questionable value.

Being able to produce ~6 million consoles by March of 2006, and having a market that looks like it will buy every last one of them. What market? The ones that already have an Xbox or the ones that are Drooling over the Wii?

Having a "last gen" console still continually outsell your competitors "next gen" system month after month. The Last Gen Console breaks easily, and is being repurchased.

Providing support for Yellow Dog Linux out of the gate and also helping with OpenGL (setting it as the default for all PS3 games, thus helping out the entire open source community). And pushing DRM to the point where the system is more locked down than Windows.

Helping to make 1080P a reality in console gaming. For the 15% of American households rich enough to afford any type of HD. The government has been trying to force HD-TV instead of CRT TV since the 90's. We were supposed to have HD-only-TV in the mid 1990's. It's still so expensive that people can'

Re:The end of Sony bashing?

[Penguinoflight]

Did it occur to any of you that "launch day" means launch in the home market?

Re:The end of Sony bashing?

[KDR_11k]

The US market is roughly twice as big as the Japanese market so any comparisons between the two are pointless.

Re:The end of Sony bashing?

[mausmalone]

While I don't think the PS3 will "obviously" fail, I think it's worth noting that the PS3, for all its supposed success, will be out-sold by the DS Lite this week in Japan. After all, only having 80,000 units tends to hurt your ability to compete with a system that sells over 150,000 units per week in Japan alone. If they don't step up production, then regardless of popularity they won't be able to reach the top spot at all.

Re:The end of Sony bashing?

[trdrstv]

I'll go you one better and say that both the DS Lite and the Wii will out sell the PS3 through 2007.

The Week (likely the day, but I'll say week) that the Wii launches in Japan it will outsell the PS3, and 360 in Japan. Unless there are serious manufacturing/supply issues from Nintendo I expect that to be the "Next Gen" market leader in Japan through 2007.

Re:The end of Sony bashing?

[FatherOfONe]

"Selling another 100k per week for the rest of the year in Japan. Where did you get the time machine, dude?"

So are you willing to bet that Sony won't sell 400k consoles at launch? Is ANYONE here on Slashdot willing to say that? I doubt it.

"Obviously selling out the second shipment to America ~600k by the end of the year. Seriously stop predicting stuff no one can possibly know."

Again I ask, are you willing to say that Sony won't sell an additional 600k consoles by the end of the year? Look at the demand! It is more than obvious that they will.

". Bill Gates could pay the Japanese to take an Xbox360 home, they'll still buy Sony because Sony is Japanese."

So what? What does this have to do with anything? If Japan is willing to buy millions of PS3's much like they did PS1 and PS2's then those still count as sales.

"With the DS, there were people camped out for the launch of each new color"

Not nearly the same amount of people. People didn't quit their jobs and camp. There were literally over 1,000 people waiting in some lines in Japan. By most accounts there were around 300 or so people in line(s) for the DS lite.

"Seeing that people are already camping in the U.S. over a week in advance. People camped out for months to watch Phantom Menance. So there's actually less interest in ps3 than Jar Jar Binks. Color me impressed."

Yes, and we all know how poorly the StarWars franchise has done. My point is that by these HUGE early lines it shows that there is significant interest in the PS3.

"Having a launch lineup of around 20+ titles, downloadable demos and music day one. And our Gigantic System Seller? A game the average gamer is dying to play? Anyone? Anyone? Buehler? Buehler?"

You need to define "average" gamer. I was one of the people in the preorder lines and I can say that even the "hard core" gamers had a very different view on "must have" games. Out of the first 10 people in line, you couldn't find more than three people saying that any game was the must have game. If by "average" you mean kids games, then I would agree that the PS3 doesn't have a great lineup for the 10 and under crowd. However, for that market I would say just pick up one of the 1,000+ PS2 kids games for your PS3. It is backward compatible. I for one am looking forward to Marvel Ultimate Alliance at 1080P. Yes it can be bought for multiple consoles, but most people would agree that 1080P will look far far better than 480i. The same can be said for Tony Hawk. Now seeing that the majority of people picking up a PS3 before March of 2007 will not be kids under 10, is this really that big of an issue?

"Seeing that you just sold more BlueRay players in Japan, in one day than all HD-DVD players world wide for the entire year. :-) Seeing that HD-DVD is cheaper to make, both for the players and the media itself, and thus is cheaper for the public, I don't see an advantage. :-)"

Cheaper for now, how much "cheaper" will it be when the manufacturing of blueRay hits in the millions. Also, I don't know where you get your information from on the disk format, but the pricing is around the same. At the end of the day you will have MILLIONS of BlueRay players and at best 50k HD-DVD players. HD-DVD is all but dead.

"Seeing that a ton of people are willing to pay 2 and even 4 times the list price to get a PS3 on Ebay. Seeing that you can buy a grilled cheese sandwhich with a burn mark that looks like Jesus, or if you prefer Elvis, all I see is that people are willing to pay lots of money for items of questionable value."

How many people? Have you looked at the number of EBAY sales? It isn't 5 or 10 or 20 or 50. At what point do you have to concede that a ton of people want a PS3 and are willing to pay 2X or 3X the price to get one? It looks like thousands of them will sell for ~2X their price or greater. That is a far cry from one sandwich. If there were hundreds of sandwiches out there selling for hundre

Technical Issues Already

[Anonymous Coward]

Eurogamer reports there are problems already:

Most of the PS2 online games seem not to work properly on the machine - Final Fantasy XI, Front Mission Online and Nobunaga Online most notably. Even Gran Turismo 4 is experiencing troubles. SCEJ indicates that those issues should be fixed with patches soon. Some users are already reporting PS3 games freezing during play and some other technical issues.

Re:Technical Issues Already

[toopc]

Some users are already reporting PS3 games freezing during play and some other technical issues. Makes sense, they cut supplies because they can't get good yields of usable components. That being the case, Sony probably sets the quality control bar as to what consittues a good usnit low as they can so they can have as many as possible. With all the noise made over the 360 overheating problems, I hope for Sony's sake these reports are premature. Because if they freeze or have other technical issues there are some 7 million Xbox 360 owners just wating to make a big deal out of it. I bet ya' everybody and there brother interested in concole gaming is just waiting to take a picture/video of a frozen PS3 and gain YouTube fame.

