PS3 Launch: disaster

[Darkmoon]

They're recharged by being plugged in. They will function just the same when plugged into the mahine as when they are wireless.

Sony has already gone on record stating that when the battery dies, you can still use the controller by using it wired. At this time, I have not heard of any policy about replacement batteries, unless you're looking to buy a new controller.

[Sid]

Sony has already gone on record stating that when the battery dies, you can still use the controller by using it wired. At this time, I have not heard of any policy about replacement batteries, unless you're looking to buy a new controller.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=20528
Of course, this might have been a damage-control move. Since the controller manual actually tells you how to change the battery, some speculate that this replacement service might come in the form of "Buy official PLAYSTATION 3 SIXASIS controller batteries" (God, I hate Sony's all-caps rule with their names).

[thegayhare]

I'll probably get a ps3 at some point down the line if game production stays strong and the price levels off.

one of the reasons I bought my ps2 was so that I won't need a dvd player

the ps3 will be a blue ray player (I've been waiting for the shift to blue light for years ever since I read about the storage boost from the shorter wavelength)

I know the Wii won't have any video (or atleast high end) capabilities

and I don't know about the 360 (but I do wanna play dead rising so bad....)

one of most interesting analogies I heard about the consol wars was that the machines are comperable to cars

The Wii i going to be a fun little ride like a minicooper, or vw bug, something anyone can have fun with. (though I love there comercial for red steel)

The 360 will have everything most gamers would want and would be a work horse car like a ford f150 or the like

and the PS3 with all it's high end electronics and high pricetage is like a formula one race car realy nice but more then most people would need to go for a gallon of milk

sorry to yammer

[Jack McSlay]

on the battery issue, that's why I like Nintendo. it runs off, you'll likely find a replacement a few hundred meters away from your house. The PS3 SIXAXIS battery dies, start looking everywhere because prioritary replacement parts are heck to find.

btw, US launch is due tomorrow. what we'll have? crazed gamers happy to burn 600 bucks or illegal mexican immigrants on the line to buy a PS3 for someone else who wants to sell for an atrociuos price? place your bets 

and TGH, I'm not betting on Blu-Ray, but not betting on HD-DVD either. from its launch to mainstream acceptance, it took over 4 years for the DVD.
and then both for having two formats trying to gain market as well as both formats having a far smaller advantage over the DVD compared to DVD's advantage over VHS, I think the transfer from DVD to the Blu-Ray or HD-DVD would take too long.
and likely more than enough time for the Holographic discs with max capacity of 1TB to launch for the home user and crush them both. regardless,  I think this slow transfer may do PS3 more harm than good. PS2 launched when DVDs were becoming all the rage, which is a lot different than PS3, which is launching on the Blu-Ray's early days

[Darkmoon]

btw, US launch is due tomorrow. what we'll have? crazed gamers happy to burn 600 bucks or illegal mexican immigrants on the line to buy a PS3 for someone else who wants to sell for an atrociuos price? place your bets

Damn, the system costs 600 immigrants? That's a pretty hefty exchange rate.

[Reese Tora]

and TGH, I'm not betting on Blu-Ray, but not betting on HD-DVD either. from its launch to mainstream acceptance, it took over 4 years for the DVD.
and then both for having two formats trying to gain market as well as both formats having a far smaller advantage over the DVD compared to DVD's advantage over VHS, I think the transfer from DVD to the Blu-Ray or HD-DVD would take too long.
and likely more than enough time for the Holographic discs with max capacity of 1TB to launch for the home user and crush them both. regardless,  I think this slow transfer may do PS3 more harm than good. PS2 launched when DVDs were becoming all the rage, which is a lot different than PS3, which is launching on the Blu-Ray's early days

While blue ray is the obviously superior format in terms of copy protection and storage capacity, HD-DVD will be cheaper to implement for companies.

Consider Betamax; it all comes down to what people buy.

[Nikki]

the only way i'll buy another game console is if they stop making games for my current consoles- GBA & PS2.

I'm hoping to get a DS for X-mas with Pokemon Ranger and KH2 (not likely)

ps3 to me is just a reason for my cousins to tease me when they buy one -_-

[Tapewolf]

Damn, the system costs 600 immigrants? That's a pretty hefty exchange rate.

Well, once you've sold your own soul, you have to start selling other peoples'..

While blue ray is the obviously superior format in terms of copy protection and storage capacity, HD-DVD will be cheaper to implement for companies.
Consider Betamax; it all comes down to what people buy.

I haven't been paying a huge amount of attention to the blue laser formats.  What do you mean by 'superior in terms of copy protection'?  Superior for the media giants, or for us?

