MrShades

I wandered around Swindon this morning and after walking past Virgin Megastore at about 9:30am and noticing a big flipchart inside with "PS3 available now. Hurry, only 6 left!" written on the current top page, I started to wonder...

...and by entering the product code at one of those Argos terminals (just opposite Virgin) I could also see the stock status there...

So - at 9:30am

Virgin had 6 PS3s

Argos had 11 PS3s

I also check on the 360 and Wii at Argos (cus I could!)

Argos had 26 Xbox360s

Argos were "Out of stock in-store and at our warehouse" of Wiis.


Then, at about 11:30am, and just about to come home, I went back to both Argos and Virgin.

So - at 11:30am

Virgin still had 6

Argos still had 11

- but

Argos now only had 23 Xbox360s


For the second day after launch that seems pretty poor... Sony have got to be worried (to the tune of giving away 100 £2500 HDTVs to create a bit more media buzz).

(OK, I know the argument - everyone that wanted one at launch managed to get one yesterday as there was such HUUUUUUGE stock in every store imaginable. If you really want to think that then carry on...)

Edcase

Jesus, what is it with you people?!

They had 220,000 units in retail from day one! They will generate a £100m approx in sales over this weekend!!

You simply do not know what you are talking about. End of story.

MrShades

Eh?????? Talk about jumping on someone.... Who the heck are "you people"?

Wassup with you anyway - have you bought one or something??????

I don't own a PS2, PS3 or Xbox360 - OK, I bought a Wii for Christmas for the family for fun - but I'm not a 'gamer'...

...All I'm doing is reporting what I had thrown at me this morning. Stores with lots of stock of PS3s, but the two I quickly sampled didn't appear to sell any this morning.


Time will tell I guess.... but, as I said, Sony must be worried.

BrettC

I didn't know the stock figures that Edcase has stated but I too was suprised at the availability of the product today in Milton Keynes.

I am normally a bit of a Sony fan with my electronics but after demoing the device on a large HD LCD TV I must say I was a bit dissapointed. Perhaps with the hype being what it was I was expecting something unrealistic. Even so, I was expecting something pretty good and when you factor in the purchase price of the PS3 and the HDTV I think my regular old PS2 looks pretty good!!

Markus

I think Edd has something to do with Sony, as it seems if people bash the launch and that there are so many consoles still around he'll jump up and down and say we know nothing about the situation.

It is a valid point though, Sony has made sure there is more than enough stock to go around, something that Nintentdo and Microsoft did not do.

Over here I can walk into Best Buy and pick up an xbox 360 or PS3 with no trouble at all, but the Wii, nope, out of stock in three of my local stores, and it's not available online either.

Penny arcade had an amusing comic and associated story about some Sony chappy saying he'd give people a certain amount of cash if they could find a PS3 on store shelves, in effect saying they were selling so well there would be no stock. PA managed to find a fair few PS3's, took pictures of them and worked out this Sony chap would owe them at least $3,000 if they took him up on their offer, at which point they said they would use the money to get a Wii, if they could find one

Ironically, when they did, a few weeks later, go to get a PS3, they were out of stock.

I think the question really is, how many people want a PS3? I was a big PS fan, pre-ordered my console, picked it up on launch day and loved it. When the PS2 came out I didn't get one right away, and I think it was at least a year before I eventually got one. When I did get one I had a few PS2 specific titles, but most of the time I played my PS games on it, or, and this was it's main use and reason for purchase, to use it as a region free dvd player.
Do I want a PS3? Right now, no, I don't. I'm not as big a gamer as I used to be. I've not swapped my xbox for a 360, in fact, I've only recently chipped the xbox so I can run XBMC on it. The "free blu ray player" side of things does appeal somewhat, but I've not gone HD yet, so it wouldn't be of massive benefit to me, plus I'd like to have the choice between HD-DVD and Blu ray, so I'd prefer a DVD player that supported both (think LG have a machine that does this)

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

I rang about my Wii order at Comet and got offered a PS3 instead !

I think its a combination of sales being dented by the 360 and the Wii, Sony getting plenty of stock out there and the fact the bloody thing is 425 quid, those who want them cant afford them and those who can have either bought one or cant be arsed, not ruling it out but might just wait till its 200 quid or less.

I dont think its going to be a flop, just not as big a deal as the PS2, rememberthat was the first of its ilk, it crapped on all that went before and now the 360 is near enough for it be difficult for even the Fanboys to argue which is best, plus there are only a handful of games and none are killer anyway, GT5 might have helped my decision.

l3wyy

Well - thought I'd rub salt into the wounds.

