Well the big day has finally arrived for Playstation 3 fans across Europe and Australia - the PS3 has finally landed. Just a few short hours ago the Sony machine launched in London, and needless to say some people walked away very happy indeed. Sony decided to give every person who strolled in to the official London launch of the PS3 a 46-inch HDTV, for free. This amounted to over 100 gamers getting an awesome freebie, and cost Sony some £250,000. How's that for some gaming goodness?
Unlike the Japanese and North American PS3 launches, Europe and Australia should not have any console shortages - 1 million units will be available for the launch. However all is not rosey for Sony yet as PS3 sales continue to be lukewarm to cool in both Japan and North America. However Sony is quick to point out that the PS3 is still their most successful console launch yet, and that the PS3 is currently out pacing the Xbox 360 at the same stage in that consoles initial release back in 2005/2006.
In addition, over the past week or so as Sony geared up for the launch, they made available a backwards compatibility list detailing a fairly large catalog of games that will run on the PS3 after the 1.6 firmware update. Around 75% of the games for the PS2 will run on the PS3. That amounts to 1,782 titles in all. Some games are known to be a bit "wonky" right now (including Final Fantasy XII apparently, among some other high profile games) but Sony will continue to update the list, and add more games to it down the road.
The Playstation 3 will retail for £425 (599 Euros) in the UK (and Europe I would assume) and $999.95 AUS in Australia.
So my fellow gamers from the UK (Europe also) and AUS, how many of you picked up a PS3? Who is going to pick one up?
Link: Neowin forum discussion on HDTV giveaway Thanks American Ninja
Link: BPN discussion Thanks Hum
Link: PS3 backwards compatibility catalog
Link: PS3 launch coverage @ BBC
Unlike the Japanese and North American PS3 launches, Europe and Australia should not have any console shortages - 1 million units will be available for the launch. However all is not rosey for Sony yet as PS3 sales continue to be lukewarm to cool in both Japan and North America. However Sony is quick to point out that the PS3 is still their most successful console launch yet, and that the PS3 is currently out pacing the Xbox 360 at the same stage in that consoles initial release back in 2005/2006.
In addition, over the past week or so as Sony geared up for the launch, they made available a backwards compatibility list detailing a fairly large catalog of games that will run on the PS3 after the 1.6 firmware update. Around 75% of the games for the PS2 will run on the PS3. That amounts to 1,782 titles in all. Some games are known to be a bit "wonky" right now (including Final Fantasy XII apparently, among some other high profile games) but Sony will continue to update the list, and add more games to it down the road.
The Playstation 3 will retail for £425 (599 Euros) in the UK (and Europe I would assume) and $999.95 AUS in Australia.
So my fellow gamers from the UK (Europe also) and AUS, how many of you picked up a PS3? Who is going to pick one up?
















I'm sure you can predict what happened at the launch event.
EDIT: WHOA, hold the phones. I didn't know Sony gave away 100 HDTVs! Very nice! You lucky gits!
A nice 46" telly would look great in my room
Here is what I'd do:
Buy a PS3 for the free telly (If its value is higher than the actual PS3 pricetag), sell the console and get a 360.
All the great PS3 exclusives are going cross-platform anyway, with the exception of a few titles.
Can someone spell DOOM for sony?
Sick of this "OMG SONY R GOING DOWNZ" ****.
LOLZ FOO'S
maybe in a year or two when the price has more than halved, there are more decent games out there, and the hardware has gone through its revisions, i might consider buying one
9580 PS3 Available Left£425
10% Discount to students
Looks like someone wants to get rid of his stock. Also Selling 15 consoles from openning till ~2PM sounds crappy to me on a launch day.
WHAT?!
/me grabs his coat and his mobile phone.
I don't get how a lot of people dismiss the PS3 or any other console without even trying them out themselves personally, or judging the quality of the system on the success of Promotional/launch events. Is it all just a bandwagon of opinions with no base anymore?
I don't get how a lot of people dismiss the PS3 or any other console without even trying them out themselves personally, or judging the quality of the system on the success of Promotional/launch events. Is it all just a bandwagon of opinions with no base anymore?
If you end up hating the PS3, you should consider the 360 then. It's about the same power as the PS3, but a lot more is available to do. Also, you shouldn't really judge consoles by their launch parties. The 360 had a sort of mediocre launch party, and a crappy ad campaign, but it still sold like crazy. Whereas the Wii had a good ad campaign, a good launch party, but became the fastest selling console in history.
Facts:
1) PS3 is very expensive if all you want is a gaming system. Thats what the majority of potential customers want.
2) Many people think: 'Why I pay MORE than the JPN/US version and my PS3 will be somewhat less functional?", regarding software emulation of PS2 titles. Its not like people will pay 400 quids to play PS2 games but some might do. And some like to have the functionality there, just for "backup" in case they want to buy some dirt-cheap, old but great, second hand PS2 games (something I would for sure since I dont have a PS2).
3) There is not a single "system-seller" game available. Something like Gran Turismo HD or FFXIII or a new GTA or something like that. Resistance: Fall of Men is the only noteworthy title but why not spend less and get an XBOX 360 + GoW ?
Check this out:
Flop compilation 1
French PS3 Launch, viewed by Jeux France
French PS3 Launch, viewed by JeuxVideo.TV
The most funniest thing was the XBOX360 boat!!
Last edited by Sphinx Myth on 25 Mar 2007 - 17:59
COOooooOl Dude!!!!
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