Re:Technical Issues Already

[Ant P.]

You're a bit late on that idea. It happened at E3.

Re:Technical Issues Already

[superpulpsicle]

You must have forgotten the original Xbox set the record for most number of hardware problems on release. They still sold fine. It doesn't matter.

Re:Technical Issues Already

[mister_slim]

On the plus side, Sony's offering a full year warranty this time around. That's Nintendo's standard warranty as well. It's just 360 owners that are out in the cold after three months.

Playstation 3 won't win...

[Anonymous Coward]

Unless it has a game where you can make little school girls dance to your music!

Haha Sony, say your prayer!


Love
Bill Gate

Re:Playstation 3 won't win...

[iamhassi]

those are in-game graphics? That's actually pretty impressive, maybe we will finally have the Toy Story graphics Sony promised for the ps2:
"...we could see worlds that could equal what was in use in the movie Toy Story."

I'm still not buying a PS3, but a Xbox360 may be in my future depending on what the new games look like.

Re:Playstation 3 won't win...

[Guppy06]

"Unless it has a game where you can make little school girls dance to your music!"

So. Fucking. Japanese.

Dear Lord, does somebody havea rusty spoon I can borrow? I need to gouge out my own eyeballs after seeing that saccharine hell.

And I actually thought I was an otaku...

Re:Playstation 3 won't win...

[Anonymous Coward]

And I actually thought I was an otaku...

No. A true otaku would masturbate to those pictures.

Re:Playstation 3 won't win...

[macshit]

I watched some ps3 kiosks in a store yesterday -- one showing demo loops and one live unit with ridge racer -- and the graphics were actually sort of "meh". Definitely high-res, but that's about it really. The unit showing demo loops had some nice special effects in places (whereas ridge racer seemed pretty "last-gen"), but it was a really mixed bag, lots of low frame-rates, bad animation, weird lighting artifacts etc. Rige racer seemed like it could have been running on a ps2/gc/xbox (albeit probably not on an HDTV).

I suppose the graphics will improve later as developers gain experience, but honestly, given all the hype, I was expecting to be blown away, and wasn't. It's a nice update to the ps2 (which was always a bit weak graphically), to be sure, but it's not at all clear that it's really worth twice what the competition is asking. It's certainly not the life-changing experience Kutaragi seems to think it is.

Re:Playstation 3 won't win...

[Anonymous Coward]

Xbox360 may be in my future depending on what the new games look like.
Yeah, they are probably going to be great if the first Xbox developers "are achieving a level of visual detail you really get in 'Toy Story.'"

Re:Playstation 3 won't win...

[Guppy06]

Oh, I did. It's just I didn't feel clean again no matter how much I scrubbed afterwards.

Re:Playstation 3 won't win...

[KDR_11k]

I think Tales of Symphonia looked just as impressive (i.e. looked like the cel-shading would make it look perfectly like a cartoon) on the early screenshots.

So Much For Zonk's Year Long FUD Campaign

[Anonymous Coward]

With people already camping out for the US launch a week away looks like Zonk needs to be put on suicide watch...

Re:So Much For Zonk's Year Long FUD Campaign

[Pluvius]

Nah, not yet. Just look at most of the other replies to this article. Cognitive dissonance is a powerful thing, especially amongst console fanboys...

Rob

I am not surprised

[MemoryDragon]

The first one million consoles will be an easy sell for sony all over the world, this is basically the hardcore fans who buy everything, but after that, it will be interesting how the console will sell. You can see that with every major console, that the initial sales are high, there always is enough fanboys who dont matter how much it is for the console, they just want to have it.

Re:I am not surprised

[Daniel Phillips]

Based on the euphoric reaction to PS3's flagship launch title Resistance: Fall of Man Sony has nailed this, the PS3 is a guaranteed long term hit. In spite of all the FUD (I wonder who sponsored that) the machine performs to spec and production qualities are top notch. Oh yes, I'm a PS3 fan. After all it is a Linux machine, not to mention a superb piece of engineering.

I personally won't bat an eye about dropping $600 on this box. After all, I'm picking up a $2,500 flat screen tv to go with it. Sony is obviously going to be selling every box it can make for a long time. Now the race to dominate the high end console market comes down to one thing: Sony's manufacturing ramp-up.

Re:I am not surprised

[Typhon100]

I fail to see how you happily dropping $3,100 for a TV and console means Sony will obviously sell every console they make for a "long time". Most analysts (people who know what they're actually talking about, supposedly) aren't confident the PS3 will sell to anyone but the hardcore market.

Re:I am not surprised

[illegalcortex]

Please locate your disposable income on the bell curve for all Americans. As the other poster noted, you are an outlier.

Re:I am not surprised

[Anonymous Coward]

Care to share the names of those analysts, or you going to keep sitting there pulling shit out of your ass?

Analysts also confirm Wii will only cater to the hardcore market. It is also made out of babies teeth.

See, I can do this too.

Re:I am not surprised

[Daniel Phillips]

Most analysts (people who know what they're actually talking about, supposedly) aren't confident the PS3 will sell to anyone but the hardcore market.

Pray tell me, which analysts are these and how do you known they actually know what they are talking about? Reports from Japan indicate it is already selling to a mixed demographic. I am confident in my own prediction: Sony will sell every PS3 it can build for the next long time. Look at this site, there are lots more like it. Each new shipment is going to sell out in minutes before it even hits the shelves.

Re:I am not surprised

[Daniel Phillips]

Please locate your disposable income on the bell curve for all Americans. As the other poster noted, you are an outlier.

Not really, unless you want to call everybody who plans to purchase a HD TV this year an outlier. That would be how many million outliers?

By the time the early adopter market gets even close to mined out, Sony will have ramped production and started the price cuts, just like every other console cycle.

Re:I am not surprised

[PenGun]

Never met an LCD I didn't hate. After looking hard and long I just set up my brand new Sony 34XS955 CRT which took nearly a month to get from NY:NY to BC Canada. An epic battle with at least 3 shipping companies involved and a screw up every few days. About $2000 can total.

