Europe's PS3 delay in quotes

I think I am going to have to get one of those HD-DVD addons for my Xbox 360, just to rub it in for Sony. Who cares if my TV can't play either one... Actually, I now can, cuz I got a $7,000 HD projector (for $450!) Plays up to 1080i.

You know, Sony will claim to have millions of Blu-Ray players in homes thanks to PS3, but only 5% will care enough to buy movies. That's the ceiling, since 95% of people can't watch Blu-Ray or HD-DVD since they don't have HDTV's. And 92% don't care.

HD-DVD buyers will care and will buy.

I like the quote about this being the beginning of the end for Sony dominance, though I suspect it was already written in stone in the conceptual phase... $900 in parts, $600 price tag is a hurdle no company could overcome. Sony will survive, but it can't dominate.

The worst news for Sony is PS4, which by necessity will need to be more powerful (and expensive) than PS3 or those people who are still Sony fans will not want to buy it. Can Sony really live up to 5D expectations? (If PS3 is already "4D"?)

Sony's strategy, while interesting, is a joke in the real world. Wait...and...see.

Sony will underprice Blu-Ray to start, but when they get the monopoly they will raise the price again.

You can't trust Sony.

Jed Merrill,

"... since 95% of people can't watch Blu-Ray or HD-DVD since they don't have HDTV's."

You can play Blu-ray and HD-DVD on any display device. What you won't get, however, is the benefits of moving to the new formats.

Back on topic.

PAl gamers used to accept delayed launches- they would grumble, yes, but unless they wanted to go down the import/ mod path (mod less important once PAL TVs started including NTSC/ PAL60) they just had to wait.

Now console gaming is focused on the online experience, and PAL gamers aren't accepting the delay anymore.

You part of a clan? Some of your fellow clan members won't be there for 4 months. Shift work gamer? The lobbys are going to be a hell of a lot less crowded for you. See that leaderboard of 'entitlements', or that high score list? They're not including some of the best gamers that are 4 months behind you.

And that is why the PAL launch is a shame not just for Europeans/ Australasians, but for North American and Japanese gamers too.

> # 48.
> only 5% will care enough to buy movies. That's the
> ceiling, since 95% of people can't watch Blu-Ray
> or HD-DVD since they don't have HDTV's. And 92%
> don't care.

Not quite.

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=574257

@LostToys
Don't get me wrong - I'm not going to be running out and buying Blue Ray OR HD-DVD discs. Why? Because I have a 24" CRT TV, and no sound system. Plus, I'd rather pay $10-$15 for my movies.

Even if I did have the system, I couldn't justify almost double the price for extra clarity. They are the same movies, tv shows, etc. I grew up watching VHS videos and playing games on a regular old tv, and all that hi-def stuff is not going to change how much fun those things are. I mean, sure it looks better, but I'm not going to put months of paychecks towards a better tv set... that is ridiculous.

All the fanboys buy into all the PR drivel about how Blue Ray is going to revolutionize gaming, but Blue Ray is just a trojan horse, sent into your house so you won't buy the other brand and Sony will gain control of the movie / media industry... and start demanding huge prices for that stuff too.

Anonymouse Rep -

That is a possible outcome, however, Sony still has considerable assets in credibility that they can spend. Sony is in a fairly ugly cash crisis right now with just enough to pay off their debt, assuming their collections of accounts recievable go as planned. This is assuming the actual production of the PS3 doesn't bring that ratio under 1 (meaning not enough resources to actually pay those debts without taking on even more expensive debt refinancing or selling off long term assets). Sony couldn't possibly provide two token shipments to regions less likely to buy the profit and cash generating game royalties. The 100,000 sacrifice to keep the Japanese crowd happy was a significant hit. Sony needed to maximize their software sales as soon as possible to avoid being unable to pay off obligations.

Here are the reasonings I figure they came up with.

*Japan is the top per capita game buying nation in the world, spending more per person than even the USA on software. However, the launch lineup for the PS3 is clearly dominated by Western-centric games: shooters, racers, sports, etc. Those games will not sell well in the Japanese market.

*Europe not only has the lowest attach rate of their already poor attach rate PS2, they're used to getting shafted on a regular basis (direct dollar to euro/pound pricing for example). Furthermore, Europeans are not apt to complain when someone/company/government screws them over. There is little reason to placate anything, they'll keep on coming back, even after the abuse. Sony knows this and can safely hold back on Europe, which has traditonally been the last to get anything good in the gaming world, with minimal to no effect.