[Jack McSlay]

While blue ray is the obviously superior format in terms of copy protection and storage capacity, HD-DVD will be cheaper to implement for companies.

Consider Betamax; it all comes down to what people buy.

I never really understood the point of trying to apply copyright protection to streaming media. when it comes to games it obviously works because it's fully interactive, but on a movie you can simply stick a recording device on the player's output and retrieve all the data in it regardless of what protection there is, and with some patience you can rip all the extras, audio languages and redo the subs and have a copy that has everything but the nifty menus

[Darkmoon]

Damn, the system costs 600 immigrants? That's a pretty hefty exchange rate.

Well, once you've sold your own soul, you have to start selling other peoples'..

While blue ray is the obviously superior format in terms of copy protection and storage capacity, HD-DVD will be cheaper to implement for companies.
Consider Betamax; it all comes down to what people buy.

I haven't been paying a huge amount of attention to the blue laser formats.  What do you mean by 'superior in terms of copy protection'?  Superior for the media giants, or for us?

Media giants. They were able to add in more features with Blue-Ray, last I had heard. Both are near crippled by the copy-protects though, to be honest.

[Reese Tora]

Damn, the system costs 600 immigrants? That's a pretty hefty exchange rate.

Well, once you've sold your own soul, you have to start selling other peoples'..

While blue ray is the obviously superior format in terms of copy protection and storage capacity, HD-DVD will be cheaper to implement for companies.
Consider Betamax; it all comes down to what people buy.

I haven't been paying a huge amount of attention to the blue laser formats.  What do you mean by 'superior in terms of copy protection'?  Superior for the media giants, or for us?

As DM said, the corporations.  It comes down to blueray will be more difficult to copy than high definition than HD-DVD, because it requires significant re-tooling.  HD-DVD is an extension of DVD, and uses the same equipment with minor re-tooling.  The cost of re-tooling will apply to pirates as well, and the distribution of Blueray can be kept exclusive to keep pirates from being able to convert over cheaply, wheras they can just as easily re-tool thier DVD hardware to pirate HD-DVD.

The DRM for Blueray is actually one of the major reasons that it's been delayed so much in release; they've been having trouble deciding on the exact format.

And this delay in the release anf manufacture of Blue-ray is supposed to be one of the major reasons that the PS3 has such a small initial shipment volume. (hey, look, back on topic  )

[Supercheese]

The PS3 Launch made it into my local paper today (and they agree - the Wii may not be as powerful graphically, but it's more fun.)

one

two




*edited by Damaris for stretch of doom on bitty screens*

[Arcalane]

Chatlogs ftw. Post rated R[/i] like the rest of this forum, for some mild language and extreme stupidity.

