Topic: Sony getting hit Hard lately

[GoldenPhoenix]

I wanted to share my encounter with my local Walmarts pathetic handling of the PS3 lines. To begin they would not let a line be made until after 12am midnight (so 24 hrs before the PS3 came out). But here is the kicker after grouping us all together, they had another employee walk about a 100 ft away from all of us and then told us that we had to sprint to that woman and that is how the line would be determined. So the woman gave the signal to run (I walked) and there was no agreement whatsoever of who got there first, but people finally pushed themselves into a line of sorts.

After about 10 minutes of standing out in the freezing cold (this a 24 hr walmart too) the cops show up, who pulled some of the biggest complainers out of line (one of which left when they threatened to run his drivers licence). Well after another 20 minutes or so we found out that they would hand out tickets at 10pm, but the kicker was we had to stay outside, and two we could not leave the line for any reason (including going to the bathroom) unless we had a stand in. BTW they had 20 systems total (10 of the 60 and 10 of 20GB versions) and I was number 14 I think. But I was not prepared at all to stand out in the cold and listen to the constant whining of people ahead of me (one had a legit concern though in that he had been there since 12pm that day and was just ahead of us). So we left and now we will try Best Buy at 8am when they said they would ok a line to start forming (we will have a tent too!).

[Spak-Spang]

Personally, if I was a store owner I would not allow lines to form until closing of the day before launch.  I do not want a line of people disrupting by business in any way shape or form.  

If a line did start to form, and I had a ticket system to give out.  I would inform them about the ticket system starting at a specific time, and move them along.  

[KDR_11k]

20 campers.
2 PS3s that weren't sold to preorderers. (more like -6 in reality)
God, this is going to be perfect for reality TV.

[JonLeung]

Hey, if they did make reality TV shows about making game consoles, I wonder if watching Sony create the PS3 from start to finish would be an amusing or embarrassing series of events.

Maybe if the PS3 doesn't do so hot someone will make a documentary about the fall of the PlayStation brand (and maybe Sony itself) so that future students in Video Gameology 101 will actually have to study about "giant enemy crabs" and homeless Chinese people standing in line for businessmen who will fail to resell the PS3s for much more, and other things like that.

[Spak-Spang]

You know in my mind I know there is going to be much more Wii available on launch, but the entire PS3 and Xbox 360 horrible launches have me scared to death I won't get a Wii.  

I can't even imagine being a parent who has promised their kid a PS3 for Christmas.  Or even a gamer trying to find one.  It is going to be hell to find a PS3, probably for the first 5-6 months of launch.

This generation of gaming is already Microsoft's in America.  PERIOD.  Now, Nintendo has a chance to get second here and take Japan by storm.

[UltimatePartyBear]

There's a Circuit City next to where I work, and I saw five guys outside it this morning.  They had blankets, but they were standing out in the lot, so I don't know if they were there all night.  It wouldn't have been a good night to camp out.  The weather took a turn for the cold just in time to make waiting for a PS3 miserable.  It was supposed to dip below freezing overnight.

I asked about the Wii at a local Walmart, and it seems like there's not much hype for it.  The guy told me he wasn't expecting a line for the Wii at all.  I hope he's right.  Nintendo related hype has always been low in this town for some reason.  

[couchmonkey]

I think Wii is going to be much easier to get than PS3.  Nintendo's shipments aren't as limited, the brand hype is lower, and the price probably has fewer Ebay goons seeing dollar signs.

I am hoping to get a PS3 for Ebaying...but if people are lining up like this in my city (haven't checked) then forget it.

[Ages]

" Hey, if they did make reality TV shows about making game consoles, I wonder if watching Sony create the PS3 from start to finish would be an amusing or embarrassing series of events."

Rule #1 of reality TV: Most everything on the show is both amusing and embarassing

[Jin-X]

PS3 scaling 1080i to 480p in games.

Sony woes continue here

Edit: 1up sucks, better explanation from IGN:

"As it turns out, gamers who own older HD sets that feature only 480i, 480p, and 1080i resolution input capabilities will have to settle for the display quality being downsized as the game boots in its 480p mode rather than upscaling the image from its more desirable 720p mode to the TV's 1080i. We tested this development on older HDTV sets with games designed for 720p but not 1080i -- Resistance: Fall of Man, NHL 2K7, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07, and Need for Speed Carbon. Sure enough, the system downshifted all four titles to 480p rather than moving up to 1080i.

The PlayStation 3's competitor, Microsoft's Xbox 360, does upscale 720p games to 1080i if the HD set supports the latter resolution but not the in-between and commonly-employed 720p resolution."


link

[Donutt007]

Well I work at the Metreon and there's a nice big line here, they are estimating around 1000. And the store says it has enough PS3s to cover that many, but not much more. Although they didn't say which versions.

I talked to an EB in oakland and they said they are only getting 6 PS3s, which is less that the amount the preordered. They forced all the employees to cancel their orders company wide. He also said they are only getting enough Wii wo cover the preorders...but hey at least they met the demand for Wii.  

[JonLeung]

Quote
Originally posted by: Spak-Spang
This generation of gaming is already Microsoft's in America.  PERIOD.  Now, Nintendo has a chance to get second here and take Japan by storm.

Maybe this year.  But unless Microsoft ends their next(-soon-to-be-current)-gen system early again for the Xbox 720 or whatever, I think Nintendo has a chance to be catch up or even be first before the end.  If it is second, it will be a close second.  All those non-gamers, you know.  Yeah.  THOSE people.  They'll want a Wii before an Xbox 360 or PS3.