  It's just wonderful and no motion crap that all the LCDs do. Plays games ... well 34" of widesreen at 720p is a pretty cool Doom3 and Quake4 experience ;). Yup it'll do 1080i but the 720p seems to work well for games.

    PenGun
  Do What Now ??? ... Standards and Practices !

Re:I am not surprised

[Daniel Phillips]

Never met an LCD I didn't hate. After looking hard and long I just set up my brand new Sony 34XS955 CRT which took nearly a month to get from NY:NY to BC Canada. An epic battle with at least 3 shipping companies involved and a screw up every few days. About $2000 can total. It's just wonderful and no motion crap that all the LCDs do. Plays games ... well 34" of widesreen at 720p is a pretty cool Doom3 and Quake4 experience ;). Yup it'll do 1080i but the 720p seems to work well for games.

Agreed, a CRT is still the fastest response you can get, however LCDs have improved a whole lot recently and the price has fallen like a rock. The model I linked has 8 ms response, 10 bits/pixel and does 1080p. That is enough for me to say goodbye to the bulk and weight of a CRT forever.

Re:I am not surprised

[illegalcortex]

Not really, unless you want to call everybody who plans to purchase a HD TV this year an outlier. That would be how many million outliers?

Your logic is a bit problematic. How does your statement I personally won't bat an eye about dropping $600 on this box. After all, I'm picking up a $2,500 flat screen tv to go with it. equal to everybody who plans to purchase a HD TV this year?

Hint: To get you started, first look at the pricing of the models that all these people will be buying. Ask yourself - will most people be buying the $2,500 models, or does that perhaps skew a bit high? Then ask yourself - how many of the people who buy an HDTV will also be paying $600 for a PS3? Last, ask yourself "how many will be paying $600 for a PS3 without having to think hard about it." Then pick up a dictionary and look up outlier.

Re:I am not surprised

[PenGun]

These are almost all gone anyway, The Super Fine Pitch tube only went in a few of Sony's HD CRTs, the XS955s and XBR910 and XBR960. No the XBR970 is unfortunetly not one of these.

  As I said almost all gone could not find one in Canada. I did not pay nearly $600 for shipping because I wanted to ;(.

    PenGun
  Do What Now ??? ... Standards and Practices 1

Re:I am not surprised

[Sithgunner]

Right, PS3 are already circulating around auction web sites, of which Yahoo Auction has the biggest user in Japan and is already making deals for over $1500 an unit...

Besides, there are some Chinese group of people who just line up in front of shops and take half the units sold in that shop and sells out.

Re:I am not surprised

[_xeno_]

The first one million consoles will be an easy sell for sony all over the world

Assuming, of course, they ever hit their two million unit goal. After all, there aren't even one million consoles available at launch. The first million sales might be a bit hard to reach when they only have half that available right now...

Re:I am not surprised

[Daniel Phillips]

Flat screens of 40 inches or larger will sell by the boatload this year, just like last year except more so. Look at your own link, most of the products on it are in the $1000 - $2000 range.

My point is simple: at $600, the first wave of customers just aren't concerned about the price, the HD TV to go with it is more expensive. I am not sure what point you are trying to make.

Re:I am not surprised

[Anonymous Coward]

Didn't the Dreamcast break records at the time it was released? Many consoles sell out at the beginning but staying power is the hard part. I am kind of curious though on how the Wii will do especially since it is half the price. Nintendo has a lot stereotypes to get over (like it's a weak system and only for kids).

Re:I am not surprised

[Daniel Phillips]

Based on the euphoric reaction [ign.com] to PS3's flagship launch title Resistance: Fall of Man [wikipedia.org] Sony has nailed this, the PS3 is a guaranteed long term hit. In spite of all the FUD (I wonder who sponsored that) the machine performs to spec and production qualities are top notch. Oh yes, I'm a PS3 fan. After all it is a Linux machine, not to mention a superb piece of engineering.

I personally won't bat an eye about dropping $600 on this box. After all, I'm picking up a $2,500 flat screen tv [samsung.com] to go with it. Sony is obviously going to be selling every box it can make for a long time. Now the race to dominate the high end console market comes down to one thing: Sony's manufacturing ramp-up.

The post was obviously not a troll. Microsoft employee with mod points?

Re:I am not surprised

[zonker]

Your point is still kind of stupid. People are buying new TV's because:

1. They are told by everyone and all the commercials the new sets are cool
2. They think their viewing experience will be so much better (even though they have no hd sources to play on it)
3. The gov't is threatening to pull the plug on analog (and somehow most people think this means they are pulling the plug on SD)
4. Their old set is on the fritz or is 10-15 years old and they (mistakenly?) think a new set will last as long

Most people have less a problem spending money on a TV than a 'videogame box'.

Re:I am not surprised

[k_187]

his point is that while that first wave may not care, they are outside the mainstream audience that has made the PS2 so successful.

Re:I am not surprised

[Wdomburg]

I'm likely to drop about $600 on my next television. I'll save the $2,500 for something a bit more practical - new furnace maybe, or downpayment on a bigger car, or toss it into my kids college fund.

Re:I am not surprised

[Wdomburg]

There's a difference between buying an HDTV (starting around $250) and paying $3100 for a console and the television to watch it on.

Projected HDTV sales for 2006 are ~ $23B with about sixteen million units sold. That averages to somewhere in the range of $1400-1500 (well below the price of the unit you cited) and a lot of those are additional sets in a single household. About 30% of owners in a recent survey planed on purchasing another set this year.

Currently the mean annual income of homes with HD sets is 42% higher than those still on SD. Market is shifting fairly rapidly, but HDTVs are still largely toys of the relatively affluent.

Too Bad You Can't Get It

[heli0]

"there might be a new hot toy on everyone's Christmas list here in the states."

Is there anyone who ever doubted that the PS3 would be sold out until Spring? I assumed that with all of the stories about people planning to sell it for $3,000 on eBay that this was common knowledge by now.

Re:Too Bad You Can't Get It

[rolfwind]

Oh, I'm sure you'd be able to get it without paying a premium by the end of January. All it takes is some patience, which seems to be in short supply these days among consumers.

Don't get excited by the hype and you won't be shellingout 3K for a $600 system:)

Of course they sold out.

[Maul]

With a small number of units available, of course they are going to sell out.

http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=212

Re:Of course they sold out.

