PlayStation 3 = 4,000 yuan (plus airfare)

by Alan Rose { Nov 13th 2006 at 12:30PM }

...surprising Sony's Ken Kutaragi = priceless. Even though the PC is the preferred gaming platform in China, there are still a few Chinese gamers willing to go the extra mile to obtain a shiny new console. Or an extra thousand miles in the case of this adventurous young man and his pursuit of a PlayStation 3. The gung ho gamer somehow managed to circumvent the mob of Japanese fanboys and ended up being first in line at a BIC Camera store on launch day. The reward for his efforts was a hand-off from Kutaragi-san himself. Does this remind anyone else of the Grinch carving and distributing the Who roast beast?

While this event is unlikely to ease historical tensions between the two Asian nations, it is reminiscent of a similar scene during the PlayStation Portable launch. On a flight from Narita to Shanghai in January of last year, I sat next to two Chinese teenagers who were on the return leg of a one-day trip to Tokyo. The reason for their visit? To snag a pair of new PSPs that had launched just a few weeks earlier. They played them the entire flight and didn't look up once.

[Thanks, DarkMirage]

Tags: chinese gamer, Ken Kutaragi, PlayStation 3, ps3, ps3 launch

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Todd @ Nov 13th 2006 12:34PM

Didn't Bill Gates do something like this too with the 360 launch?

Kamalot @ Nov 13th 2006 12:37PM

Read this article to get the full story.

http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/top/foreigners-and-fights-ps3-jpn-launchs-dark-side-214130.php

"Hardcore gamers are not here waiting in line overnight, buying a first-run PS3, and running home to play some good old next-gen gaming. Rather, opportunistic Japanese businessmen have the largest presence, hiring poor Chinese men and women to wait in line for a PS3, one which will later be sold on web auctions to wealthy gamers around the world for exorbitant amounts of money."

rpg_gamer @ Nov 13th 2006 12:42PM

Depends on what you believe, Kamalot. Not all Chinese people are penniless, and the author sharing his own account of meeting well-to-do Chinese youth on a plane would support another theory. It's really not that surprising.

Spilt_Milk @ Nov 13th 2006 12:43PM

Yeah, the poor chinese were hired by businessmen to stand in line so these machines could be sold for thousands at auction.

WHAT A GREAT LAUNCH!

360gamer @ Nov 13th 2006 12:46PM

Maybe there's hope for Microsoft yet for the Chinese market. Although, I don't recall hearing about such enthusiasm when the 360 launched over there.

Groovy Guy @ Nov 13th 2006 12:48PM

Go to Kotaku to get the real story, and yes rpg_gamer it is true. The guy reporting (who wasn't from Kotaku, but just someone reporting via email), saw all these people hand off the consoles for money. Better correct this story Alan.

bonz @ Nov 13th 2006 12:51PM

Hey Groovy,
Why don't you go to Kotaku and stop hanging around here. thanks.

x876543 @ Nov 13th 2006 12:57PM

Maddox on Sony, Lik-Sang, and the PSP:

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=sony_bullshit

goldbug @ Nov 13th 2006 1:00PM

Yeah, that whole Lik-Sang thing was garbage. Sony has become a victim of their own success. This next generation is for the taking if MS or Nintendo wants to stand up.

icruise @ Nov 13th 2006 1:00PM

Yeah, unless joystiq has specific information that this guy came from China just for the PS3, I think it's more likely that he was one of the ones who were either buying the console to resell or who were hired to buy it by scalpers. Not that I'm necessarily condemning that, but it's a bit different from the "flew all the way from China for a PS3" idea.

Tesla @ Nov 13th 2006 1:02PM

I'd just like to remind everyone that Kamalot is a extreme Nintendo fanboy who only posts to express his constant anti Sony opinion.

Basically, he should be ignored like all the other fanboys. Unfortunately that never happens anyway because most people here are a bunch of fanboys, some much worse than others. That and joystiq has become a fanboy inciting blog on purpose to get hits for ad revenue.

dalong @ Nov 13th 2006 1:09PM

Hey iCruise, I'm from China and I flew to Tokyo shortly after the PS2 launch to buy one. Is that proof enough for you? It's common for Chinese people with means to make shopping trips to Tokyo to purchase products they can't buy on the mainland. Especially with the recent difficulties traveling to Taiwan.

voghan @ Nov 13th 2006 1:14PM

From the Kataku story this guy and several other chinese in line were only buying the system for other people. Who knows maybe the person was welthy and wanted to make sure his kid for a PS3 or maybe he just wanted to throw it up on ebay. It's hard to know for sure. I do wonder how much PS3 is going for at online auctions.

