Australian PS3 launch underwhelming
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Mar 22nd 2007 at 7:30PM }
Today is tomorrow in Australia. Not just is it tomorrow, but it's coming on noon. According to The Sydney Morning Herald the PlayStation 3 launched last night with "officials, media and security outnumbering customers." The 500 retailers on the continent opened their doors for a midnight launch and despite the estimated 20,000 pre-orders "most stores were virtually deserted."The Herald says even the official launch event at Myer's Pitt Street store had only 40 people in line at midnight "causing distress for the army of camera crews who turned up expecting to capture launch mayhem." The gentlemen who ended up being first in line showed up at 9 PM. Adding insult to injury, television producers "unashamedly" had the crowd fake cheer for the cameras. A local radio station even had their on-air talent create "bogus cheers" to convince listeners that a major event was going on. Looks like the hype accompanying the U.S. launch has all but vanished. We'll get a better picture of the PS3 PAL release later this evening when reports of the European launch trickle in. Maybe the land down under is just full of Xbox and Nintendo fanboys?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
ALH @ Mar 22nd 2007 7:38PM
isnt the ps3 $1000 down there? I'd not be rushing to buy one either if i was an aussie tbh
sergo @ Mar 22nd 2007 7:46PM
Oh man, I kind of feel bad for Sony now. I just saw video of it and the whole event looks dissapointmenting.
Raikage @ Mar 22nd 2007 7:42PM
I thought the Playstation brand was popular down under. Guess I was wrong.
@1 That isn't US currency is it?!
mike @ Mar 22nd 2007 7:51PM
Its a 1000 AUD not US...
Anyway gamespot just had a live interview with their uk site who are at the london launch... there are 650 PS3's available and 200 people have turned up
Xeres @ Mar 22nd 2007 7:48PM
No, that is Aus currency, not US. Still it works out to be over US$760 though. Serves Sony right, if they are arrogant enough to think people will throw $1000 for a console based on name alone, they deserve to fail this generation.
Psaakyrn @ Mar 22nd 2007 7:49PM
No, the $1000 is Aus currency, but when something reaches that number of digits, it's pretty darned expensive. (though granted, the Wii's not exactly cheap either.. but when you can get a 2nd hand gamecube at 10% the price, it's a rather large difference.)
Mats @ Mar 22nd 2007 7:58PM
After waiting 3 months for it (after everyone else got it), having Sony force retailers not to export PS3 to PAL areas, having a MUCH higher retail price, after getting a worse system with back.comp. wise and no 20gig version, did they really expect it to do any other way?
I think you will see a shower of identical reports tomorrow morning after the EU launch.
3cubedminus3squared @ Mar 22nd 2007 7:53PM
Poor Sony. Oh well, maybe if sells blow hard in Europe and Australia, Sqeenix will have no choice but to bring FFXIII over to the 360.
Joshua @ Mar 22nd 2007 7:55PM
"Maybe the land down under is just full of Xbox and Nintendo fanboys?"
Or maybe they just realized that there is hardly any reason to buy a PS3, especially not for the prices they have to deal with.
Phil @ Mar 23rd 2007 1:07AM
The PS2 launched @ $1000 AU here. It was selling massive quantities as well (partly due to it being released at Christmas).
People are just underwhelmed by the PS3. The $1000 price tag doesn't help either.
Raikage @ Mar 22nd 2007 7:58PM
Thanks. I forgot I have a widget that converts currency. As of 6am this morning it comes to $806.60 US and 605.33 Euros. OUCH! I hope they make more money down there lol!
I love my mac....
Virtua Fanboy @ Mar 22nd 2007 7:58PM
Well my workdays coming to a slow close so let me end it on Joystiq by commenting on this story:
Dooooooommmmmm...Glloooooommmm! LOL
trankzen @ Mar 22nd 2007 8:00PM
It isn't better in France.
I've been watching the launch event here in Paris. It was absolutely pathetic from the beginning to the end.
Sony had a boat turned into a floating store, docked in front of the Eiffel Tower with a thousand PS3s in it.
At midnight, a few dozen people came on board to get their consoles, and 30 minutes later, it was over. No one was left except journalists and security people (i'd say they were more of them than customers tonight), wandering along the deserted, oversized waiting lines.
A pathetic sight indeed.
Naaah, who am i kidding, it was hilarious.