[Anonymous Coward]

Mod Parent Up. I agree with everything the poster said, except I would add any console can sell out quickly if there are only a small number of units available.

VG Cats Said It Best...

[Psychotext]

http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=212

I'm sure it's been linked a million times already but it's pretty much perfect. =)

Re:VG Cats Said It Best...

[Psychotext]

lol... that moderation figures - Though technically I was first out of the links by 1 minute! =)

Worst Part About Playstation Launches

[Anonymous Coward]

All the hardcore Dreamcast/Xbox fans as reality sets in start to get all whiney and bitter about Sony fooling gamers with "teh Hype...AGAIN!!!"

Obligatory

[shoptroll]

http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=212

No further comment needed

Happy? No... but amused

[GrumblyStuff]

Some are way ahead of me so just clicky.

(Also in friendly webcomic format.)

Big freakin' deal.

[EvilCabbage]

So?

The Super Nintendo sold out 300,000 units.

Sony provide less than a hundred thousand to an amazingly gadget hungry market and it's now headlines that it sells out?

Re:Big freakin' deal.

[cgenman]

The Super Nintendo did rather well, actually.

The comparison you want to make is that the Dreamcast also sold out 300,000 units on it's first day, and look how well that did. It was the fastest launching console of all time until the PS2, yet it still tanked.

And in terms of all system sales...

[yeoua]

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/11/10/japanese-hardwar e-sales-30-october-5-november-incredibly-inn/

Notice the amount of hardware sold... in a week... in Japan. The DS completely dominates with more than 100,000 sold in a WEEK. This is months after it has launched, while the PS3 has only 80,000 to sell. Now yes, the DS costs much less, but notice that Nintendo probably makes a profit on it rather than a loss, AND this amount of units allows them to sell more software.

How much software is going to move for the PS3 when it's launch is only 80,000? Most of those best seller games are in the area of several 100 thousand to several million units sold. That isn't going to happen for a while. So yes the PS3 sold out, but we can't call it any kind of success yet with this few sold. Maybe if they pushed out 1 million units and sold them all, then we can say they were a success.

Re:And in terms of all system sales...

[myster0n]

I presume that the release of the PS3 will lessen the sales of other consoles. So, the big question is : Will the PS3 be the number one selling console in Japan this week? Or will Nintendos winning streak remain unbroken?
That's putting things in perspective. Sony has a chance to be number one for one week, but only if their "totally sold-out PS3 on release day" causes people to buy less DS lites than usual.

Re:And in terms of all system sales...

[Anonymous Coward]

It'll be interesting to see if the number of DSs sold this week increases as people who wanted to buy a PS3 look
for an alternative.

Re:And in terms of all system sales...

[Anonymous Coward]

compared to the PSP which has had dismal sales all along.

PSP = joke always has always will.

sonly does not know how to make consoles anymore.

Re:And in terms of all system sales...

[Nightspirit]

According to that article xbox 360 sales are up 320% in Japan.

Perhaps the shoveling of money into japanese RPGs is starting to work out for MS?

Re:And in terms of all system sales...

[cgenman]

Most of those best seller games are in the area of several 100 thousand to several million units sold.

100k sales per million dollars of development is about the threshold between a failure and a passably bad sales number in the console realm. If your next-gen titles are absorbing 10 million dollar development budgets (which they easily can), you're looking at needing 1 million sales to not be taking a bath. The PS3 may have software sales numbers like that on a few titles by early 2007. We'll have to see if the lack of competing titles offsets the lack of installed userbase early on. Ironically, this would be a good time to make shovelware for the PS3.

It will be difficult to justify those budgets on the install base of any one next-gen system. Right now with an installed userbase of over 80 million, the PS2 is still looking very attractive.

Re:And in terms of all system sales...

[pommiekiwifruit]

with an installed userbase of over 80 million, the PS2 is still looking very attractive.

You are assuming those PS2s were bought by new users, not to replace a series of broken PS2s.

Re:And in terms of all system sales...

[Anonymous Coward]

320% of 0 is still 0.

How is this a success?

[aztektum]

They sold 80,000 units in a day! Huzzah! They can only make money as long as they have units to sell. Only over the long term will we be able to say that it was a success.

Of course this will just drum up buzz and people will pay some lucky bastard on eBay 5 times the retail price for one.

Re:How is this a success?

[hardburn]

Actually, they're not losing money if they don't have units to sell.

Of course it sold out

[Visigothe]

Considering every time Dragon Warrior or a Final Fantasy game comes out, they sell 2 million copies in the first week-end, of course they're going to sell 80,000 PS3s.

I'd like to see a breakdown of High end-vs-Low end units. Does anyone have those numbers?

Re:Of course it sold out

[xenocide2]

So imagine you're Square-Enix. You know you can sell two million of your game, assuming there's enough machines to play them on. Would you rather sell your game on this new platform or would you rather risk long term sales and release for the current most popular system close to compatible with your game idea?

Re:Of course it sold out

[Xugumad]

> risk long term sales and release for the current most popular system close to compatible with your game idea?

I'm confused... did you just argue that selling lots of your game now might somehow upset your customers, as opposed to releasing it for a platform no-one can buy?

Re:Of course it sold out

[Xugumad]

I believe they were making 80/20 high/low units, and given they sold out, I'm willing to bet there was an 80/20 split in sold units. Sorry.

Re:Of course it sold out

[Ash-Fox]

So imagine you're Square-Enix.

Okay.

You know you can sell two million of your game, assuming there's enough machines to play them on.

mhmm

Would you rather sell your game on this new platform or would you rather risk long term sales and release for the current most popular system close to compatible with your game idea?

Hmmm.. Well, we once developed things with Nintendo.. and Nintendo looks more popular than Sony now, definitely going to go with the more popular one like we have done in the past.