[Fri 07:39am] [Bongo|] oh man
[Fri 07:39am] [Bongo|] I was going to go to bed
[Fri 07:39am] [Bongo|] but watching the PS3 launch horror is way more fun
[Fri 07:39am] [Bongo|] people are getting beat the fuck up over this
[Fri 07:40am] [eon] silly.
[Fri 07:40am] [eon] so silly.
[Fri 07:42am] [Bongo|] it's fucking chaos out there
[Fri 07:42am] [Bongo|] I'm tempted to drive to my local best buy to check out the fights and mobs
[Fri 07:43am] [Bongo|] I went to the Canoga Park, Ca Best Buy, we were told we could line up at 12:01 am, till then we waited off the property on the sidewalk, made a list of names in order we arrived, and at midnight queued up. about 4am a guy inside opens the shutters says we have to get out till 8am. Back to our sidewalk we go.
[Fri 07:43am] [Bongo|] By the time 6am rolls around we are informed it will be a sprint to see who gets what spot in line.
[Fri 07:43am] [Bongo|] We had 200 people at a full sprint, 1 guy in his 50s or so i'd assume took a hard faceplant in the jostling that occurred during the run, his face was destroyed. His son also went down, 2 broken fingers was what it looked like but who knows. 2 others went down hard but seemed not too much worse for the wear.
[Fri 07:43am] [Bongo|] Once we got to the wall, people tried to get in a VERY tight single file line against the wall so nobody could squeeze in and steal their spots, the latecomers charged into the line as hard as they could to free a crack to get into, while others that had gotten their first were body slammed into the walls with pretty substantial first (there were children included in this group)
[Fri 07:43am] [Bongo|] Even the cops (they kept a close on us during the night being on the sidewalk and all) that were there for this fiasco called the manager an idiot and suggested mailing corporate offices about this mess.
[Fri 07:46am] [eon] oh best buy.... so glad I joined thee...
[Fri 07:46am] [Bongo|] black friday is going to be so much worse, I'm telling you man
[Fri 07:46am] [Bongo|] it's going to be like this
[Fri 07:46am] [eon] probably
[Fri 07:46am] [eon] there's still wii launch too
[Fri 07:46am] [Bongo|] + hick moms wondering "WHY DON'T YOU HAVE ANY PS3?"
[Fri 07:46am] [Bongo|] the wii launch'll be tame
[Fri 07:46am] [Bongo|] there isn't a shortage of units for that
[Fri 07:47am] [eon] true
[Fri 07:47am] [eon] and people won't be able to make as much on ebay
[Fri 07:48am] [Bongo|] people won't make much off the ps3 either think
[Fri 07:48am] [Bongo|] I think it's like 80 percent of those in line want one to sell
[Fri 07:49am] [Bongo|] here come the stories
[Fri 07:49am] [Bongo|] This is too good. The Wal Mart at West bend, WI had way more campers than it did PS3s to sell. The friendly staff's solution? They decided to use their collective noggins and, rather than hold some sort of raffle or ballot, had a race. With a big, metal pole right in the middle of the "track".
[Fri 07:49am] [Bongo|] What happens next? Yes, that's right. Hilarity ensues. One guy smacks into the pole so hard you hear the "whump", then people start going down all around him. It's chaos. Once the dust settles, the "victim" (ie, the dude who smacked into the pole), despite having a dislocated jaw, manages to give the awesomest, lithpiest interview of the year, in which he lets fly with accusations of foul play. And the "accused"? Well, "he's contac
[Fri 07:49am] [Bongo|] An Elk Grove Gamestop store was robbed at gunpoint this morning, the two gunmen making off with four PS3s and four 360s.
[Fri 07:49am] [Bongo|] Local police contacted nearby stores and warned them to "keep an eye out for anything suspicious". What, like crowds of grown men waiting in a line outdoors for days, on the brink of winter, for a video games console? Yeah, that's normal.
[Fri 07:49am] [Bongo|] No word yet on any leads, but anyone in the area trying to sell a 360 for $30,000 should be treated with extreme caution....Luke Plunkett
[Fri 07:49am] [Bongo|] PREGGERS(I promise that this is the last insane PlayStation 3 line-up story I personally will post today—the rest of the crew will hold it down, posting news about humans acting like animals for a video game console. After that, I'm squirreling away to the Best Buy in West Hollywood to watch the midnight launch festivities go down. Keep in mind, I'm not getting a PS3 tonight, so don't be jealous. But look for me. I'll be the guy wi
[Fri 07:49am] [Bongo|] According to the AP there is a pregnant woman in line at a Mount Laurel, New Jersey Circuit City. She's also having contractions. She's also staying in line until she gets a PlayStation 3. Who can compete with nutjobs like this?
[Fri 07:49am] [Bongo|] Nine months pregnant, Julie Mosley said she tried to ignore her contractions for the chance to score machines for her family, her daughter's father and her younger brother.
[Fri 07:49am] [eon] just read that one
[Fri 07:49am] [eon] that's just sick
[Fri 07:50am] [Bongo|] people are goddamn stupid
[Fri 07:50am] [Bongo|] "You want a PS3? PUNCH THIS PORCUPINE. OR NO PS3."

[HealingBlight]

Watched the PS3 launch in NY last night on Gamespot, I'd say more than half, if not 2/3rd of the people said they were going to resell, a couple just wanted to see the performances, and the other 1/3, probably lied.

It's the great 'rush to get a PS3 to rush to resell at a huge mark-up' time! Real gamers getting screwed over left and right, as if 600 was not steep enough, and this sh*t is going to be regionless, so they will have the entire globe grabbing for a PS3, seeing as the non NA or ASIA regions will have to wait until after christmas for this.....

BOTCHED

[Aridas]

some of that chat log is cut off due to the size of single lines... I'm not sure we'll ever know everything now >.>

[Arcalane]

some of that chat log is cut off due to the size of single lines... I'm not sure we'll ever know everything now >.>

I think most of it is actually quoting from a news article that was unlinked somewhere.

[fakelike]

I thought that maybe retailers would learn from the Japan launch and do things right, but I was wrong.
(News Link) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15764297/

This wins most commendable ebay item.
Ebay Link

[Darkmoon]

Maybe, but for fuck sake, for 1500+ a game, those better be great fuckin games.

[Arcalane]

I thought that maybe retailers would learn from the Japan launch and do things right, but I was wrong.
(News Link) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15764297/

I have to say, out of all the store chains, Best Buy seem to have handled the event the best by the looks of it.



Some people.

[Jack McSlay]

100% FOR CHARITY 2 Sony PlayStation 3 PS3 Games + BONUS

yeah right

[RJ]

I had heard of there being some riots and use of guns... Buying a PS3 somehow just seems evil now. Not that I'd be buying one anytime soon. The majority of people in Australia who'd want one won't be able to afford it easily.