And there was also this :
http://pix.nofrag.com/0b/c6/2c3648e3050807acc5ad22f237a2.html
T-Mone @ Mar 22nd 2007 8:08PM
It's just the fact that it's no longer new. When it was launched November in the us the people down under who really wanted it bought it on ebay! Not to mention they don't have a killer game for it yet that makes it a must have system.
joystiq @ Mar 22nd 2007 8:03PM
(this picture was what ps3 fans could see on the other side of the river while waiting for the shop to open)
Jebb @ Mar 22nd 2007 8:46PM
Um the 360 lunch wasnt spectacular either...
Mephistopheles @ Mar 22nd 2007 8:08PM
As expected. I don't hate Sony but I saw this coming.
Can anyone say eight equals equals equals equals equals equals equals equals dee tilde tilde tilde tilde tilde tilde?
SlyTheBoss @ Mar 22nd 2007 8:10PM
Don't know if you guys are aware of it but the minimum wage is $12 and the average salary is over $50,000 down there, so take this into consideration when saying the PS3 over there is more expensive than here...
Rubang B @ Mar 22nd 2007 8:12PM
Mephistopheles, how dare you!
Who didn't see this coming?
Every time a PS3 sits on a shelf for more than a day, an angel gets its wings.
Raikage @ Mar 22nd 2007 8:13PM
@16 thats more double than it is in America so that would mean that the Austrailians got the better deal (but had to wait 5 months)!
3cubedminus3squared @ Mar 22nd 2007 8:16PM
Wow, I bet by now some angels have two or three sets of wings by now.
NoHitHair @ Mar 22nd 2007 8:22PM
Actually, the tepid response to the PS3 overseas doesn't illustrate their disregard for the system launch as much as it makes Americans look like complete idiots. If anyone remembers, it was our launch that filled the streets and retailers with rabid and violent fanboys, armed robberies and notoriously greedy Capitalists with a love for eBay.
Sometimes I wonder if it's not simply the Iraq war that has caused the world to question American culture.
http://blog.myspace.com/nohithair
Nick @ Mar 22nd 2007 8:26PM
@16 That's AUD as well, so it really isn't that much. $12 can buy 3 cokes from 7/11, plus one small easter egg.
I would have to say that this doesn't really surprise me. Working in Brisbane, there is plenty of hype created by the stores...but I guess it was too little too late. The midnight launches were only made publicly available in the past three days (that I noticed, anyway), so there wasn't enough time. Also, it's now friday - ie, the people who would have had the $1k to buy the thing would also have to go to work today, and therefore would have wasted their night! Maybe sales will pick up tomorrow? Who knows...
Joshua @ Mar 22nd 2007 8:34PM
"Sometimes I wonder if it's not simply the Iraq war that has caused the world to question American culture."
While the Iraq War and other conflicts are certainly a major contribution, it's the general American way of life that has caused so much flak from the rest of the world, and rightly so.
But look at that -- I'm completely off topic!
Raikage @ Mar 22nd 2007 8:37PM
3 cokes?! How much is a 20oz down there? It's ~$1.30 US.
@20 Yeah the Ebay fiasco was out of control....(wish I had one to sell though :0 )
Joshua @ Mar 22nd 2007 8:49PM
"Um the 360 lunch wasnt spectacular either..."
Doesn't make this one any better.
mepaco @ Mar 22nd 2007 8:56PM
"Um the 360 lunch wasnt spectacular either..."
It all depends on how you make it. I like my 360s with mayo, dijon mustard, a lot of pickles, and a nice slice of smoked gouda. Sometimes I'll butter it up and put it on my Foreman to get that nice crispy outside. Ummmm ... delicious.
SlyTheBoss @ Mar 22nd 2007 8:56PM
#24, the Xbox 360 launch was the most successful in Australia's history at that time, selling over 30,000 consoles in the first four days, for what it's worth...
USedtabe @ Mar 22nd 2007 11:19PM
@24, JEbb:
According to reports, there was close to a 1000 people at the 360 launch. Sorry to take the wind out of your argument.
Rob @ Mar 22nd 2007 9:31PM
No, the 360 launch wasn't spectacular but it WAS a sight more impressive than the dissapointing showing for the PS3.
I earn a good salary, have been a gamer all my life and have been looking forward to the PS3...but I'm not willing to spend 1k (AUD) on a system that fails to provide a single game I want to play on it. I'll wait until the price drops, better games hit the platform and they release a revised version that won't turn my living room into a sauna!