Re:Of course it sold out

[xenocide2]

More like, you'll have a longer time frame to sell a game with the ps3 than the ps2. I guess backwards compatibility would make that moot however.

wannaBeeNerdGirl re: pre-order PS3 for brother

[wannabeeNerd]

New to forum, but would like to know where can I pre-order PS3 for brother?
What parts does one need to purchase - it seems there are several components.
(If not available in US - is the Japanese version compatible with US)?
thanks

Re:wannaBeeNerdGirl re: pre-order PS3 for brother

[Ninjaesque One]

Here is a rule of /.(what we call Slashdot); you do not call it a forum. Slashdot was created when the original meaning of forum was the only meaning; that is, an open-air market/political debating arena. It was created entirely before blogging. There are several components, but there is only one in truly short supply; the console itself. There is no chance that you could get a PS3, unless you live in a sparsely populated area and go to the nearest PS3-selling store in about 12 hours or so. It will not be available until the 17th in the US, if my sources serve, and the Japanese version will never be compatible with US games, at least until the PAL paradigm breaks down. That will be never, probably.

Re:wannaBeeNerdGirl re: pre-order PS3 for brother

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey jackass. (replier not the original poster)

The Japanese use a variant of NTSC. Signal are compatible with American TVs (you make it seem like that's the issue). The game are another story. They get region locked in software... hence the reason you could get software to allow you to run Japanese games on the PS2 and Gamecube.

Ass. /it's right here. clear as purple crayon.

Re:wannaBeeNerdGirl re: pre-order PS3 for brother

[Ninjaesque One]

Ah, dammit. So my sources suck. It still won't work, unless you fiddle with it. And, of course, there is the being-able-to-read-Japanese part.

Re:wannaBeeNerdGirl re: pre-order PS3 for brother

[wannabeeNerd]

One more thing...can I pre-order for X-mas anywhere? or for any date in that case?

Re:wannaBeeNerdGirl re: pre-order PS3 for brother

[Mongoose]

Your sources are wrong.

1. PS3 Japan/US versions can no only play the same games, but the same bluray movies.

2. Japan use NTSC. It is Europe that uses PAL, and that's moot with HMDI anyway.

Thanks for playing.

Re:wannaBeeNerdGirl re: pre-order PS3 for brother

[Weedlekin]

"It is Europe that uses PAL, and that's moot with HMDI anyway."

Unfortunately, it's HDMI that's moot in Europe, not PAL. There have only been something like 2 million hi-def capable TVs sold in Europe, and a fair proportion of those are owned by bars and other such establishments where the attraction is the big screen rather than high definition (which European broadcasters have been slow to take up, so it still isn't available in all countries, even by cable or satellite). Add to this the fact that most of the existing sets lack HDMI inputs, and you have a situation where the PS3's high definition capabilities are not going to be a major selling point, either for games, or movies. Of course, this doesn't mean that the PS3 won't sell in Europe, but it will have to do so irrespective of its HD capabilities rather than because of them.

NB: Sony do have one major ally in the form of Nintendo Europe, who have probably done as much to sell PS2s and XBoxes as Sony and MS. They have more power than anyone else to ensure a miserable European XMas for the Wii .

Re:wannaBeeNerdGirl re: pre-order PS3 for brother

[Anonymous Coward]

First screen on first power up allows you to pick the OS language.

PS3 sold out eh?

[Anonymous Coward]

I think the people who bought it sold out as well. Just going to show once and for all, no matter the price, people will buy anything with the "Next-Gen" tag on it.

Meh...

[kitsunewarlock]

Sony's first line of product ALWAYS SUCKS. There is always some minor flaw in them that they never catch in beta. But by releasing a limited supply of consoles on the first run, they can minimize damages when that error is fixed. o_o'

Re:Meh...

[Ash-Fox]

Sony's first line of product ALWAYS SUCKS.

I disagree, most of their products 'suck' in general.

There is always some minor flaw in them that they never catch in beta. But by releasing a limited supply of consoles on the first run, they can minimize damages when that error is fixed. o_o'

Sony won't know about it until it's too late, after all, the PS3 units were only bought to be resold.

Re:Meh...

[jonhorvath]

eBay moguls could always buy a 360 to actually play games. Best Buy will offer Xbox 360 launch day deals for PS3 campers who did not get their prize. http://news.punchjump.com/article.php?id=3341

I'm Big in Japan

[rhesuspieces00]

EVERY console made by a Japanese company sells out at launch in Japan. The fucking VisualBoy sold out in Japan.

Re:I'm Big in Japan

[Daniel Phillips]

EVERY console made by a Japanese company sells out at launch in Japan. The fucking VisualBoy sold out in Japan.

Not bitter at all are we? Notice to Microsoft astroturfers on Slashdot: the 360 had its run, in its year head start it failed to make the numbers it needed to displace Sony. Now the 360 is the also ran, technology wise. Please, no more whining about it.

Re:I'm Big in Japan

[Anonymous Coward]

Stop trolling, fanboi.

Re:I'm Big in Japan

[illegalcortex]

Suddenly your other post I replied to is making sense.

Personally, I am not a fanboy of any console. As I posted before, I used to be a Nintendo fanboy but had that habit firmly broken by the N64. And if anything, I'm biased against the Xbox because it's sold by Microsoft. I have no reason at all to be prejudiced against Sony. And I agree 100% with the parent post. The PS3 would have sold out 80k units in Japan even if the PS3 was priced at $1000 at launch. Even if it was $1000 and smelled like burning hair.

Re:I'm Big in Japan

[Daniel Phillips]

I agree 100% with the parent post. The PS3 would have sold out 80k units in Japan even if the PS3 was priced at $1000 at launch.

Oh, that is obvious. But explain to me why the GP was swearing?

Re:I'm Big in Japan

[illegalcortex]

Because stupidity makes him/her angry?

Every time a console gets launched, it's exactly the same story. And yet the media always reports it the same way, as if it's some undeniable sign of breakneck success. When in reality, it's simply intentionally supplying a fraction of enough units to meet demand so you get get the idiot press to advertise for you.

The REAL story is when a console maker can't manage this, like the case of the Xbox/Xbox360 failures. That's when it's actually news.

Re:I'm Big in Japan

[ashwinds]

Yeah - everyone buys in just so they dont miss out if it becomes a hit in the US.

Re:I'm Big in Japan

[lhaeh]

Just thinking about a Virtualboy gives me a headache. Who knew video games could hurt so much?

And the real question for success

[Sycraft-fu]

Is (as always) games. Given enough time, any console maker will be able to produce enough so that everyone who wants one has one. However the driving force behind most people wanting one in the end will be games. Does it have the games they want to play and, for the games that are available on multiple consoles, do they look good?

