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After months of delays, product detail changes, and other reasons for European gamers to grumble against Sony, the PS3 has finally launched in Sony's largest European market, the United Kingdom.

Though only a few hardcore fans took to sleeping on the pavement in order to secure a console, the line did improve as the midnight launch at an Oxford Virgin Megastore drew closer. And those truly rabid fans found themselves with a terrific pay-off for their determination to get a console at launch. No, silly, not the mere fact of having a console at launch. Mere minutes before midnight, a Sony rep announced that everyone already in line would receive not only a complimentary copy of the game Resistance: Fall of Man, but a 46" Bravia plasma HDTV.

Clearly, the PS3 launch went well for those who chose to show up for the midnight launch, and this is an unprecedented show of generosity on the part of a company that has been known to void a user's warranty if they admit to using 3rd-party AV cables. But as much as I wish I'd been in that line, what does this really say about Sony? Isn't giving away free plasma TVs for buying a video game system kind of like handing out cookies to secure votes for prom queen?

Source: GameSpot

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Veni, vidi, dormivi.

Quote (karasuman @ 23rd March 2007 10:12)

Isn't giving away free plasma TVs for buying a video game system kind of like handing out cookies to secure votes for prom queen?

Maybe. But I'll be damned if I don't like my cookies.

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"We're not tools of the government or anyone else. Fighting... fighting was the only thing I was ever good at, but at least I always fought for what I believed in." - Frank Yeager (a.k.a. Grey Fox)

Quote (karasuman @ 23rd March 2007 16:12)

After months of delays, product detail changes, and other reasons for European gamers to grumble against Sony, the PS3 has finally launched in Sony's largest European market, the United Kingdom.

Though only a few hardcore fans took to sleeping on the pavement in order to secure a console, the line did improve as the midnight launch at an Oxford Virgin Megastore drew closer. And those truly rabid fans found themselves with a terrific pay-off for their determination to get a console at launch. No, silly, not the mere fact of having a console at launch. Mere minutes before midnight, a Sony rep announced that everyone already in line would receive not only a complimentary copy of the game Resistance: Fall of Man, but a 46" Bravia plasma HDTV.

Clearly, the PS3 launch went well for those who chose to show up for the midnight launch, and this is an unprecedented show of generosity on the part of a company that has been known to void a user's warranty if they admit to using 3rd-party AV cables. But as much as I wish I'd been in that line, what does this really say about Sony? Isn't giving away free plasma TVs for buying a video game system kind of like handing out cookies to secure votes for prom queen?

Source: GameSpot

WOW.... free tv??? hah, here's an idea for Sony in the American market.

Bundle the PS3 with a 54in HDTV plasma screen, and a Lay-Z-Boy chair.....hah

*might be a big box to carry home though....

On one hand, it's a way of awarding their loyal or "die hard" UK fans, who have waited through so many setbacks for the system.

On the other hand, it's a lame attempt at an "I'm sorry".

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Join the Army, see the world, meet interesting people - and kill them.

~Pacifist Badge, 1978

Bugger the £2500/$4900 tellys, they gave every customer a free taxi home. In LONDON. That's like twice the cost of the TVs... And that's just reaching the end of the STREET.

Reception elsewhere in Europe and Down Under was apparently poor according to the BBC, and Microsoft have won "cheekiest scamps of the year" award. By going around launch events with things like boats laden with adverts, seats with web adresses leading to a message telling Sony they're late, etc...

Though the latter's a bit unfair. Sony's EARLY, and that's whats causing them damage.A year's delay on release and leaving PS2 to handle itself would have led to lauch titles that meant something. Only time will tell. Presuming the black hackney carriages in London Town which even now are driving non cockneys around the east end pretending to be lost aren't slowly brankrupting the company as their meter ticks onwards...

Incedentally, some of those gamespot comments are painful. $425 pounds sterling? Get off my internet until you can use the £ symbol.

This post has been edited by Del S on 23rd March 2007 20:15

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"Only the dead have seen the end of their quotes being misattributed to Plato."
-George Santayana

"The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here..."
-Abraham Lincoln, prior to the discovery of Irony.

The TV certainly seems like more of an apology than an incentive, since future buyers won't get one. I wonder if launch crowds might've looked a little more impressive if Sony had pre-announced the TV deal (probably more violent!)

Sony probably could leave the PS2 to fend for itself for a little longer, but it's already been some time since it outsold the newer rival consoles (according to figures I read a while back from America and Japan - no link, sorry). Sony are Microsoft are both early, in a sense, because of the currently poor uptake of HDTV - buyers don't seem to be thinking "This new console will be great now and even better once I have an HDTV" so much as "There's no point getting one until I have an HDTV, and there aren't many other convincing reasons to shell out for an HDTV just now, so I'll wait." If you think that way, neither the 360 or PS3 have much of a selling point, and suddenly the "underpowered" Wii seems like the only real choice. But given that the 360 now outsells the PS2, it seems like Sony needs to try and close that gap sooner rather than later.

