Sony getting desperate..?
Pre-launch buzz & release for the Europe & Australian introduction of the PS3 has been lukewarm. At best.
Which makes the precautions certain Brit retailers were planning to take seem, well, silly in retrospect.
Regardless, there's been some camping out for Sony's newest.
In what smacks of a desperate publicity stunt, some campers were rewarded with brand new HD TVs to go with their shiny new PS3s.
Best part of the article:
"An hour before the launch Ritatsu Thomas, standing at the head of the queue, had said he was looking forward to going home and sleeping. But soon after learning he was going home with a PS3 and a television he had lost his tiredness.
"I can't wait to go home and start playing," he said.
He had only queued after missing out on a Nintendo Wii last year on launch day and looked shell-shocked at the level of attention."
I guess all of the negative publicity generated elsewhere around the world is taking its toll.
Even USA Today is pointing out the obvious:
Sony's new PlayStation 3 video game system has gone from top dog to underdog in record time.
Despite the buildup and hype around its arrival in November, the PS3 has been outsold so far - at a rate of almost 2-to-1 - by the Nintendo Wii...
For Sony, that performance "is simply abysmal," says Newsweek's N'Gai Croal. "The PS3 is sucking wind right now..."
This is interesting for a number of reasons. First of all, prior to it's release, the Wii was being called a "supplementary console"... one you would buy to have around along side a 360 or a PS3. A lot of the commentary I see around and about lately puts it squarely head to head with the PS3... and if the rate of adoption it's been enjoying continues, perhaps even the 360. It's a marked shift in perception of both the Wii and the PS3, and really underscores the degree to which Sony has, overall, screwed the pooch thus far.
Which makes the precautions certain Brit retailers were planning to take seem, well, silly in retrospect.
Regardless, there's been some camping out for Sony's newest.
In what smacks of a desperate publicity stunt, some campers were rewarded with brand new HD TVs to go with their shiny new PS3s.
Best part of the article:
"An hour before the launch Ritatsu Thomas, standing at the head of the queue, had said he was looking forward to going home and sleeping. But soon after learning he was going home with a PS3 and a television he had lost his tiredness.
"I can't wait to go home and start playing," he said.
He had only queued after missing out on a Nintendo Wii last year on launch day and looked shell-shocked at the level of attention."
I guess all of the negative publicity generated elsewhere around the world is taking its toll.
Even USA Today is pointing out the obvious:
Sony's new PlayStation 3 video game system has gone from top dog to underdog in record time.
Despite the buildup and hype around its arrival in November, the PS3 has been outsold so far - at a rate of almost 2-to-1 - by the Nintendo Wii...
For Sony, that performance "is simply abysmal," says Newsweek's N'Gai Croal. "The PS3 is sucking wind right now..."
This is interesting for a number of reasons. First of all, prior to it's release, the Wii was being called a "supplementary console"... one you would buy to have around along side a 360 or a PS3. A lot of the commentary I see around and about lately puts it squarely head to head with the PS3... and if the rate of adoption it's been enjoying continues, perhaps even the 360. It's a marked shift in perception of both the Wii and the PS3, and really underscores the degree to which Sony has, overall, screwed the pooch thus far.