Sony's problem isn't going to be selling out their first consoles. It's going to be making sure they get the games to convince people that it's something they need to have. That was why the PS2 succeeded. I mean really the graphics are nothing special. They were somewhat cool when they came out but nothing you hadn't seen out of a computer and certainly nothing near what Sony claimed they'd be, and the X-box has quite superior graphics. However that's not the issue, the issue is that the PS2 has the games people want to play.

That's what remains to be seen. Will Sony have the games to convince enough people that their pricey console is worth it? It's one of those things that tends to be a kind of feedback cycle. If you have enough games to sell people on your hardware, game makers will want to make games for it to make money, which sells more people on the hardware. However the opposite is true too.

I don't do console games so I haven't looked at the various lineups for the various consoles, but that would be what I'd really have my eye on in terms of PS3 success. Do they have the titles out now and coming out in the next 6 months to convince people it's worth it?

dot dot dot...

[Shados]

Stupidest...headline...ever. Am I the only one who's reminded of the VG Cats comic about this?

Man, who would have thought that japanese would buy out 80000 consoles. No way!

haha

[joe 155]

you really should check out the comments on the photo diary, there are some pretty funny comments and a little "spot the DS" competition going on. Sony's Phil Harrison won't be happy

Who cares?

[Anonymous Coward]

Every new system sells out anymore, because they are ridiculously overhyped for a looooong time before launch and the gamers are whipped into a frenzy of lust. With that kind of marketing, Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft could put dog shit in a box and gamers would happily buy it.

The original PlayStation is still the newest console system I own. Since then, if I can't play a given game on a PC, I simply never get that game.

Wait and see

[Anonymous Coward]

Yet another wait and see. The numbers on this one doesn't mean much with the limited supply of the console. If anything, the verdict on the PS3 and it's 'success' would be best mesured in March, when the supply numbers increace a bit. It would be a better metic, anyway.

More wait and see.

Not outselling nintendo ds this week, I guess

[nbuet]

Cheers! what a ridiculous launch party. Not even on top of the charts. I no new shipment arrives next week, ps3 may sell just below xbox 1 in japan (between 1 to 5 units weekly).

VisualBoy

[hsoft]

The one with games developed in Virtual Basic?

your decimal is off by one place

[tpjunkie]

thats 10.3k in USD.

The Big picture

[Dr. Eggman]

I'm interested, how big is Japan in the big picture? First or Second? We all know (if even just by how the companies treat them) that Europe is third most important. Anywhere other than North America, Japan, or Europe is rarely even heard in the news. But is Japan the bigger battlefield than the US? If we look at the launch numbers, Sony and Nintendo are both putting more emphasis on the US. Sony's US Launch day is scheduled to have 400,000 PS3 units, about 4x the number of their Japanese launch. Nintendo is planning a US launch day of 1,000,000 Wii units. Meanwhile I can't even find Nintendo's Japan launch day units; they don't even release in Japan until December, after the November US launch. So, the companies seem to indicate that in the big picture, the US is the bigger prize. Launching two days apart, with more units (assumed for Wii Japan) will make a much more useful comparison than a 23-day apart Japan launch with relativly fewer units.

It may also be interesting to see how Sony's launch titles did, since they need games and accessories to pull up the difference. Some of the games present on Sony's Japan launch list also appear on the Wii's. Depending on quantities of these sold compared to the number of units sold in proportion to other games per unit sold may tell us if there are customers prepared to buy the Wii as well and plan on buying those games for the Wii instead. While it would have to be a large difference to overcome the large margin of error such a comparison welcomes, it may still provide some insite into the minds of the buyers and give us a rough idea how the big US launch will go for Sony or Nintendo.

Re:The Big picture

[archen]

Well there are two things to consider about Japan. First of all the xbox360 is considered a non-threat by both Nintendo and Sony there. The second thing is that the Japanese don't really have Christmas per say. In Japan Christmas is sort of this abstract santa thing that's popular for people to go on dates and exchange small gifts. In the U.S./Canada it's a materialistic hysteria. People go in to DEBT over Christmas. Getting the console on the market for Christmas is critical not only because of consumer demand, but also because of the buzz generated over it and also because consumer spending severely drops off after the season.

It's not that Japan isn't that big, it's just timing for the U.S. launch is critical.

Wait...

[Anonymous Coward]

I visited my local eb games last week and the ps3 was on the shelves with all the release games as well.. Are you saying that this system is not yet released yet in the US?

" vs. the system to be released in the States"

ps, I live in the US as well...

Re:Wait...

[Chris Burke]

I visited my local eb games last week and the ps3 was on the shelves with all the release games as well.. Are you saying that this system is not yet released yet in the US?

Yeah, that's what we're saying. The U.S. launch date is 11/17. Put down the blotter paper with the blue stars on it, wait until the walls stop crying and the universe ceases to whisper cheat codes to you, and go back to EB.

Honestly...

[Anonymous Coward]

I can't believe all three of them sold... Wait, there were FOUR? That's pretty damn impressive.

I didn't realize there were that many people left who didn't hate Sony.

80,000 total units sold...

[sam991]

And tomorrow there will be 50,000 units on Ebay.

Insane.

[Kimera445]

It seems Sony planned there to be a shortage of consoles just to get sensational media coverage. 1. Make successful line of consoles. 2. Skip out on production. 3. Media Spin, claim your console sold out at record speeds. 4. ??? 5. Profit!

Microsoft's artificial scarcity of launch Xbox360s

[Anonymous Coward]

If we are going to be throwing around accusations, might as well include the "EVIL" Microsoft.

Dude they are waiting in the US already

[Anonymous Coward]

PS3 fans quit jobs and postpone engagement to wait in line - Video
http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/11/10/ps3_bestbuy_burb ank_line/

Wow they sold 80,000..... so?

[kinglink]

I could shit in a box and probably sell 1,000 units. 5,000 if I called it a console (aka the phantom).

Selling out at launch isn't hard. It's even easier if you only ship a fraction of what the competition is selling. Which is betterin the Wii selling out over 400,000 units in japan (which is almost definate) or the Ps3 selling out 100,000 units?