Let's not forget, though, that the PS2 didn't exactly have an awesome launch lineup either. It didn't really come into its own for at least a year, if I remember rightly. But the PS2 didn't have the massive Internet backlash to hold it back, either - it was vastly cheaper, and almost completely backward compatible, which led to its installation in many homes before it had anything much to recommend it in its own right, which encouraged the development of exclusive software. It was also the first to market of its generation (unless you include the poor Dreamcast, which really did seem to arrive too soon) so there wasn't really a fight to catch up with anything.

It's still far from clear who'll ultimately be thought of as king of the hill by the time the next round of consoles arrive. I'd be surprised if Sony didn't recover somewhat from its early stumbles, but I'd be even more surprised if the PS3 ran away with the market to the same degree as its predecessors did.

This post has been edited by Tiddles on 24th March 2007 13:26

Oh yes, it's here, woohoo!
Here are some of my first thoughts on playing the PS3! I haven't actually bought one, but had a good old go on my friend's one for more than 12 hours.

PS3 controllers
Firstly the controllers are a great improvement on the old controllers believe it or not. Less than half the weight, no wires, good battery life, with no need to purchase actual batteries, and no pointless dual shock!
Plus the back shoulder buttons are more like triggers which should appeal to some.
Oh yes, and the motion sensor ability is OK. It is quite amusing to have to shake the controller like mad in order to put yourself out if you are on fire.
Not exactly innovative but it does it's job perfectly.
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Which brings me to the two games I tested.

Resistance: Fall Of Man



The most popular first person shooter on the PS3. That's not hard considering how many there currently are. So how good is it?

I would say the graphics are equal to Half Life 2. Very smooth and basically perfect. AI? That's good as well. I haven't seen any examples of absolute brilliance yet, but the aliens you fight do not make it easy for you and try many different tactics in fighting you.

There are a lot of fun weapons and there is a great amount of choice for multi-player modes. The on-line mode is by far the best I have ever seen for an on-line shooter and was extremely fun!
Plus there is an excellent bonus of not having to wait ages to set up a battle. You can just be thrown straight in with ten or more people of a similar skill level from all over Europe.

This is immensely satisfying compared to the way most on-line games are set up. Basically this game gets 10/10 without a doubt.
There were some problems with the server and a few errors. I am assuming this was due to the server suddenly having to cope with so much at once on launch day and not being properly prepared for it. Hopefully these kinks should be ironed out in the next couple of days. Either that, or it is down to my friend's Internet connection not being very good, lol.

It has a nice co-operative mode as well, and that is always a good thing.

MotorStorm



A racing game, now I don't often play these, but when there's lots of fun crashes, it can be great fun, and this one is.

The boost button adds a nice extra dimension to the game-play. Use it too much, and your engine might explode! It can be particularly helpful when going round corners. It's all about devising a strategy of when to use it. Plus there is attempting to feed your opponents into walls or rocks and pushing them off cliffs. Plus on motor and quad bikes you can attempt to punch people off.

The closest game to this is obviously the Burnout series, but I find this a lot more enjoyable. It's off road, you have more vehicles on the track, and there's no stress factor. It's simply great fun.

Plus the difference in vehicles you can choose from is pretty impressive. You can have huge trucks, motorcycles, quad bikes, rally cars, buggies, etc all on the same track. The graphics of course are perfect.

The area this game fails in is having no split screen mode. But it does make up for this with on-line 12 player mode, which of course, is great fun. 9/10. It loses a point for no split screen mode. But it is a brilliant game.

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These are the only two games that I found of any particular interest. They will soon be joined by many more though, and I look forward to trying them as well!

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'Let that be a lesson to all oppressive vegetable sellers.'

I'm just surprised that the ps3 is not sold out.
It's really odd that i didn't see any news on TV on before the launch day.
On the launch day i only saw one news programme newsround (For kids) talking about it.

And why is japan and America ps3s are cheaper than the UK.
Rip-off britain strikes again!!


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FF7- 10/10
FF8- urr.. i thought the ending was great.
FF9 9/10

microsoft are really trying everything to use the ps3 launch in europe to it's advantage


MS sends CVG the difference between 360 and PS3... in beer!

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=160496

£146 worth of beer because thats what you could buy with the cost difference between the x-box 360 and ps3

OR the £146 could buy you the wireless network adaptor, a proper cooling system
and 1080p conection for your tv
which the ps3 already has

I'm no fanboy (i have a 360) but the ps3 is waay better value for money
with no powerbrick and next gen blu-ray

The only game I've played on the PS3 is Motorstorm, but I was pretty disappointed with it. The game looks fantastic, but it didn't provide any appreciable sense of speed (quite often it would drop below the 30 fps mark), and although it certainly *looked* chaotic, it never really *felt* like it was. All in all I think I liked Excite Truck more.