Pixelantes Anonymous @ Nov 13th 2006 1:15PM

"Depends on what you believe, Kamalot"

The author of that Kotaku article followed the Chinese "gamers" to where they handed the PS3s over to one of the "businessmen" who paid them to line up for the PS3s.

fanbiggie @ Nov 13th 2006 1:21PM

NEWSFLASH! This just in: Kotaku is a credible source of world news with pulitzer prize-winning journalism.

These are blogs, people. They're fun, sometimes informative time-wasters. You want inside information, call deepthroat.

easternpwn @ Nov 13th 2006 1:26PM

You're right, voghan and pixelantes. All Chinese people are poor and need to goldfarm, and get paid to stand in lines in order to make a living.

In fact, I'd better get back to begging right now so I can put food on the table for dinner tonight! Excuse me, I'm drowning in stereotypes.

icruise @ Nov 13th 2006 1:29PM

dalong, I believe that it has happened and there may well have been some Chinese people who did it. But to just assume that because the guy was Chinese that he flew to Japan specifically to buy a PS3 seems to ignore the facts that we know from the kotaku article. (And while kotaku may not be the best source of information in the world, I'd put them one rank above "darkmirage.com")

Phanman @ Nov 13th 2006 1:29PM

I don't believe this is a pissing match between Kotaku and Joystiq. Based on what I've read about the PS3 launch from multiple sources, it seems that many Chinese homeless people and students were in fact hired by wealthy Japanese business men to wait in line and buy a PS3 for scalping purposes.

Multiple sources have reported that the Chinese guy purchased no games for his brand new system. I know Sony is saying this is more than a game system, but you would think the guy would buy at least 1 game for his new game system if he wanted to play it.

goldbug @ Nov 13th 2006 1:35PM

@Phanman, who are your multiple sources? I'd be interested in reading them.

Phanman @ Nov 13th 2006 2:05PM

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=69868

http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/5504/6528/Sony-playstation-3-japan-launch.phtml

I misspoke when I said multiple sources said the first guy bought no games. I do have multiple sources though beyond Kotaku which comment on the fact Chinese people were hired to stand in line.

While nothing is particularly hard evidence, it is more than one place reporting it and not merely them linking the Kotaku article.

goldbug @ Nov 13th 2006 2:13PM

Appreciate the links, but there's nothing in either one of those articles that suggests that this partciular guy was one of the ones who was paid. In fact, the second source (Pocket-lint)isn't even sure:

"However some reports online suggest that the mainstay of the crowds weren't hardened gamers keen to get home and play the latest games, but Chinese men and women paid to stand in line so wealthy Japanese Businessmen and women could sell the new console in online auctions for vast sums of profit."

This is no better than Kotaku, really. Sounds like nobody knows for sure as everyone seems to be getting their info from "some reports online".

zsavior @ Nov 13th 2006 2:19PM

HOLY CRAP! Ummm Listen at this point and time I don't
know what to say. I really don't either Joystiq is falling off hard, or I don't even want to voice the rest ok. But just incase you don't want to beleive Kotaku it was also here.

http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/nov2006/gb20061112_045318.htm

This is business week, it is a very reputable source and they are chastizing sony. I dont know where this happy spin came from. But I am kind of in shock right now, I am not trying to imply anything, but this story is pretty straight forward. And some how journalistic
gaming blogs are either not reporting it, or spinning it as if Sony is reaching the world. I have said it before and I say it again,gaming journalism can't be trusted, because the people that fund them are the people they are reporting on.