I just have one question? Why is this news?

80,000 - at rrp?

[goldcd]

LikSang could have shifted that

As usual...

[BJH]

...PC Watch bought one and took it apart.

Impressions:
- That's one huge cooling fan!
- Why did they use a Seagate drive, when Seagate is known for sucking more power than just about anybody else?
- Not as many components on the MB as you might expect for a first revision.
- The ATI RSX has its video memory on the module, but not in-core.

According to posts on various Japanese sites, there also seem to be a few problems.
- The unit gets hot. Very hot.
- A couple of people reported the unit powering off during the software update, which permanently bricked the unit.
- The browser can't play Flash.

Re:As usual...

[alchemy101]

Clarification please Are they your impressions? Also could you link to those various Japanese sites?

Re:As usual...

[Daniel Phillips]

That's one huge cooling fan!

A larger fan rotates slower and is therefore more quiet. Engadget says After plenty of gameplay the console is cool -- or at worst warm -- to the touch on every surface. In a side by side test with the Xbox 360, the console is comparably virtually silent, and the Blu-ray drive is significantly quieter than the 360's DVD drive.

Why did they use a Seagate drive, when Seagate is known for sucking more power than just about anybody else?

Really? This Seagate 60GB drive eats .8 watt idle, 2 watts active. That is nothing compared to the cell chip and gpu.

The ATI RSX has its video memory on the module, but not in-core.

Just as Sony said months ago, the framebuffer memory will be moved on-die in a later rev.

According to posts on various Japanese sites... the unit gets hot. Very hot.

That hearsay does not jibe with engadget's rather credible sounding report above.

Re:As usual...

[seebs]

>- Why did they use a Seagate drive, when Seagate is known for sucking more power than just about anybody else?

I have not known this to be the case. When I replaced a Toshiba drive with a Seagate in my laptop, I doubled the capacity on 55% of the power or so. The Seagate drive in my games machine had about 60% of the power consumption of the WD.

I personally use them for nearly everything for three reasons:

* Five
* Year
* Warranty

Re:As usual...

[Anonymous Coward]

Seagate drives are noticably quieter than other drives (though other drives are catching up in this area).

Re:As usual...

[Mongoose]

Hey if you're going to lie at least get the specs right. The RSX is Nvidia, and the PS3 uses heatpipes for example. Thanks for playing! =)

Re:As usual...

[BJH]

OK, so RSX is NVidia. Now fuck off, you little turd.

Re:As usual...

[BJH]

Nah, I don't have a PS3 (didn't feel like lining up at Bic Camera for the whole night). The impressions are just from looking at the photos.

As for the posts regarding heat, etc., see here and here.
There does seem to be some variation regarding the heat output - everybody agrees that the fan is very quiet, but some people are saying it gets warm, whereas others say it gets very hot.
One thing that was mentioned is that the power consumption is lower than expected, peaking around 190W or so.

Re:As usual...

[Daniel Phillips]

After plenty of gameplay the console is cool -- or at worst warm -- to the touch on every surface. In a side by side test with the Xbox 360, the console is comparably virtually silent, and the Blu-ray drive is significantly quieter than the 360's DVD drive.

So let me guess, some Microsoft employee read the part of the post where I quote Engadget as saying the PS3 is signifcantly quieter than the Xbox 360, and modded it down as overrated.

Re:As usual...

[alchemy101]

I'm not trying to defend the PS3 if it is indeed hot, but i think that there is a difference if the heat is being expelled from the machine (which means the fan is doing a good job) and if the machine is hot itself.

who fucking cares?

[Anonymous Coward]

stuff that _matters_, remember?

i'm i the only one who's sick of endless ps3 hype??

Is anyone really surprised?

[jdubois79]

So, I decided to go to my local game store (Famicon Jungle) the other night to see the status of the PS3 in Japan (not really giving a crap, as I have my Wii on pre-order, but just to see what games are out and whatnot).

So, I go to the store, and there's about 3 cars waiting outside of the store. 2 have the geekiest geeks you've ever seen in your life sitting in them, 1 has a couple just kind of hanging out eating snacks. They're all waiting for a PS3 shipment that is apparently late getting to the store.

I walk up to the store and there is a big sign on the front that says "We are sorry for the inconvenience, but we will be getting only 1-3 PS3s, and they will be given out at a first come first serve basis." It was 9pm on launch day, and apparently they still hadn't come yet.

To give you some background of where I live: I live in a town of around 500,000 people. The surrounding area is all farms, so I figure within 20km of me, there are all of 3 stores that are selling PS3s. If each one gets 1-3 machines, that means that if one in 100,000 people decides "hmmm, I would like a PS3.." then they will sell out.

Calling that a victory is just lunacy.

Cheaper in Japan

[ArchAbaddon]

Of course the unit sold out for tow main reasons:

1) Sony limited production of the unit 2) Sony cut the price of the Ps3 in Japan by 20% before launch

Nothing to make good PR by cutting your made-up price and making very little product, so you can boast about how it sold out, while there are still plenty of people elsewhere unhappy about unit availability and pricepoint.

Both reasons why I personally won't be waiting with bated breath for one. (That and I've been abducted by PC games)

power isn't everything

[Anonymous Coward]

"The strongest swordsman isn't necessarily the victor. It is speed of hand, speed of mind."
- Count of Monte Cristo

I applaud the Sony PS3 launch and hope it does well; but the power of the cell processor and the storage capacity of blu-ray won't necessarily crown it the winner. Lets all just wait and see what happens...

Foolish potatomoto!

[seebs]

http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=212

"That's right, my toy box three is so popular we're completely out of units after the FIRST BOX. Fastest selling toy ever!"

Chinese people buying the japanese PS3s

[Zangief]

Kotaku has an interesting report. Apparently, some people hired chinese poor people to stand in the lines and buy PS3s for resale.

Re:Chinese people buying the japanese PS3s

[leoofborg]

some people hired chinese poor people = The Yakuza.

There's a BIG STORY here that's being avoided. Kind of like those Chinese folks avoiding the press on their way to the back alleys to drop off the PS3s with their bosses.