*USA is not only getting the software they like, but they also buy a lot of games. Sony saw the US market as the big dog in terms of launch given what they have.

Sony has capital to spend when it comes to reputation, and they'll spend remarkably little when it comes to Europe. Remember, this is a continent that has been happily giving away its rights and freedoms to governments that are moving toward totalitarianism and getting raped on a regular basis via charge-per-megabyte internet and insanely high fuel prices without a single complaint (and many even take pride they have to spend 3 times as much as Americans to fuel up their cars), so Sony has little to worry about.

-Jed Merrill

Howed u get a projector so cheap?

The Blue Ray player is not worth the $1,000 price tag it has now... use some common sense dude.

it's sad to me that the reason for the launch delay is being completely ignored and overlooked: an unexpected diode shortage.

earlier stories had been saying that Sony was taking diodes (one of the key components of Blu Ray) from stand alone Blu Ray players and using them in the PS3 because it looked as if there weren't enough being manufactured to support the PS3 and stand alone Blu Ray players both (Sony isn't the only company producing Blu Ray players, either. other companies, like Panasonic are being affected by the diode shortage also). you can't forsee everything. up until the diode shortage, it was very much looking like Sony would be able to produce 2 million PS3s by November.

also, here is something that i mentioned in another forum: Why the US and JP over UK?

easy: the X Box 360 is selling the most over here: 4 million sold in the US, 1 million sold in the UK. the 360 is a non-issue in Japan.

so Sony ships the bulk of their launch ready consoles to the region where it needs to do the most damage and gain the most ground; the US.

even 100,000 PS3s delivered and sold in Japan will easily overtake the few thousand 360's that have sold there ( i think it's around 20,000 360's sold in Japan so far).

lets say Sony manages to manufacture 1.5 million more by December 2006, once again, the best place to send the bulk of those units would be the US (say 1 million, with the remaining 500,000 sent to Japan to cement the PS3's dominance over there. the Wii is a non-issue for Japanese gamers that want an uber-powerful console for all the flashy graphics and glitz that their Wii's won't be able to deliver).

once the PS3 sells out over here in the states (and we know it will), Sony will have sent a clear message to Microsoft: "We've sold out here in your home turf, imagine how many we'll sell in ours, where you have no presence at all once we make those units available."

Europeans also seem to be more patient and willing to wait for what they really want moreso than us arrogant Americans. if we don't get it when we want it, we balk, and go for the next thing (as evidenced by the sales spike of 360's when the PS3's launch delay and price were announced back in May).

this December, there will be some consumers that purchase a 360 because they can't get a PS3, but there will be many more that will simply wait until the December shipment, or, like me, wait until next year anyway before they plunk down the dough for a 360.

anyway, since the European market is more patient, them waiting a few months can only be a positive in the long run: by the time they get their systems, a lot of the manufacturing kinks will be worked out, and their units will be less likely to break down on them (not saying it won't happen, but there will be fewer than the US).

also, since Joystiq doesn't seem to want to put things into context with it's list of quotes; the same retailers expressing dissapointment in the delay also expressed some relief that the launch of the PS3 being delayed until March means that there will be a nice sales spike during that time, which is normally humdrum and slow.

this Christmas season will be fierce enough on the retail circuit, as sales of the Wii and 360, as well as a plethora of quality current gen games will be on shelves, vying for consumers attention and cash. the PS3 would be just another product to add to the chaos if released this holiday season.

with so much product on the shelves (new 360 games, new Wii console and games, new PS2 games), a lot of that product will be overlooked and overshadowed.

by the time the PS3 launches, that consumer rush will have leveled out, pocketbooks will have been refilled, and the hype surrounding the PS3 launch will begin to trickle in.

also, PS3 consumers in Europe will have a bigger selection of software to choose from compared to it's US and Japanese counterparts. on top of the PS3 games becoming available in November, in March, there will be Assassin's Creed, Stranglehold, Heavenly Sword, Brothers in Arms, Medal of Honor, Burnout, Def Jam, and Virtua Fighter 5, to name just a few.

it's not all doom and gloom, despite how the media around the net wants to sensationalize every single little tidbit that comes out (ie, "OMFG! NO HDMI CABLE FOR THE PS3!! PS3AMFAIL!"). people just seriously need to calm down and stop jumping on "insert-name-of-hated-console" bandwagons. enjoy what system(s) you enjoy and quit condemning other people for what they enjoy when or if it's different from yours.

and yeah, Europe has been left out again, but those that really want a PS3 will benefit in the end, due to higher quality hardware and software since their launch won't be rushed like ours.

wow, Figboy has just pwned all the fanboys who constatnly predict doom and gloom for sonys uber console on here! Xbots and wiitards have been HUMILIATED, LMFAO!!

