UNITED KINGDOM: Shoppers sleep on the floor to beat the queues when the PlayStation 3 launches on Friday

Record ID: 451789

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: Shoppers sleep on the floor to beat the queues when the PlayStation 3 launches on Friday
  • Date: 28th March 2007
  • Summary: (EU) LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM (MARCH 20, 2007) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE)(English) DAVID REEVES, SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT EUROPE, PRESIDENT & CEO, SAYING: "It's next generation because its going to play something very special on the game disc which is called Blu-Ray, which I think probably a lot of people have heard about, but what is it? It's a disc from the DVD family but essentially has very, very high capacity."
  • Embargoed: 12th April 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Entertainment,Lifestyle
  • Reuters ID: LVA5T48CHW169IY1XGO3KTHWXL0D
  • Story Text: Sony launch the latest generation of their PlayStation entertainment console on Friday (March 23). The PlayStation 3 is designed to play games, playback Blu-Ray high capacity DVDs and also surf the internet. Sony says the machine's extra functions mean consumers don't have to buy lots of different devices. The PS3 will retail for 599 euros or 425 pounds in the UK.
    The addition of Blu-ray high-definition DVD, a large hard drive to store music, games and pictures and an Internet connection help make the price more palatable.
    David Reeves, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, part of the team who decided to push back the European launch of the PS3, making it unavailable for the busy Christmas period, described it's features.
    "It is, of course, a games machine and it's the next generation games machine," said Reeves. "It's next generation because its going to play something very special on the game disc which is called Blu-Ray, which I think probably a lot of people have heard about, but what is it? It's a disc from the DVD family but essentially has very, very high capacity," he said.
    "The third form of entertainment is simply that you're able to browse the internet. It has a connection, this is a 60 gigabyte machine, it has a wireless connection or it has a straight ethernet connection. You can go on and you can browse the internet. The fourth big advantage is that we are going to introduce 'PlayStation Network' in Europe, just as they have done in Japan and in the USA," said Reeves.
    In London's Oxford street there is a heightened level of anticipation. The 'Hitwise' internet measurement service says Playstation 3 has become the UK's most-searched for console in March. High street stores are feeling the buzz too. Mike Barnes is the General Manager of the Game store on Oxford Street.
    "The anticipation has been huge. We've had a fantastic response from our customers. Everyone is extremely keen to get their hands on the PlayStation 3," he said. Only a handful of gamers were queuing at major London stores early on Thursday. Police have raised concerns about young people being mugged for their consoles at late-night launches.
    Buying a basic version of Microsoft's Xbox 360 for about 200 pounds and Nintendo's Wii for 180 pounds would still be cheaper than buying Sony's offering.
    There are some notable differences to the launch of the PS3 this time around. Only one version with a 60 gigabyte memory is being offered and Sony has removed a chip available in the earlier versions which limits the number of Playstation 2 games which will play on the console.
    Sony has 1 million consoles ready for the European launch.
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