This wasn't a console launch, this was money laundering on a grand scale with Sony getting a fake launch, and the Yakuza getting to wash 100s of 1000s of yen. So, to Slashdot recap:

* Sony contrives a launch at Bic Camera with a buggy POS console that has been 'pre-discounted'. There's no organization, the police are nowhere to be seen until after the incident, and all the Bic staff can say is 'Please don't push' in Japaneeze even tho' they have Chinese staff. Chaos reigns. Pushing and shoving? Sounds like Chinese & Japanese chimpira [punks]. Employed by you know who.

* The Yakuza and other small time 'Mizu Shobai' operators with excess cash hire a bunch of foreigners to wait in line and buy PS3s for about $180 a head in addition to the price of the unit. 'Hardware only' and meeting 'their bosses' in the alley down from Bic Camera. I bet these bosses have punch perms and loud shirts. And gold chains. And trill their 'r's.

* PS3 is commoditized on Yahoo.jp auctions with a 200% or ungodly more markup. Profit, profit, profit all around. In Japan's 'Keiki warui' economy today, only the politicians and the yakuza have money to throw around enough to make a game console a commodity. And make it they did.

In short, PROFIT. Big winners? The Yakuza, the Mizu Shobai [the sex trade in Japan]; who get to convert their dirty money into legit funds [and profit!], oh, and the politicians that will get bribed next quarter.

Re:Chinese people buying the japanese PS3s

[rollingteapot]

The bosses who used the Chinese people are Chinese. you know... -- I'm Japanese living in the Netherlands

MOD PARENT UP

[kusanagi374]

this is a must read

it seems exploitation and sony do indeed work well together

Success among the chinese!

[Rockman-X]

Seems like the chinese people living in Japan are really digging the PS3... ;) http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/top/foreigners-and-fi ghts-ps3-jpn-launchs-dark-side-214130.php

one word

[Anonymous Coward]

eBay

As of 9:57 pm central time USA on November 11, 2006, with 2 minutes left open for bids, a machine was selling for $2,225.

Worth to wait in line? I suppose it depends on how much you like lying around on a Saturday morning in your pajamas drinking coffee.

Re:one word

[Anonymous Coward]

Over $2000??? Why do people with so much money have so little brains? You can't wait three months to get one when they will be available everywhere at the regular retail price? Consumerism at its ugliest! :(

Thousands, for hours, in the cold?

[Maajid]

Electronics stores in Japan have sold out of PlayStation 3 consoles after thousands of gamers queued for hours in the cold to buy them.

I'll wait. Thanks.

That's not good.

[Anonymous Coward]

80K units is petty, at least by console launch standards. If sony can't bring out the consoles in the coming weeks, there's going to be some big trouble. What to shoppers do who can't get one thing? They get another.

This is what happens when you push consoles to the brink of the top 95% of technology. If they pushed the specs back just the tiniest bit, they might have increased their console yields tenfold.

lets find something negative to say ..

[rs232]

Chinese people buying the japanese PS3s (Score:3, garbage)

In other PS3 related news:

[Anonymous Coward]

Looks like the PS3 is going to be a hackers dream. The trickle of info available so far indicated that it will be trivial to install Linux. Apparently YellowDog have built a PS3-specific distribution that will be installable with only a few clicks. And now it also appears that it wont have to be hacked to use homebrew firmware either...

Bad for software sales

[richman555]

This means software sales in Japan for any particular title could at most be 80,000 units in real sales. This is real bad for the software companies that would rely on a big 4th quarter.

But does it run Linux ?

[Salsaman]

I can't seem to get an answer from anyone. Does it or does it not run Linux by default ? Or is it an add-on like for the PS2 ?

Re:But does it run Linux ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, looking at an actual PS3 (I'm one of the lucky 80,000 Japanese customers who actually got one last weekend), the answer of the day is: it does not come with Linux, but no additional hardware will be required to get it installed. The PS3 actually has a menu item called "Install another OS" (!), which (in shipped configuration) tells you to try again after you partition the hard disk (!!) using another menu item called "Format utility" (!!!). I haven't done anything with these items yet because Yellow Dog Linux isn't due out for a few more weeks, but it seems like everything is ready to go except the YDL install disk.

Re:Supply, demand, and Wii != PS3

[WillAffleckUW]

Not exactly. It does allow them to say that they sold out at lower numbers, but the numbers are still low. The reason why the Wii launch would be considered a "failure" if it only sold half of the units produced isn't because it didn't sell out, but because it didn't sell to expectations. It bears noting that the PS3 hasn't yet sold to expectations either, though for different reasons.

Hmmm. If that is so, we should note that demand for the Wii is so high that the entire game shelf at my local EBX in Seattle is empty. Everyone already pre-ordered all the games the store is receiving on launch day, as well as all the Wii consoles, Wii-motes, and such.

And this is even with a much larger supply of consoles than Sony has for the PS3.

From this we can gather that Wii and the PS3 may be in the same category of consumption, and both in high demand and low supply.

When I was there, I noticed someone actually getting his mom to buy an xBox360, with controllers and games, since he was unable to buy either a Wii or a PS3, so from this we can infer that all game consoles are marginally tradeable to satisfy Maslow's needs/wants, and that the xBox360 is not in short supply. However, I also noticed almost everybody there was talking about the Wii, not the PS3, nor the xBox360 - so from this an economist would expect that demand for the Wii is in fact higher than for the PS3 or the xBox360, which is a more accurate measure of reality.

However, it is possible that demand in Japan for the Sony PS3 may be higher than it is in the US - both Sony and Nintendo are Japanese companies, but all three game consoles have Japanese games (man, I can't wait till they port those to the Wii ...).

Price already falling

[Lead Butthead]

As of this post, price for completed auctions are around 80k yen for 20GB units. That's about 30k yen premium over retail, which isn't much if you considered the profiteering that went on on ePay during the first three months after xbox360 launch.

Re:Supply, demand, and Wii != PS3

[Pluvius]

Counterargument: You're in Seattle, which of course is a mere bike-ride away from the American headquarters of both Nintendo and Microsoft, while SCEA's headquarters are in a suburb of San Francisco. I would expect that Seattle citizens are exposed to much more hype from the two resident companies than from Sony, what with a large number of them being employed by said two companies and so forth.

And besides, Seattle is kind of weird.

Rob