USA/CHINA: Fans in the US and Hong Kong brave long queues for a chance to get their hands on the new Sony PlayStation 3

Record ID: 451803

  • Title: USA/CHINA: Fans in the US and Hong Kong brave long queues for a chance to get their hands on the new Sony PlayStation 3
  • Date: 17th November 2006
  • Summary: TIRED LOOKING MAN SITTING AND WAITING
  • Embargoed: 2nd December 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
  • Reuters ID: LVA807KVGSNOWTTEZEJP18VKYJV4
  • Story Text: In New York and Hong Kong, people camped for hours to get their hands on Sony's PlayStation 3 (PS3).
    Queuing for fun and profit, hundreds braved driving rain and long lines in New York as US sales of Sony Corp.'s new video game machine began at midnight on Thursday (November 17, 2006).
    Many waited in line for more than two days at Sony's midtown Manhattan store, improvising creature comforts from street junk. Discarded bags of shredded office paper became billowy chairs and a lampshade sheltered one man from the rain. Some were ready to come to blows when others tried to cut the queue.
    For Sony, much hangs on the success of its long-awaited PS3 "next-generation" console, the follow-up to the PS2, which has sold over 106 million units in six years and dominated the market. Analysts predict that the PS3's high price, which comes amid tough competition from rivals Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 and Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s Wii, could loosen Sony's grip on the console market -- a view Sony executives say is wrong.
    Working on a rumour that spread through the line that only 400 systems would be sold at that location, most of those waiting were unsure if they were going to get a chance to buy a PS3, which sells for 500 and 600 U.S. dollars (USD).
    In the last hour before the console became available, most people in the line admitted that they were motivated to brave the rain to turn an immediate profit by selling the PS3 online.
    New Yorker Alexander Straub, who had been waiting about six hours in line, was an exception.
    "I'm definitely here for the PlayStation and really for the Blu-Ray player too - I mean that with a game console and a high-definition video device in one thing that's 600 bucks it's not, it's not bad. That's a good deal," said Straub.
    Lynette Joiner who had been in the queue for one and a half days along with her boyfriend was clear that she was there for the money and that actually she preferred the X-Box.
    "Actually, we're just gonna sell it. We like X-Boxes but if we come across the extra one, like if we had more money, we'll keep it. But we're actually gonna sell it. It's not too much of a difference from the X-Box so it's not really worth 600 dollars," said Joiner.
    PS3 boasts a Blu-ray high-definition DVD player and the Cell microchip, which has run up Sony's production costs, dragging Sony's game unit into a deep loss for the year to March. The PS3 is expected to help boost the global video game market to as much as 44 billion USD in annual sales by 2011 from just under 30 billion USD now.
    The first PS3 customer at the Sony Style store, Angel Paredes, was tired and had a hoarse throat after four days in the queue - but said he thought the effort was worth it.
    When asked about the PS3 glitches that were noted after the release of the product in Japan, Paredes said he wasn't worried and that the glitches would be fixed soon.
    Some games designed for older PlayStation consoles are not working properly on the newly released PlayStation 3.
    "Sony's done everything they could to make sure there'd be about 400,000 systems in the pipeline. That's a lot more than what Microsoft had when they launched their console year ago. But there are couple of games that don't play in the PS3 and you put that in perspective, it's a couple handful of games out of several thousand games. So, if you look at the amount of time to play every game that's out there, a game from seven years ago you may have enjoyed as a teenager, you want to show off to a family member. It's really pretty inconsequential but it is a little bit of a glitch in an otherwise very well executed launch," said Richard Doherty, Director of the Envisioneering group.
    Sony Corp. said on Wednesday (November 16) that online software upgrades to its new video game console, the PlayStation 3, will fix glitches that make some older PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games not run properly on the PS3.
    Kaz Hirai, president and chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment America, told Reuters that more than 8,000 PS2 games will play on the PS3, and that so-called "firmware" upgrades will address problems found with about 200 games since sales of the PS3 started last week in Japan. He said their goal is 100% compatibility.
    Hirai also admitted that there were some supply shortages but that they too were being dealt with.
    "We are going to be facing some supply shortages in the beginning. Lot of demand and excitement for the PlayStation 3 but we're going to do everything that's possible to make sure that we get the units into the hands of consumers as quickly as possible. And one of the things we're doing is actually chartering planes to bring the PlayStation 3s into the market from the point of manufacture, to really shorten the lead time to get those units really into the hands of consumers and gamers," said Hirai.
    A Sony spokesman said the glitches in the 200 games in question were related mostly to audio problems and conflicts caused by the fact that the game controllers, held in users hands as they direct the action on the screen, differ from one PlayStation generation to the next. For example, buttons found on a PS One may not cause the same action on a PS3.
    U.S. sales of the PS3 kicked off a holiday season battle between the 30 billion USD video game industry's leading game console makers -- Sony, Microsoft Corp. and Nintendo Co. Ltd. Microsoft's Xbox 360 launched a year ago, and Nintendo's Wii comes out on Saturday.
    A limited supply, delayed debut and drop in the number of games built exclusively for the PS3 could hamper Sony's effort to remain market leader during this crucial holiday season.
    Hirai confirmed that Sony expects to have 1 million units available in the United States by the end of the year. A Sony spokesman said the company's goal was to have 400,000 units available on Friday, and 6 million shipped world-wide by the end of March.
    In Hong Kong, there were long queues.
    Sony fans said they were prepared to pay 500 US dollars or more for the new PlayStation 3 console and many have waited in line for several days.
    "I think the new machine is very unique, because it can also watch the Blu-ray disc. The picture quality is also improved and able to produce High-definition video," Mr Cheung, PS3 buyer said.
    Gamers in Europe however must wait until March due to a glitch in commercial production of blue laser diodes, a key component of the game gear's Blu-ray high-definition DVD player.
    Sony customers will pay a hefty price for the new machine's lifelike graphics and fast downloading of game software and video clips.
    "I really would like to get one this Christmas because my kids are not in Hong Kong. They are in Indonesia and I will be visiting them. I think they'd really like on. I tried to join the queue - we''ll see how it goes if there's enough left over for me - it would make somebody really happy," Robin Seed, a PlayStation 3 buyer, said.
    Sony sells a basic model for just under 500 USD, almost double the price of Nintendo's new console Wii, which launches on Sunday (November 19).
    Sony's PS3 is expected to become one of the hottest holiday gifts when it hits stores on Friday. But experts warn short supplies and strong demand could leave fans empty handed.
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