Some die-hard Sony fanboys started camping outside of Best Buy and other stores on Tuesday, an entire three days before launch, but they have been waiting for years for this day. November 17, 2006 marks the launch of the Sony Playstation 3 in the U.S., one week after the PS3 was launched in its home of Japan.
Sony has been dealt several financial blows the past few years, and is banking on the next-generation console for its economic future, and the timing is critical. Sony has made several promises about the PS3 that it hasn’t been able to meet, which has made Sony’s shareholders nervous. A laptop battery disaster earlier this year put additional strain on the company trying to focus its survival efforts on the new console. The U.S. launch is timed right before the Thanksgiving weekend: when many players are on vacation, the buying spirit is in the air, and (most importantly) when buyers have just received their paychecks.
The determination of Seattle Sony fans was tested on Wednesday. Seattle is known for its rainfall (although it receives less yearly precipitation than most of the U.S.), and massive storms poured down on campers outside local Best Buys and other electronics stores. Some campers retreated to their cars, hoping to keep their place in line. More experienced squatters, knowing their wait would be hard, just zipped up their tents, dreaming of their Friday prize.
In Short Supply
Most people assume that the PS3 will be in short supply for the rest of the year. Sony has been unable to meet expected production demands, and pushed back a worldwide launch of Spring 2006, to a smaller fall launch (U.S. and Japan). Industry insiders have confirmed that because of these production problems, there will be no more PS3 shipments until early 2007, which makes Sony’s console even more valuable and lucratively profitable that Microsoft’s Xbox 360 last year. One PS3 is one sale at eBay for nearly $12,000 (which includes twelve games).
In contrast, Nintendo’s Wii has no such production problems. Although stores have only received a handful of consoles for the Sunday launch, additional shipments are confirmed before the end of the week (so Nintendo fanboys should be able to get their game on, turkey in hand). Gamestop and EB games employees (who have asked not to be named) have confirmed that each store has initially received less than 12 Wii consoles, and they are expecting more shortly after launch.
The determination of Seattle Sony fans was tested on Wednesday. Seattle is known for its rainfall (although it receives less yearly precipitation than most of the U.S.), and massive storms poured down on campers outside local Best Buys and other electronics stores. Many people with enough forethought to bring camping gear, had their new tents destroyed by the 65MPH winds, and had to retreat to their cars. Some even resorted to using heavy sand bags to keep their tents on the ground.
Some of the campers were rudely awakened at 2:00am when the store’s automatic sprinkler system came on. The sidewalk is not wide enough to accommodate a large 2-person tent, so part of their tents overlap the grass… complete with hidden sprinkler heads.
One youth, named Taylor (he didn’t want to use his last name because he was playing hookey from school), had been waiting in line since Tuesday. He was one of the first in line, and had made friends with many of the others. He had started an “unofficial” list of people’s names and their place in line, as fears mounted that others visiting would somehow cut in line.
Some people even brought their entire families. Kiera and Chris (and their 4-year old daughter Madison) had been living out of their compact car since Tuesday. The toddler had the entire back seat to herself, while her parents woke up periodically to turn the car’s heat on. They were living in a tent, but was destroyed by harsh weather. Madison loved all the attention, and didn’t want to leave. Many of the other line-jockies took turns playing with her, and let her play with their Nintendo DSes and shared food with her.The family that stays together, plays together, apparently.
The people who got in line early (most of them started arriving late Monday or mid-Tuesday, received numbered tickets from Best Buy. Best Buy managers were unsure of how many units they would get, or how many of them were premium systems. The Bellevue Best Buy store could only guarantee 26 units, but said they may receive more. There were over 50 people waiting in line, the latter half just hoping there would be enough for everyone.
Those with “guaranteed” spots had several offers from passers-by, some offering up to $3,000 for the prized gaming system. A local Seattle radio-station stunt-jockey, named (KISS 106.1’s Jamie), tried to coax gamers into giving up their spot by putting them on the radio and offer them fabulous prizes. Others in line flipped on their car stereos to listen in on the hilarity going on near the front of the line. No one gave up their tickets, however, because the radio station could not come up with a prize worth they system, not to mention all the time they had already put into attaining one.