I doubt DTOID, or 1up, or ign or gamespot will say anything either. Nor will magazines like EMG, or Game Informer. If you want to be a fanboy and talk trash about BW go ahead, but they have no reason to lie, and page two will tell you everthing you need to know. I have nothing whimsical or eloquent to say. just read the article and judge for yourself. How did Joystiq get such a happy orderly video of the launch in japan, yet two different media sources from the same stand point got quite the opposite view. JUDGE FOR YOURSELF.

billy @ Nov 13th 2006 2:21PM

next generation is MS/Nintendo for the taking? when 360 can barely outsell PS2? or how bout the $250 Wii looks like a gamecube on steroids? wheres my xbox1 and GC games been for the last 1.5 years, MS/Nintendo? give me one good reason why i should pay $50/year to play online like a schmuck when i been doing so for free on PC for last 10 years? tell me why i should by Zelda for wii when it shoulda launched on the dead gamecube 12 months ago?

ThePete @ Nov 13th 2006 2:30PM

"The reason for their visit? To snag a pair of new PSPs that had launched just a few weeks earlier. They played them the entire flight and didn't look up once."

Well, that can't be true--there's no way the PSP batteries would have lasted the entire flight.

D'OH!

Yeah, I read the Kotaku post over the weekend. This is kind of old news, even if the "Chinese guys paid to buy the PS3" isn't true. Just my opinion, but maybe it's irrelevant since I'm such an obvious Nintendo fanboy for pointing out something negative about the PSP. Clearly, if someone is a fan of something, his/her judgement is completely crap if he/she criticizes a competitor.

rpg_gamer @ Nov 13th 2006 2:35PM

It's truly entertaining how some of you are reacting to this. This is nothing more than a commentary on a photo. When you consider the fact that Chinese people do in fact know how to travel and play video games -- and the author has firsthand experience in witnessing this, what's the BFD? But please, don't let me stop you from making idiots out of yourselves.

I've yet to see any sources that claim that this specific person was one of the acknowledged Chinese populace that was paid to stand in line. I guess out of the 1 billion Chinese people on this earth, not one of them legitimately purchased a PS3 that day.

icruise @ Nov 13th 2006 2:45PM

I clicked on the photos above for the first time and saw the Japanese article about the launch (before I just clicked the "Read" link that took me to darkmirage.com).

The Japanese caption says "The person who bought the first PS3 came from China. He said he was still thinking about which game to buy."

Whether "came from China" means that he came specifically from China to buy the PS3 or whether he was just "from China" is not really clear (and it's likely that the writer of the article didn't grill him for specifics). But it is odd that someone coming all the way from China to buy a PS3 wouldn't already have a game in mind, so it seems to jibe with what was said in the kotaku article.

dalong @ Nov 13th 2006 2:49PM

Ahhh, well I guess that settles it then. The poor kid must be a phony because he wasn't sure which game he wanted to buy. And, I'm sure the excitement of meeting the man who created the PlayStation and having hundreds of cameras on him didn't make him nervous, or tongue-tied, or anything like that!

icruise @ Nov 13th 2006 2:57PM

Listen. What I am saying is this:

If you do not specifically know that this guy came to Japan specifically to buy a PS3, don't write a blog entry about it! Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. But a site like Joystiq pretends to be a news source, and it's looking an awful lot like they have no source for this story.

If the guy did come all the way from China, then great. That's an interesting story and I'd like to know more. But for crying out loud, you can't just make up details like that!

reefer @ Nov 13th 2006 3:09PM

@icruise, a couple things, cuz you're obviously a newb:

1. This has already been explained numerous times in other posts, but Joystiq is not a "news" site.

2. The sources for posts come from postings on other sites and tips from readers that point to posts on other sites. Commentary ensues. Accusations are sometimes made by people like you.

If you don't like it, don't read it.

icruise @ Nov 13th 2006 3:21PM

I never said it was a news site in the traditional sense, but it is a news source. It conducts interviews with people in the industry, writes articles that influence public opinion, and pays people to write for it. I think that along with that should come some responsibility to, you know, not make stuff up from whole cloth. I'm not saying that they have to fly out and interview the Chinese guy. What I AM saying is that their source for this story said nothing more than "the guy is Chinese" and somehow Joystiq managed to turn this into a story about a guy who flew all the way from China for his PS3.

Oh yeah, I'm a "newb." Real mature.

dalong @ Nov 13th 2006 3:23PM

icruise, how do you prove a negative? The burden of proof is on those looking to prove that this kid was paid to stand in line. If this person, or anyone else was followed and seen doing a public hand-off for cash, doesn't it seem odd that no witnesses bothered to take any photos of these alleged transactions? There probably were instances of this happening, but who should you be questioning here reagrding this particular kid?