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SPEKKIO: "GRRR...That was most embarrassing!"

HMV here isn't even sold out of them, amusingly. I know two people who've bought them, one of whom was far more impressed by the Wii and the other hasn't been heard from since the release. With the exclusivity of titles in discussion, I've absolutely no incentive to buy one, especially at that price. Free TV or not.

Those are some pretty crazy sales figures. 165,000 in two days. So what does this mean? I've read that we British supposedly "don't keep track of gaming" like everyone else, hence the reason we don't care about backwards compatibility, price, and the late arrival of the machine. Or that we're all Sony (because we always buy their cameras and TVs) fanboys who don't want to even look at the competition.

It's difficult to determine why the PS3 has sold better than the 360 and Wii in the same space of time. An obvious reason would be because of the high supply; I've never actually seen a Wii on a shelf. Perhaps we really do always go for the most expensive option and "you pay for what you get". Or possibly because of the late arrival, in my experience, of gaming until the PSX - a willingness to stay to what we know. Maybe it's just because we don't care as much about corporate drama and have other issues that take a higher priority than the dreaded $ony stealing our precious release date! I don't really know.

In fact, those two paragraphs are basically the same reasons, but with a different angle.


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Scepticism, that dry rot of the intellect, had not left one entire idea in his mind.

Me on the Starcraft.

I would say that supply certainly has something to do with it. If you wanted evidence that we "don't keep track" well, though - well, that very article claims that the previous holder was the PSP, which nobody seems to want anywhere else in the world.

I don't think it's over priced at all. In fact several people I have spoken to have stated they believe it's so under priced for what it can do, they find it suspicous.

It's by far the cheapest blue ray player on the market, it's the most powerful games console in the world and you can use it to surf the Internet, probably not quite as well as a nerd would want, but I like the fact the option is there.

Yes it's the most expensive next gen' console, but I think it's well worth the money.
Anyway, as always I find the ultimate argument revolves around the most obvious question, 'Will you enjoy the games it offers and how they can be played on the console?'

For me it's a resounding yes.
As others have stated, you are paying for quality, and that's exactly what you get.

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'Let that be a lesson to all oppressive vegetable sellers.'

I personally think the Ministry of Defence might have bought a few PS3's considering they've been spending some dosh on this kind of thing. Probably for cheap guidance mechanisms for the Trident replacement.

Of course, guidance mechanism for a sodding great nuclear missile or no, it's still an investment just now as opposed to Xbox360 which might never have HD gaming and the Wii which is the last generation with a new twist in the controller. The trouble is, some people want a games console and not an investment.

Wonder if it's backwards compatible with our current warheads...

This post has been edited by Del S on 27th March 2007 18:44

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"Only the dead have seen the end of their quotes being misattributed to Plato."
-George Santayana

"The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here..."
-Abraham Lincoln, prior to the discovery of Irony.

Something just struck me. Resistance: Fall of Man takes place in Britain. As far as I'm aware, there isn't a single game on the other consoles that does. Maybe that has some degree of incentive in the UK. To be honest, I'd prefer a multiplayer map that takes place in "Northern Great Britain" to one in an abandoned sewer system or something along those lines.

Also, back in school, we had a PS2 in our common room where we played PES4 and 5 during every study and break - my over-play of football games actually produced some results in the real world! I remember somebody saying how his friend had an Xbox. This brought people to say: "too far". Maybe that's what it is. The PS series is actually cool. Also, in a pub (just off the Royal Mile if you're going ) they're waiting for the PS3 before they open tournaments. For some reason they refuse to do it with Wii sports or 360 sports games.

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Scepticism, that dry rot of the intellect, had not left one entire idea in his mind.

Me on the Starcraft.

Quote (sweetdude @ 27th March 2007 16:44)

Something just struck me. Resistance: Fall of Man takes place in Britain. As far as I'm aware, there isn't a single game on the other consoles that does. Maybe that has some degree of incentive in the UK. To be honest, I'd prefer a multiplayer map that takes place in "Northern Great Britain" to one in an abandoned sewer system or something along those lines.

Also, back in school, we had a PS2 in our common room where we played PES4 and 5 during every study and break - my over-play of football games actually produced some results in the real world! I remember somebody saying how his friend had an Xbox. This brought people to say: "too far". Maybe that's what it is. The PS series is actually cool. Also, in a pub (just off the Royal Mile if you're going ) they're waiting for the PS3 before they open tournaments. For some reason they refuse to do it with Wii sports or 360 sports games.

If anything, I'd imagine the British would take offense to Resistance. Here you have the bumbling British army getting their asses kicked by a bunch of mutated Russians, but wait! It's Captain America himself, Nathan Hale! In this alternate world, jingoistic Americans can brag about how they saved Britain as well as France!

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SPEKKIO: "GRRR...That was most embarrassing!"