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EU Gamers Reassured by PS3 Preparations
European gamers have been feeling a might edgy of late; rumors have been circulating that the PS3 will be pushed even further out into 2007 ... possible to September. People put off by those comments were reassured this past weekend, when Sony sent around an email letting everyone know they could register for their online IDs with the PlayStation Network. The Guardian post that describes this development also links to a post on the Three Speech site, a Sony marketing blog. The site has posted more tidbits about the European launch, and assures eager gamers that they'll see the console launch in the early weeks of March 2007. From that post: "In terms of the European online store, while still being extremely vague, a spokesman for SCE Europe was able to explain that Sony would have no defense if they were to charge the European consumer more than in other regions as there are no extra costs on digital distribution as apposed to a product with packaging etc. So expect a $15.00 download to cost people in the UK around £6.50."
That's spot on what I've been seeing as well (though PS3's still only stay on store shelves a day here). People believe there aren't enough PS3's so don't bother asking. They believe there is some miraculous super supply of Wii's and therefore assume one can be acquired and they're asking constantly.
The fact that there aren't any good games for the PS3 isn't helping. The european launch is the real launch of the PS3, by then there will be a lot of things worth playing and enough of them out there to satisfy some of the demand. People buying them right now are planning ahead (like me), have way more money than brain cells (probably like me) or are really interested in a (silent) high def player, with backwards compatability on PS2 games (though no anti aliasing at the moment, oddly) and a couple of decent games.
Though I was in walmart today and some poor bugger employee made the mistake of carrying 2 PS3's somewhere and he was nearly run over by people (and that was at like 1PM) trying to get one. So there is still demand, but people just assume they don't exist, Nintendo made the mistake of preaching limitless supply so now the only way to get one is line up every morning in front of whatever store you think most likely to have them, and then try not to get robbed on the way out with it, since you were one of the 3 people who got one, of 10 who've been waiting for 2 hours every morning for a week (and no, that wasn't the way it was 2 weeks ago).