UK Press reaction to Sony delay

[MacRumorUser]

1) "All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put this disastrous mess of broken egg back together again" -Rob Fahey, EuroGamer

2) "In a few years' time, this might look like the beginning of the end ... unless they can come up with something remarkable to stop the rot." -Bobbie Johnson, Guardian Unlimited

3) "This is pretty disappointing news for PlayStation fans as well as for retailers, who have been gearing up for this launch for some time now." -British retailer HMV, quoted in a Scotsman.com article

4) "We were never anticipating a substantial amount of PS3 in 2006. We expect to see some mitigation of profit impact with a strong line-up of other products now in free supply." -Sources close to British retailer Game, quoted in a Times Online article

5) "Sony Europe said when they first announced the PS3 simultaneous world wide launch 'This is an exciting first for Europe, and is a huge endorsement and vote of confidence in the strength of the European market and its importance globally,' so with them now going back on this promise we can assume that they assume Europe to be 3rd rate, behind Japan & USA" -UK Technology blog Tech's Message

6) "Sony have got a lot to lose from having the PS3 delayed: not just poor figures for 2006, but also a loss in market share as parents buy their kids XBoxes for Christmas, and a boost for HD-DVD which looks set to get to market far quicker than its arch-rival." -UK blogger Chris Doidge

7) "The previously announced PlayStation 3 shipment forecast of 6 million units globally within the fiscal year ending 2007 is not changed, suggesting that Sony wasn't expecting to sell any units in the PAL territories." -UK tech site Pocket Lint

8) "Can anyone else hear a lone church bell clanging mournfully in the background...?" -Yahoo Video Games UK

[Dagless]

Yea I heard about this. They've been absolutely brutal. and rightly so. Global launch = North America and Japan my arse.

[j26]

Good point about HD-DVD gaining out of this.

Blu-Ray might suffer significantly out of this in quite a large market.

[clayj]

"Ha, ha!"

http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.xbox360fanboy.com/media/2006/09/ps3post.jpg

[bobber205]

"Ha, ha!"

http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.xbox360fanboy.com/media/2006/09/ps3post.jpg

Omg. Where did you get that!? That's hilarious! :D

[greatdevourer]

Omg. Where did you get that!? That's hilarious! :D http://www.thisiswaiting.com/
My favorite of those is still
http://www.thisiswaiting.com/b3.jpg

[TheMonarch]

While I don't mean to back Sony in any way for lying about the worldwide launch, the UK is 3rd...


UK is the third largest market for video games in the World
At more than £2 billion in 2003, the market for video games in the UK is the largest in Europe and the third largest in the world, after USA and Japan. As well as buying more video games than any other country in Europe, the creative excellence of the UK’s software houses also means that the UK makes more video games than any other country in Europe. http://www.euromonitor.com/UK_Europes_leading_video_game_market


Its merely a business decision.

[Dagless]

While I don't mean to back Sony in any way for lying about the worldwide launch, the UK is 3rd...


http://www.euromonitor.com/UK_Europes_leading_video_game_market


Its merely a business decision.

Oh yea, it's always about money. but really now they're still calling this a global launch. It's that they promised and then went back on it.
I'd hate to say it but they should have taken a leaf out of Nintendo's book. If Nintendo now said "we've delayed Europe", nobody would care as a release date hasn't been given for their Wii system.

[LionsKiss]

The UK alone is 3rd, Europe on whole is NOT. Japan is the 3rd market. When comparing N. America/Japan/Europe.

[Dagless]

The UK alone is 3rd, Europe on whole is NOT. Japan is the 3rd market. When comparing N. America/Japan/Europe.

It's not just Europe though. It's PAL. IIRC Australia are included too.

[MacRumorUser]

Ireland has per capita the highest ownership of playstation 2 consoles outside of japan... so there :p

[Dagless]

Ireland has per capita the highest ownership of playstation 2 consoles outside of japan... so there :p

But do they respect that? no! Hell they don't even respect their biggest concentration of Sony consoles! 100k units for Japan?

[mcmadhatter]

Why not launch in Japan and Pal (Europe) and ditch the usa? they can get more money per console by selling in the uk/europe and thus make more profit with the consoles they have.

[MacRumorUser]

But do they respect that? no! Hell they don't even respect their biggest concentration of Sony consoles! 100k units for Japan?


Yeah that's what I dont understand. Why not 250,000 each? why 400,000 & 100,000 such an odd division ???:confused:

[greatdevourer]

While I don't mean to back Sony in any way for lying about the worldwide launch, the UK is 3rd...


http://www.euromonitor.com/UK_Europes_leading_video_game_market


Its merely a business decision. In case you hadn't noticed (you and someone else I know), there is more to Europe than the UK, and there is more to the PAL territories than Europe

[millar876]

i might be wrong here but dosnt japan use PAL aswell, i mean they are the same DVD region in japan

[Mackilroy]

Why not launch in Japan and Pal (Europe) and ditch the usa? they can get more money per console by selling in the uk/europe and thus make more profit with the consoles they have.

Because the NTSC market (North America) is bigger than PAL.

[2nyRiggz]

http://www.thisiswaiting.com/
My favorite of those is still


I can see my Grand mother house from there....oh how I miss Itlay...oh back on topic...yeah *taps sony on wrist* bad boys!



Bless

[greatdevourer]

i might be wrong here but dosnt japan use PAL aswell, i mean they are the same DVD region in japan No, they're NTSC. I guess it's because the US wanted to be separate for some reason

Because the NTSC market (North America) is bigger than PAL. NTSC isn't just the US. And because the American market isn't bigger than Europe

[Mackilroy]

NTSC isn't just the US. And because the American market isn't bigger than Europe

If you noticed, I said North America, not the US. ;)

Perhaps not in terms of population, but in terms of gaming, yes, we are.

[Mavimao]

No, they're NTSC. I guess it's because the US wanted to be separate for some reason

You can blame the differences in video standards on electricity.

American and Japanese electricity runs at 120 volts at 60 hertz. Everywhere else it runs at 220 volts at 50 hertz. With early TV technology it was simple to have the refresh rate match the AC power frequency. Plus there weren't any worldwide groups determining standards. It was more on the government level.

[TheMonarch]

In case you hadn't noticed (you and someone else I know), there is more to Europe than the UK, and there is more to the PAL territories than Europe


FYI, I wasn't talking about Europe as a whole, I was talking about the UK. This thread is about the UK press reaction, not Europe... The UK :)

[greatdevourer]

FYI, I wasn't talking about Europe as a whole, I was talking about the UK. This thread is about the UK press reaction, not Europe... The UK :) The decision, (and thus real discussion) is about the entire of the PAL territories.

[Dagless]

Hot puddings! I had no idea PAL was so widespread

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/NTSC-PAL-SECAM.png/300px-NTSC-PAL-SECAM.png
*yellow= PAL
lordy!

[Mavimao]

Hot puddings! I had no idea PAL was so widespread

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/NTSC-PAL-SECAM.png/300px-NTSC-PAL-SECAM.png
*yellow= PAL
lordy!

Also, just so you know, SECAM and PAL are pretty much the same except the color encoding is different. You can watch SECAM on PAL tvs and vice versa; the only problem is that it'll be in B&W.

Oh and the NTSC in Japan is a little different. It's known as NTSC-J and their NTSC has a little more black detail.

[takao]

Also, just so you know, SECAM and PAL are pretty much the same except the color encoding is different. You can watch SECAM on PAL tvs and vice versa; the only problem is that it'll be in B&W.

if you have an old tv since about 10 years most tvs can switch back an forth between the two between channels (at least our 11 year old tv can)