ZOMG! It’s Another PS3 Related Post

Something I didn’t touch on in yesterdays post because I was insanely tired (hopefully it didn’t show too much) was the issue of PS3 preorders, stock allocations and sluggish consumer response.  The more civil corners of the internet (namely Rllmuk and Games Radar) have been awash with information about shops getting a hundred or so units, and only having twenty preordered, etc.  So why is this?

First up, numbers.  There are around two hundred thousand PS3 units here in the UK for launch, which is understandable as the UK is Sony’s biggest European market.  This is more than the Wii and the 360 put together, and Sony have had an extra four months since the US and Japanese launches to manufacture plenty of machines to avoid stock shortages, preorder craziness, and eBay price gouging.

March isn’t the best time of year to launch a console, conventional wisdom says that you launch towards the end of the year and ride on the Christmas buzz when people are spending more money.  The Wii, 360 and the PS2 all launched in the run up to Christmas, and we all remember the bun fight that went on trying to secure them.  Many people forget that the PS2 launch saw the first preorder only system for a console launch in the UK, with retailers being issued a number of slips for customers to fill in before being allocated a machine from batches that were refreshed weekly.

But I’m sure the real reason for many people not preordering a PS3 is price.  £425 before any games or accessories is too steep a price to pay for many people, and while it’s hardly the end of the world playing and watching in SD, you really need a high definition TV to get the most out of your new console.  My tip if you don’t own an HDTV is get an HDMI to DVI connector (and an HDMI cable of course) and connect the PS3 up to your PC monitor.  That should work just fine until HDCP copy protection is enabled on the system.  But in the name of sanity, don’t use the composite cable that comes in the box.  If memory serves, you can use PS2 and PSOne display cables with the PS3, so go for an RGB SCART cable, or component.  I use a component cable with my PS2 and find it gives a far clearer picture than SCART.

PS3 early adopters are going to be dedicated gamers and technology fans.  The sort of people who need to have the latest and greatest from the get go, rather like myself.  Personally, I’m looking forward to the Blu-Ray playback as much as the games.

The PS3 certainly isn’t an impulse purchase, but I’m sure when they are available on shop shelves on Friday morning, retailers will do a brisk trade.  After all, people love shiny things.
Expect to see a price cut towards the end of the year to coincide with the launch of Home, LittleBigPlanet (the downloadable version) and some AAA titles that have been in development for a couple of years.

It’s a good time to be a gamer, but not for the balance of gamers bank accounts.

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Category: Videogames