The author of the post seems to be going on a few facts: the coast of China is about a thousand miles from Tokyo. He has seen firsthand Chinese gamers traveling to Tokyo to buy Sony products -- to play and enjoy for themselves. Pretty easy to put two and two together from there. Much easier to believe than the conspiracy theory you're subscribing to.

icruise @ Nov 13th 2006 3:30PM

Let's just forget the whole kotaku "Chinese scalper" thing and focus on the issue at hand. Joystiq went from "the first buyer was Chinese" to "OMG this guy flew from China to buy a PS3!" But in fact the odds are MUCH greater than this particular Chinese guy lives in Japan (many Chinese people do). That is all I am saying. You're right that they can't assume that he was paid to buy the machine. But you also can't assume that he flew to Japan just to buy it. Does that make sense? So in other words, unless you have more information than the darkmirage.com post, these is NO STORY here.

ct_mushroom @ Nov 13th 2006 3:30PM

Hey, icruise. The next time I see a Chinese person standing in line to buy a game console in New York city, I'm going to follow them and see if they do a hand-off. Because there's no way a Chinese person would fly half-way around the world just to buy a game system. Oh, wait, there's a Chinatown in NYC. Never mind.

icruise @ Nov 13th 2006 3:36PM

Please do me the courtesy of actually reading what I am saying before you make a knee-jerk response.

goldbug @ Nov 13th 2006 3:38PM

Well, there's definitely a story here. Crazy Ken waiting to greet one of his fellow nationals at the PS3's debut, and this kid comes up and says, "ni hao". That's awesome!

skippy @ Nov 13th 2006 3:51PM

Hey, maybe icruise is Tom Cruise.

MATT LAUER: But-- but Tom, if he said that this PlayStation 3 helped him feel better, isn't that enough?

iCRUISE: No, no, Matt.

MATT LAUER: I understand there's abuse of all of these things.

iCRUISE: Here's the problem. You don't know the history of Chinese people purchasing Japanese consoles. I do.

=)

Ayamikojima5 @ Nov 13th 2006 5:28PM

"While this event is unlikely to ease historical tensions between the two Asian nations"

lol @ that
Too bad though.

Adam_Kadmon @ Nov 13th 2006 7:37PM

If you think this person bought the PS3 for himself, you're retarded. Mainly because he didn't actually buy anything to go WITH the console (which might not be surprising, since all the launch titles suck), but what hardcore gamer traveling from China would buy a brand new PS3 and no games for it? So they could go back home, plug it in, and stare at the OS? Sounds pretty hardcore to me.

killr0y @ Nov 13th 2006 7:49PM

My sentiments exactly, Adam. You don't fly to another country for a PS3 and not buy any games to actually play on it. Furthermore, why were there so many scroungy looking 60 year old chinese people in line? If they were so well-to-do, why did they smell like rotten cabbage?

Gee, Sony wouldn't spin this story around to make them look like they invented a cure for cancer now, would they?

darko82 @ Nov 13th 2006 8:28PM

Adam, you're as gullible as the rest, but Killroy might be on to something. This is probably pure Sony/media spin to justify shortages. If someone gave you $600 to stand in line, would you actually do it, or would you take the money and run? You think businessman actually paid people to stand in line for hours? How could they be sure the person wouldn't just leave with their cash? They obviously didn't watch them the whole time or they would just stand in line themselves.

And then the obvious question: HOW DO YOU KNOW HE DIDN'T BUY ANY GAMES?? Were any of you actually there? As one commenter already said, all of the referenced online resources are reporting this secondhand. BTW, BusinessWeek exists to make $$ like any other company. Don't believe everything you read.

DarkMirage @ Nov 13th 2006 8:52PM

Hi, DM here.

I understand that my blog is not exactly credible, but I actually got the information from ITmedia:

http://plusd.itmedia.co.jp/games/articles/0611/11/news015.html

I think the reason why Joystiq linked to me instead of the original article is because mine is in English.

And as someone mentioned, the caption in the original article claims that the person was trying to decide what games to purchase.

ITmedia didn't give any further details, so it's up to you to believe in what you want to believe.