Most people whom I spoke with were planning on “flipping” their new consoles to the highest bidder. Many people have heard the consoles were selling for at least twice their retail cost on eBay, and wanted to cash in. With so much buzz going on around the PS3, curiosity is bound to get most of these people, who will probably try it out. Perhaps once they see the system, they may not be so willing to let the system go immediately. It could be a risky gamble, because the PS3’s value will rise as Christmas draws near.
If Sony actually pulls through with their promise and delivers another shipment before Christmas, then these first-edition concoles will drop back down to their retail value. It is yet to be seen if the first-edition PS3s will be plagued with the same problems as the first run of Xbox 360s, which could further reduce their value.
Best Buy learned their lesson last year during the Xbox 360 launch, when many customers became disgruntled at seemingly unfair practices. This time, Best Buy issues sequentially numbered tickets to those in line, and periodically checked the line (even after the store closed), making sure those who received tickets stayed in line. Some people had left to run errands, like walking the dog, others actually went to work. Some of these people who risked their valuable spots lost them.
The Bellevue Best Buy seemed to extend a lot of good will towards the waiting gamers, offering free boxes of Alphy’s pizza (cheese only) to ticket holders. They even allowed campers to pitch tents, even though it was technically against local loitering ordinances. The good-will spread around, as many gamers shared their pizza with friends, visitors, and even strangers (I had several offers of free ‘zza). The employees were very friendly, and seemed to enjoy the party atmosphere.
The story was a little different at the Lynnwood, WA Best Buy. Management would not allow campers to be near the front of the store, and would not allow them to pitch tents until after the store closed. They also did not officially recognize the line until Thursday, when they started handing out tickets.
Although there were no tents in Lynnwood, there were a lot more of the technical creature comforts. Some people brought gas-powered generators and were watching TV and playing retro console games from the back of a ruby station wagon. They even creatively attached an arial to the car, making the entire vehicle an over-the-air antenna. The reception was actually quite good, and very watchable. Gamers were more than willing to share their stories during commercials, but the interviews were cut short when “The Office” returned from its commercial break.
One thing that was increasingly obvious but very ironic were the complete lack of Playstation 2s in the console lineup. Many gamers brought Nintendo DSes, PSPs, Xbox 360s, and even Nintendo 64s and a super-retro Super Nintendo… but not one Playstation 2. I asked Tim Dikva (a local YMCA lifeguard), who brought along nearly every console ever released with him, and he responded “I don’t really play with my Playstation”. He added “the only people who want [the PS3] are businessmen who can’t sit out here to get it for their kids.” This statement edified the conclusion I had discovered in my interviews: hardly anyone waiting in line actually cared about the Playstation 3, they just wanted to sell it for huge profits.
The Lynnwood Best Buy’s manager, Andrea came out to do her hourly check, and was on a first-name basis with the gamers. I grabbed her to answer some quick questions about the event.
Andrea confirmed that most of the procedures were handed down from “RGM” (Regional General Manager). Andrea didn’t know how many systems were standard or premium (referred to as 20s or 60s, corresponding to the included 20GB or 60GB hard drives). She did confirm that they received 60 cases, and there were 2 units per case. Although the store closes at 10:00 pm, she made hourly checks (which were not required by RGM) to make sure the system stayed as fair as possible. The police came buy to enforce Snohomish County ordinance, and she told the authorities everything was ok. Campers were allowed to pitch tents after closing, but had to put their gear away during store hours.
When asked about how the gamers behaved, she responded “they have been very good and clean up after themselves. Of course we can’t let them have fire pits or BBQ grills for safety reasons, gas generators are perfectly fine.” When asked about the gamers using the store’s wireless internet, she responded “If I don’t know about it, then it’s not a problem, so I don’t want to know…”.
Elsewhere it wasn’t all Rainbow Wishes and Teddy Bear Kisses. People would just just about anything to get their hands on a PS3,
At a local Circuit City, one camper was arrested by the police for peddling drugs. Apparently the dealer went into the store periodically to check his email on one of the demo computers, and forgot to close his programs. A store clerk discovered his emails on the screen and notified police. The suspect apparently had enough drugs on him to constitute trafficking, and was subsequently arrested.