Sony is in for the long haul so I expect sales will progressively ramp up...Whether or not Microsoft and Nintendo continue to eclipse Sony in this generations console war remains to be seen of course. All the better for gamers though!
fox @ Mar 22nd 2007 9:02PM
I wonder if the tepid response is due to the fact that everybody already picked up one up during the PS3's world wide launch . . . oh wait, never mind.
samfish @ Mar 22nd 2007 9:03PM
*que Price Is Right 'fail' sound*
http://content.ytmnd.com/content/4/7/e/47e5aa1759d5cd4438cca53c9106f28f.wav
ViperVisor @ Mar 22nd 2007 9:03PM
27.
I think Wii = or a few K more sales than Wii. In 1st 4 days.
mepaco @ Mar 22nd 2007 9:05PM
@29
That's the funniest post I've seen in a long time. Thank you. You just made my day.
BPM @ Mar 22nd 2007 9:12PM
ViperVisor, he said AT THE TIME. Wii has since broken the 360's record. But at the time, it was Australia's quickest selling system.
Earl @ Mar 22nd 2007 9:13PM
News flash:: EVERY PAL PS3 has sold, it is just that Sony is so prepared that they have all been replaced already.
vauxhall @ Mar 22nd 2007 10:54PM
Given the disregard Sony have shown us Australians, this launch is entirely fitting
KiwiNick @ Mar 22nd 2007 9:24PM
The blind Sony Fanboyism in New Zealand make me ashamed.
NZ is the onlt place where PSP outsells DS.
Nintendo has never been big here, (due to a 2nd party distributor -not Nintendo NZ)
PS3 is NZ$1200 here. You can get a Premium Xbox360 with exra wireless controller, Gears of War and PG3 for NZ$750.
$750 + $500 for a Wii beats a PS3 all the way to the rootkit!
Poisoned Al @ Mar 22nd 2007 9:19PM
I'm going to sing the Doom Song now!
"Doom! Doom! Doom! ..."
martin @ Mar 22nd 2007 9:35PM
The only person I know getting a PS3 is trading in a Wii with a few games to get it. EB store credit + more dollars.
BrotherEstapol @ Mar 22nd 2007 9:36PM
As a Nintendo Fanboy living in Australia, this makes me very happy. :)
THIS IS FOR HURTING OUR GAMECUBE! :P
@35. Yeah, Nintendo Australia really need to do more in New Zealand.(They're in charge of Nintendo over there now aren't they?)
Slaziman @ Mar 22nd 2007 9:36PM
Isn't it natural for an underwhelming system to have an underwhelming launch??
Korben @ Mar 22nd 2007 9:38PM
@Rob
Ingnorance is bliss. Isn't it.
lessbiasedthanmost @ Mar 22nd 2007 9:41PM
This news would be more interesting if it told how many PS3s were shipped to Australia; but 20,000 ain't too shabby, if #27 is to be believed.
Psaakyrn @ Mar 22nd 2007 9:44PM
to #21 Nick
Never buy coke from 7-11. I find that you can get 2-liter bottles from the supermarkets at the same price as the small bottles from 7-11.
Big N Veiny @ Mar 22nd 2007 9:47PM
@23 20oz(600ml) Coke is $2.90 here.
I know no one who talked about getting a PS3 and even though I kinda want one, being a $1000 creates a mental hurdle that's hard to get over.
Plus I could import it for $300 cheaper if I was really keen, which I'm sure many people have already done.
Broadside @ Mar 22nd 2007 9:48PM
the lacklustre midnight launch proves 3 things
(1) Aussies are less nerdy per capita than Americans, and we don't cap others just to get a games console
(2) Sony fans are less nerdy than Xbox and Wiiboys, but we all knew that already
(3) the price is too high
Nino @ Mar 22nd 2007 10:14PM
Wha...!!? But Sheppy said that lauch systems would sell out for sure! SHEPPY WHY YOU LIE TO ME!!?
BPM @ Mar 22nd 2007 10:18PM
"Sony fans are less nerdy than Xbox and Wiiboys, but we all knew that already"
Then I feel sorry for them. That they'll never be nerdy to the extreme and whiter than sour cream.
Can't you see that I'm white and nerdy?
Desiri @ Mar 22nd 2007 10:19PM
"Um the 360 lunch wasnt spectacular either..."
What are you smoking mate?
http://www.cnet.com.au/games/xbox/0,239029621,240061362-3s,00.htm
"Before the midnight rush, close to 1000 people were packed outside at Sydney's Pitt St Mall for the Xbox 360 launch."