Got a 360 yesterday after hearing about the PS3 delay in Oz. Looking forward to the Wii in the next month or two and will not bother with $ony again. If I'm walking out on $ony after owning every gaming device they've released in the last 10 years, they've got problems.

You are walking out on Sony because they could not produce the console on time? That is so damned childish I can't even begin to write a proper retort.

There is no advantage to snuffing a console, because there will always be exclusives that you can't take advantage of without it.

Iceland is missing on that map >_

I realise this is an english language blog, but shouldn't the title of this article relate be: 'UK's PS3 delay in quotes"? Last time I checked there were other countries in Europe.

I think that too many people have misread the analyst reports on this next gen battle. A victory for MS or Nin is not to sell more units than sony. Even with the missteps that sony has made that has little chance in happening. The victory comes in the reduction of sony share to less than dominant numbers. As the most profitable division with such a thin profit margin a strategic victory is what competitors are looking for. Unfortunately this may not coincide with the fanboy in all of us. Who i feel for is the sony investors that are weeping the whirlwind of consequences. It would not be surprising to see a suit against sony similar to the options backdating problems seen by THQ and other tech companies.

Seems that Sony is doing the Commodore flip flop. First they created the mighty Amiga 500 and then everything after that more or less sucked until the whole company collapsed. Anyone still remember the CDTV?

Sony Computer Entertainment is right now doing a similar suicide with this overpriced gizmo with overpriced unwanted features / lame controller / broken promises and a taste of shit in the customers mouth.

At the same time XBOX 360 gains more and more satisfyied customers, a great numbers of titles and working support.

Sony, am so sorry but you fucked it up.

"The reason the USA is so prioritized is because that $12 trillion economy is so homogonized. Companies basically only have to make one product and they just reached a massive audience. Companies don't have to build German versions, UK versions (I know the UK isn't really part of the EU, but bear with me for a bit), French versions, etc."

Thats funny, arent there more Latin speakin people in the USA than the whole of Europe?

Try comparing your gaming sums in terms of the UK vs USA.

Also you weird Japanophiles, Japan represents probably 15-20% of the gamers in the world, top. See that hit single digits as Korea, China, India and SE Asia slowly move head of the Japanese market.

LaughingTarget

Erm I dunno which EU you're thinking of or which UK you're thinking of but the UK is deffinately part of the EU and a part of europe. So yeah technically the UK is part of the EU

As for this whole PS3 delay, Sony are fucking us euro gamers over and I'm getting pissed off. I really love final fantasy and thats one of the reasons I want a PS3 but this delay is getting stupid now

toysoldier - UK has resisted total EU assimilation. They still have the Pound and not the Euro for example. The UK is an outlier in the whole EU thing and I can't really consider it a full EU member since the UK still does its own thing, especially in regards to trade. Even politically, the UK is far more friendly toward the USA than the mainland EU nations are. It is hard to consider the UK a EU member when the UK hardly abides by most of the provisions.

Ben Hobbs - While there is a considerable population that speaks Spanish (not Latin, it is no longer a language being spoken as a day-to-day language), the bulk of that population is fluent in English. That isn't the case in Europe. There isn't one language that is nearly universally spoken by everyone like in the US.

SnakeDanteCloud_HolyTrinity said "They want to play that real shit, the GTAs, the Devil may cry's, the Metal Gear Solid, the Final Fantasies, the Gran Turismo, the Guitar Hero, etc. All the badass games that made gaming cool, and took it out of the realm of nerds, fanboys and other dorks."

Are you serious? With the exception of GT, how can you brag about games that are not exclusive to the PS3. Sony wouldn't be around if it wern't for 3rd parties. I'm sure you've noticed many of sony's cherished 3rd parties jumping ship and taking their games else where. Not to mention the gameplay for these games has not changed since the originals. You play one you've played them all. How can you be excited about the sames games with the same controller on a system that will cost you an arm and a leg. Frankly, I dont understand why people continue to buy into Sony's conventionalism. I hope you don't consider your self a real gamer. A true gamer wouldn't buy into this Sony hype. A true gamer know's when they're being fed a bunch of bullshit. A true gamer seeks out new challenges, experiences and never accepts conformity.