Zack, (the red-hooded first persona in line at Circuit City) organized the line and showed me where the felon’s bong had been smashed in the parking lot. He had tried to keep things in order by keeping the frezy under wraps. He would point out to curious customers that there were only 10 units in the store, and there were already twelve people in line. These guys seemed to suffer the most, as they had no comforts other than a few camping chairs and the heat of their cars, although they did tape a tarp to the side of the building…
In Eugene, Oregon, several campers were robbed at gunpoint. The victims were camping outside in line with several other people, waiting to get their hands on Sony’s new PlayStation 3, set to be released Friday morning. Police say the victims had left the line and were walking by a nearby Target store when two men wearing some sort of masks confronted them and they follow their instructions.
It appears that the trend has been set, and will likely parallel the game industry’s predictions: Xbox 360 will be king, Nintendo’s Wii will take back second place, and the Playstation 3 will take third place. Coming in last is not what Sony has counted on to remain profitable.
Industry analysts can easily say that the first one to market will be the console king of that generation, but that’s not necessarily true. Remember the Sega Dramcast? It was a next-generation product and came out a full year before the Playstation 2, but Sony conquered with an excellent game lineup and market strategy. Sony was able to overcome the odds, and squash the dreams of the industry king.
The odds are stacked against Sony’s favor, and the tables have turned. Sony has made several mistakes that have strained the loyalty of gamers, including Sony fanboys. There are too many things that can go wrong (and are starting to reveal themselves).
- Sony promised a Spring, 2006 world-wide launch. Sony was unable to meet production demand, and pushed the launch back to the fall, in only the biggest markets, and in very limited numbers. This prediction has already come to pass.
- Sony is launching a new online service to couple the new console. Sony has never before tried an online gaming network of this magnitude. Sony promised online gaming with the Playstation 2, which was a complete failure. Sony’s own Everquest 2 failed in comparison to other online competitors.
- Sony is introducing a new high-definition format. Sony’s Blu-Ray technology is contested by another format, HD-DVD, which has much greater brand recognition and has no production issues. The quicker the user-base is established, the sooner we will know who will come out on top. Many studios are not keen on producing two high-definition DVD formats, so only Sony’s partners are producing Blu-Ray disks. Bad news for consumers.
- Weak launch lineup. Out of the many games available for the PS3 on launch day, only 3 are Playstation 3 exclusives. The only other exclusive titles are Resident Evil 5, Final Fantasy 13, and Grand Turismo HD.
- An exorbitantly expensive system. A $600 console? Even the cheap version is $100 more expensive than Microsoft’s premium Xbox 360 system. Sony doesn’t want to take a loss, and rightly so… but Microsoft is taking a 50% loss on every console sold. Sony started the race late, and the only way to have a chance at winning is to get consoles in the hands of gamers as soon as possible. Because of the low production and high price, only die-hard Sony fanboys are interested in the console. Everyone else is turning to the Xbox 360 or Nintendo Wii.
If you stir up the chum in the shark tank, the sharks will eat anything. The gaming industry is charged with high energy right now, and the gaming frenzy will grow as Christmas approaches. Gamers are thirsty for next-gen goodness, and in the lack of PS3 will buy something else. The lack of Sony’s new console may actually push the sales of Xbox 360 and Wii even highter. Let’s take a look at the typical gamer’s thoughts when considering a system this holiday season…
I’ve finally got my Christmas bonus, so I have money in hand.
Let’s walk into this store right here…
What? No Playstation 3?
Well, the Xbox 360 is out now, and it already has a ton of good games… and their premium system is cheaper than a PS3 basic system.
Hmm… the Nintendo Wii is out now, and has a bunch of good games. Sure the graphics aren’t as good, but it only costs $250: well within my budget… and games are friendly with my 2.4 kids… and the fat little munchkins could use some exercise…“
Can Sony overcome the odds? Right now, it doesn’t matter to those who stood in the cold, rainy lines to get their clutches on a Shiny New Sony. It’s powerful enough to run a small country, solve world hunger, and cure AIDS, all while making your morning coffee… or maybe not. Regardless of any criticism anyone has about it, the Sony Playstation 3 is the hottest thing right now.
A “normal’ person may look at these campers, and call them crazy from their warm easy-chair… but they got the hottest new toy, and you don’t… so suck it!