Gizmodo
You've already heard about the free tellies and taxis over in London, well this is how the PS3 was welcomed in France - with a gallic shrug. Just 60 per cent of its 100,000 available units have been reserved, a smattering of press attended the official launch - and a pleasure boat coated with Xbox logos parked itself next to the Eiffel Tower for that all-important photo-op before chugging up and down the Seine. Yes, it was Microsoft who pulled out all the stops and got first dibs on what little press attention there was.
At midnight Spain, a major Sony stronghold, they were giving away half-price consoles but this morning retailers were reporting that the 600€ PS3s were not exactly flying off the shelves. An informal poll in El Corte Ingles, Spain's biggest retail chain, showed that there were still enough consoles to last until at least next week. Video of le bâteau in Paris and more European indifference/desperation after the jump.
The night before the Mayor of Madrid (he's the one looking at the la-las of the lady on his left in the picture below) was up way past his bedtime to present a cute tweenager with her first console courtesy of Banesto bank. They were selling PS3 at half the price to tout for new business (to get that offer you had to tell your employer to transfer your salary to your Banesto bank account for a minimum of 25 months). T-shirts with "My mom had her paycheck paid into Banesto and all I got was this lousy T-shirt" "I've got Playstation 3" emblazoned on the front and baseball caps were also doled out.
In Berlin, german gamers were treated to a free gig, courtesy of those nice people at Sony (thankfully, no David Hasselhoff). Italy got its consoles two days before everyone else, after retailers Darty announced that their PS3s were going on sale on Wednesday morning. Ooh, those Italians can't half be rebellious when they want to.
PS3 Launch Leave Parisians Cold [Next Generation]
Comments
I work at a retail store here in New Zealand where it launched today too, and the two people who pre-ordered it came and picked it up, and one person walked in and bought one.
I also wore my Xbox 360 lanyard today in honour of the new console launch (yes I may still be a bit bitter against Sony, heh, after they shut down the old place I worked, Lik-Sang.com).
Paris Paris...
Just on detail, Paris is pretty cold for a week, and only people who came to buy the PS3 (credit cards were asked at the entrance) were allowed to get inside the "party". 1K PS3 available, about 100 sold...
nb:I live in France, and actually i'm french and proud to have a Wii at home. Moreover, I hate that stupid french journalist that we saw last week on Gizmodo. Plz, don't expect to see other french like that guy.
Must be that whole "aversion to evil" thing.
...or just an aversion to jaguar style pricing. i don't care if sony put six cell processors or six garden gnomes or six whatever inside the ps3 to do the work, the cost of it all is plain abhorrent and not fit for a gaming console. that's all there is to it, really.
Le bateau de merde!
I always thought that smell was from people not cleaning up after their dogs while walking them down the sidewalk, but now I know. The video clearly shows this floater making its way down the Seine.
Avertissement mon amis...avertissement.
Vagrant, meaning?
What did Sony expect? They are selling the console €150 more expensive than in the U.S. (yes European VAT is 16%-25% but the exchange rate cancels that out) and they left out the hardware PS2 compatibility. So less value for more price.
Jesusdiaz says "Vagrant, meaning?"
Watch the video. Even though they are speaking french, you can still watch the video and get his point. Microsoft rented a barge, plastered Xbox360 all over it and tried to spoil Sony's Launch.
"60 per cent of its 100,000 available units have been reserved"? Is that very bad? That's better than Vista, isn't it?
Ps3 that's the gaming console that has the rediculous price tag, is lacking in the game department, and is going to fail. Thats the one right?
As for Vista James, it will eventually be the dominant force in OS's.
@TerrinSt.Paul:
That's exactly what the post is saying, and that's why I don't get Vagrant's point.
There were two major events last night in Paris : * the first one in front of the Eiffel tower :
200 journalists, 40 bouncers, hundreds of bottles of champagne, 20 happy customers.
* the other one at the FNAC megamall on the Champs Elysees : 5 customers lost inside hundreds of yards of crowd control barriers.
There's a nice video here :
http://www.jeux-france.com/news19695_la-playstation-3-sort...
At 2 third of it, you can see Georges Fornay, president of SCE France. He seems to enjoy a hell of a good time.
At least, Sony succeeds in one of their goal : there won't be any shortage.
Sacreblue,... Sony Sacre-blew it!!
I want a Wii
TerryinSt.Paul got my point, but I can break it down.The boat of shit. Turd barge. What they're doing is sort of stinky, but hey, that's competition.
Part of the problem here is me being obscure, unless you've walked the streets of Paris and smelled the dog shit. It was also a joke, as a turd is sometimes called a "floater".
Warning my friends...warning. (Just telling my friends qui parlez Francais, to watch out for the turd boat.)Hopefully that answers your question. It was not meant to be medulla obscura. It appears my lack of sleep has caused this conundrum.
so they had half a year to watch the rest of the world be completely disappointed with the PS3... and then get screwed over even more with higher prices and reduced functionality.
well, hmmm, i wonder if they'll be super-excited about the PS3...
Hi, so I bought my PS3 yesterday in Paris... No matter what people said about it, I was like a freakin' kid when I unboxed the PS3!!! In 6 months with a nice PE Soccer and a smashing Metal Gear everybody will change there mind...
Still waiting on an article on how the PS3 just shattered sales records for home consoles in the UK. That's the kinda yawning and nose-picking that Sony wants!
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