Though, that being said, when it comes to launch time here, I might sneak down to the local shopping centre and take a quick look on at the chaos.

[thegayhare]

last I heard one man was shot twice while standing in line... it wasn't by people wanting one though it was by a pair f men trying to rob the people in line. 

Which makes sense I mean if they are camping out for a ps3 they have to have atleast 500 on them

[Arcalane]

Which makes sense I mean if they are camping out for a ps3 they have to have atleast 500 on them

Unless they're paying by card.

[Sid]

Which makes sense I mean if they are camping out for a ps3 they have to have atleast 500 on them

Unless they're paying by card.

True, but those were potential victims of those who stalked PS3 owners and broke into their car when they weren't looking: Read story here

[EvilIguana966]

Sony SHOULD have done one or more of the following:
1) Allowed stores to set their own prices to meet the demand.  It's better if people pay a reputable business $1500 than a scalper that same amount.  The high price would also make it less desirable to scalpers as a cash cow.  Artificial price supression always causes problems, let the demand determine the price and things will run smoothly.

2) Delayed the launch.  They just do not have enough of the product to have a smooth launch.  There is no shame in admitting that you miscalculated the rate of production.  Okay there is some shame, but less than launching with so few systems that they are being resold for five time the price.  There is more than a month until Christmas, so they can push back the launchdate considerably and still have it out in time to fill little Jimmy's stocking.

However, it has become apparent, recently, that whoever is in charge of coordinating PS3 publicity is either inept or arrogant.  I doubt there was ever any chance of them publicly admitting they made a mistake on any aspect of the launch. 

[Darkmoon]

However, it has become apparent, recently, that whoever is in charge of coordinating PS3 publicity is either inept or arrogant.  I doubt there was ever any chance of them publicly admitting they made a mistake on any aspect of the launch. 

Truth.

[EvilIguana966]

However, it has become apparent, recently, that whoever is in charge of coordinating PS3 publicity is either inept or arrogant.  I doubt there was ever any chance of them publicly admitting they made a mistake on any aspect of the launch. 

Truth.

Yay somone agrees with something I said!  Seriously though, I'm not totally anti Sony like so many people seem to be.  I don't think they are entirely evil or attempting to screw people over for shits and giggles.  But I do know that incompetance and arrogance exist, and that even the largest most successful corporations can shoot themselves in the foot when they succumb to them.  Example ensues.

The company my dad works for (was SMS) was bought out by Siemens a couple years back.  Siemens is one of the world's largest companies, huge German conglomerate.  Well they basically said to hell with the way the Americans were doing things and forced a lot of really stupid policies through the pipe.  Long story short, they pissed off their biggest customers by discontinuing all support for the reliable if aging software product they were currently selling and introduced a radical new product that was nowhere near being ready for actual use.  They were eventually forced to come to terms with the facts and rethink their strategy with the cusomer in mind.  Key points: The American healthcare system is not the same as the German healthcare system and no medical database software will change that; Customers want software that works correctly and interfaces with the hardware and software they already have, all the fancy features and options in the world will not help if the product does not work. 

It will be interesting to see how Sony is affected by their current troubles.  I don't know how much, if at all, the average consumer is affected by the PR screwups and launch shenanigans surrounding the PS3.  The bigger question will probably be whether most people are willing to pay more than 500 USD for a fancy gaming system.  It remains to be seen whether their calculations about the Blue-Ray are accurate or just wishful thinking. 

[Jack McSlay]

I doubt there was ever any chance of them publicly admitting they made a mistake on any aspect of the launch. 

I question if they'd ever admit error in any aspect of the PS3... sony's arguments over these months trying to favor the PS3 were just lame.

oh, for the record, it seems sony pulld just a bit over 250k, with Wii nearing 700k already, apparently the few remaining units are being sold as we speak
http://nexgenwars.com

[Arcalane]

I doubt there was ever any chance of them publicly admitting they made a mistake on any aspect of the launch. 

I question if they'd ever admit error in any aspect of the PS3... sony's arguments over these months trying to favor the PS3 were just lame.

oh, for the record, it seems sony pulld just a bit over 250k, with Wii nearing 700k already, apparently the few remaining units are being sold as we speak
http://nexgenwars.com

Impressive. I hadn't realised quite how many X360's had sold, but the PS3 is sorely outmatched by the looks of things.

[HealingBlight]

Hmm, wii hits 1/10th of 360 in it's first few days, I guess that's thanks to it actually having STOCK. but it is a far way to go to make up for MSs head start, interesting link BTW.