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The Dark Side of the PlayStation 3 Launch
An anonymous reader writes "Kotaku is running an article prompted by an email from a foreign student in Japan. The reader unveils the sad reality of the modern gaming industry. Japanese businessmen made ample use of homeless people and Chinese nationals to obtain PS3s for re-sale. There was also a large amount of pushing and shoving, some fights, and almost no police presence at the most crowded stores." From the article: "Based on my observations of the first twenty PS3s sold at Bic Camera, they were all purchased by Chinese nationals, none of whom bought any software. After making their purchase, television crews asked for interviews but all were declined. These temporary owners of PS3s would then make their way down the street where their bosses waited. After several minutes, a dozen PS3s were rounded up, as their Japanese business manager paid out cash to those who waited in line for them. I witnessed a homeless-looking Chinese man, in his sixties or seventies get paid 20,000 yen for his services and was then sent away." Update: 11/12 05:40 GMT by Z : You're right. Sony only shares a portion of the blame here. Offsides on my part.
Because Sony should release more than a handful of consoles. If they haven't produced enough to do a proper release that doesn't create artificial over-demand, they shouldn't release. It's called corporate responsibility.
I thought that would be a good idea, but it would really alienate the fanbase, espescially since it reeks of mafioso tactics, since Sony could artificially retrict the supply to create a higher price.
I think the best solution would be one like the Gamespot solution of reserving Xbox 360s for extremely expensive (and profitable) bundles. You could filter the people without money, and still provide value other than just the value of having one of the limited amount of consoles.
I don't see anything necessarily wrong with this in principle; the consoles are a commodity that is sold for less than it's worth, people can and do buy 'em and sell 'em for a profit. And anyone that desperately wants the console to play games will shell out the dough, because they're suckers. And people that can't afford that are probably better off anyway, because they shouldn't need overpriced crap to make them happy. Mod me redundant, because I'm sure I'm repeating myself here.
What surprises me is that businessmen are getting into it. Even though they can probably quickly double or triple their investment selling the PS3s, there's a limited supply and lots of competition to get the units. Even if they make $1000 per unit they're spending a considerable amount of time to turn over a limited number of units. It seems to me they could make more money in the same amount of time trading stocks/bonds/commodities because the process is more streamlined and the volumes are higher. So for some kid looking for quick money it would surely be a good investment, I'm just surprised that it's worth the time of rich dudes.
And, under communism, there would be no PS3. What part of a state-run economy do you think values game consoles?
The part that wants to provide the bread and games to pacify the populous? Communism does not necessitate a dictatorship that kills all opposition, it could be implemented on a democratic system provided there's a saveguard against the majority deciding to enslave the minority but that's an issue democracy always has and modern implementation more or less successfully avoid.
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
Artificial scarcity? They're having slow production. You think they only WANT to have this many units for the Japan and US launch, and push the Europe launch back so far? When Nintendo is launching a highly-awaited product at the same time?
This is not Sony's fault in the least, and it REALLY shows how anti-Sony these boards are with people actually claiming that it is.
As every other post seems to defend Sony here, I have to object.
Just like Microsoft did with the 360, Sony is releasing a very small amount of consoles at a price far below the market value. Sony isn't making money now. The reason is to make the PS3 seems desirable and popular for when they release the big batch just before the hollidays. Sony _wants_ headlines about PS3s selling out quickly. And what better way to get media attention than violence?
No, I'm not saying that this is all Sony's fault, or that they are juridically responsible. But I think it is a problem when companies plan for and profit from violence at product releases.
More likely, that $500/hr rate is a billed-out rate, which us consumers / plebs / potential litigants pay. Unless it's their own practice (let's say it's not), a portion of that will return to the lawyer as salary (... pfff, about $75-100/hr, he said sticking a finger in the air and guessing), with the rest going to the law firm itself to pay for legal pads, crayons, mind control devices and dinner parties for the partners.
The law firm would in theory lose $500/hr for each potentially billable hour the theoretical lawyer stood in line waiting for a PS3, but then again, if he just walked out to a video game store, or flew to Akihabara on a whim without telling anyone, he'd more than likely be fired for gross misconduct. If on requested leave to stand in the Tokyo rain and get shouted at by megaphone-wielding Bic employees, that law firm would have used another member of staff to take his place while he was away to still make their $500/hr, and the lawyer would still be earning his $75-100/hr since he would be on paid leave.
... I thought about this too much, didn't I?
neuro at well dot com (when I post, it's my opinions, no-one elses)
That would most likely backfire. If you raised the price enough to match what the early adopters (a very small market) will pay - it would totally kill the buzz, and turn the majority of the market off your product - even if you lowered prices later. End result, raising the price, even if only temporarily, results in less profit. Worst case, your company's name become dirt, and no consumer will ever trust you again. Sony already has enough trouble in that department.
There's a lot more to the console market than just the retail price of the hardware. You need to have support from developers, the fanbase, and a thriving "ecosystem."
... and then they built the supercollider.
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