[BlackNMild2k1]

There have been serveral reports of PS3 campers being assaulted and now robbed at gun point

1st: Several campers and a news reporter were shot with BB's while camping out infront of a Circuit City in Kentuky. the link

2nd: two Campers robbed at gunpoint behind a Target  
the story

the video  

[Spak-Spang]

Quote
Originally posted by: JonLeung

Quote
Originally posted by: Spak-Spang
This generation of gaming is already Microsoft's in America.  PERIOD.  Now, Nintendo has a chance to get second here and take Japan by storm.

Maybe this year.  But unless Microsoft ends their next(-soon-to-be-current)-gen system early again for the Xbox 720 or whatever, I think Nintendo has a chance to be catch up or even be first before the end.  If it is second, it will be a close second.  All those non-gamers, you know.  Yeah.  THOSE people.  They'll want a Wii before an Xbox 360 or PS3.

I believe the Xbox 360 will have a lifespan of about 4-5 years again.  I think that the Wii's lifespan will be around 3-4 years.  With those years being much, much stronger than Gamecube's life.  I think Nintendo will support Wii until other systems come out, but I expect to see dramatic drops in Wii sales mid 3rd year to early 4th year of the system's life.  

I don't think Wii will catch up with Xbox 360 among the US gaming fan market.  However, I think it  will own Japan.  Europe I don't have any predictions for.

As for Sony PS3, I think it will do good, and later in its lifespan it will actually do GREAT.  Once Sony can get its price down I think the system will take off, and as such the system will have a strong life of 5-6 years perhaps even 6-7 years.  By that time though Microsoft will be prepping its new system again, and Nintendo will be readying its next system as well.  

I predict Nintendo to aggressively seek to launch the Wii's successor the same year as Microsoft's Xbox 360 successor.

[Arbok]

Quote
Originally posted by: Donutt007
Well I work at the Metreon and there's a nice big line here, they are estimating around 1000. And the store says it has enough PS3s to cover that many, but not much more. Although they didn't say which versions.

Didn't know you lived in CA... but yeah, there were reports on the radio about how fourth street was closed for the free concert that was to follow and how there were about 800 or so people in line as of this morning. The first person, who was briefly interviewed, had been there for two days. According to the person who was doing the report, it sounds like they expect to sell about 700-800 PS3s there (i.e. how many the Playstation store has), although I'm just relating what they said.

Personally, I would hate to be out there right now in the rain though... although I haven't been by it to see if they have offered any kind of shelter for the event.

[vudu]

How the heck is a single store getting 1,000 systems when most other stores are getting in the single digits (or in the low double digits)?  How big is this place?

[Donutt007]

Quote
Originally posted by: vudu
How the heck is a single store getting 1,000 systems when most other stores are getting in the single digits (or in the low double digits)?  How big is this place?

This "single store" is THE Playstation store....so yeah, they get a bunch.

And Arbok, there's no shelters set up for them but a lot of people brought there own stuff. And they are being nice enough to hand out bathroom passes. But it has been drizziling on and off all day, so yeah that sucks for them.

I was just in the back hallways of the building and saw them pushing around 3 big loads of PS3s on carts. But seeing how each load was about 30 or so systems, I'm assuming there's more...maybe I should go to the loading dock and see if's theres any security down there...heehee

[BigJim]

Seriously, is every executive at Sony an a-hole or something? Is this some kind of prerequisite?

SCEA VP on Backwards Compatibility: "I Would Like My Car To Fly and Make Me Breakfast"

[KnowsNothing]

Quote
If you look at our competitors, one machine has zero backwards compatibility and one only has it with a third of their games.

...what?

[Bill Aurion]

Sony reps also tend to either live under a rock for months at a time or lie out of their asses...Or perhaps both...

[BlackNMild2k1]

I think its pretty obvious that Sony relies on the relative stupidity of the uninformed buyer who would just take their work for it.

[Ceric]

Quote
Originally posted by: BlackNMild2k1
I think its pretty obvious that Sony relies on the relative stupidity.

Fixed.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Armed Gunmen Hold up a local GameStop for PS3's (& Xbox360's too)

Quote
The two armed hooded gunmen walked into the GameStop store at 7717 Laguna Blvd. around 10:20 a.m. Thursday and demanded employees turn over the gaming systems, according to Elk Grove Police spokesman Chris Trim. Trim said the robbers took four of the consoles and four XBox 360 systems before making their escape.

I think things are slowly escalating, next someone is gonna get shot after walking out of the store with one of those PS3's. I hope a PS3 is as bullet proof as an Xbox, it could save a gamers life...

[ThePerm]

those guys were paid by Sony to get publicity!!!

[BlackNMild2k1]

Playstation 3 Frenzy Gets Out Of Control

Quote
Deputies were called to the store when the crowd of 75 to 100 PlayStation seekers started getting unruly Wednesday night around 10:30 p.m. --- a full day and a half before the game machine goes on sale.

Wal-Mart officials say deputies decided to shut the store down for the evening and disperse the crowd after some of the waiting customers started running around inside the store.

People really need to get a life, if you are just buying this thing to play, then it really shouldn't be all that serious. There aren't really all that many good games out for the system yet anyway.  Besides you might be better off waiting for the after christmas batch, when they aren't just shoving anything that looks like a working PS3 into a box to be shipped to a retailer nearest you.

The funny part of this news article is that some people outside of a Circuit City got ticketed $400 for camping("loitering") outside of the store.

[Kairon]

When PS3 ebay profits are at stake, then people can get pretty emotional. Just think of $1000, $2000 profit...

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com