Has anyone read about the Virgin store in London on the launch of the PS3? They all got nice FREE LCD screens and a taxi home for "camping out" to buy their PS3 (first 300 people)!

I knew I should have been sad and queued.........

Shaun

ed,
care to comment on why such dismal sales in usa and jpn if sony havent dropped one.

Sorry about text, as i am typing this from the wii.

messiah

I thought Sony had done a decent job of the launch by getting a decent amount in the shops - if it was 220k as stated above then thats 3x more than what MS managed for the 360, although admittedly that did have more or less a worldwide launch.

My local GAME had taken 70 pre-orders and the shop got allocated 92.

Sony have made the HDMI cables a bit scarce though - bloke in shop told me they'd got 3 but seeing as you can get third party leads thats not so much a problem.

Iain Young

True, although MS did a worldwide launch. Don't forget that it launched last year in the USA / japan, so they've had several months to build up stocks. So, it's not that imrpessive imo, especially when there's surpless stock sitting on the shelves in the other countries.

messiah

hmm - a worldwide launch with second rate stock perhaps!! - Are there any launch consoles still in existance? (that work)

havent heard half as many horror stories from PS3 owners - time will tell if its more reliable than a 360.

Seems like there's also surplus stock in the UK - which can only be good as Sony might drop the price to something more in line with what the US & Japan paid - I dont think many as people would be complaing about the £425 price tag if it had £425 everywhere else.

mart360

just come back from town...

Argos had no PS3's until monday

Woolys had 21 avaialable

HMV had stock on the shelves

Dixons had 4 left

Gamestation were doing console +1 game + xmen bluray dvd for £459

i think carefully chosen bundles will be the only way it shifts today


blockbuster had none (but they only had 10 preorders)

Games line up was s*ite, half the launch day titles wernt available...

Elder scrolls not until april !!! (meant to be a launch day title)

motorstorm was ok but had sod all gameplay

I,m still undecided...



just working out which is better so i can get my chriissy pressy sorted


Mart

bootsy

i've been shopping in peterborough to day and all the shops selling ps3's that i went in still had plenty at 4pm ish (game,argos,hmv,blockbusters,john lewis,currys,woolworths,virgin) when i asked all said 6 or 7 lefted.i was looking the demos screens in virgin it does look good but at that price i'll stick with my 360

NeilT

was out shopping also and found most of the usual culprits (currys etc) still had plenty of stock.

Was almost tempted to buy one on impulse, but theres just no decent games available for it as yet (all seem to be just 'eye candy' games), and very little on the immediate horizon.

Nope, I'm sticking with my 360 and Wii and my money in the bank - much like everyone else it seems.

Besides I'm in the midst of GRAW2 on the 360

Neil

KiwiGTI

Not good marketing though. The Wii has been very cleverly marketed and sold. Enough stock is dribbling through for people to obtain them, but not enough so that shops are always carrying them. Nintendo could easily flood the shops but then the desirability would be lost.

Edcase

Guys, I have nothing to do with sony, I am just privelidged to have been working in the industry for all of my working life (15 years) from almost every angle, from QA, through game design, production, biz dev, and now in a role where I get to work with every major developer, publisher and platform in the world at executive level, and as such I have a very thorough knowledge and insight into pretty much most things that people are doing. As an absolute fanatic gamer, I consider myself very lucky, although I have nearly killed myself getting where I am.

I am not a fanboy of any console, my goal is to grow the entire industry, not one console in particular. I am in a pretty unique situation to comment on the situation. That is not bravado or ego, it's just fact. In the same way I would bow down to Andy F's knowledge of engine mapping.

The simple fact is, Sony Europe has prepared amazingly well for this launch, they have had time to get it right.

PS3 had 220,000 day one allocation, it's not a holiday like xmas so there is no avid 'gift' buying, yet it is still selling very well by all early accounts.

Comparably, Xbox 360 had 75,000 day one, with little or no stock to follow in the weeks after launch, and Wii had little over 50,000 and you still struggle to find stock today.

All I am doing is presenting you all with the facts and the reasons. I am not defending Sony, I am simply explaining to you why your concerns are misplaced with regards to many outlets still having units.

All I can say is that, I have spent all evening playing the GT HD demo, and it's the best slice of gaming **** I have ever experienced in all my years. It's nigh on perfect. Amazing.

Iain Young

Where did you hear that Ed. All the impressions I've been getting (from both scanning the interweb, and speaking to one or two mates that work in well known games / electrical shops) is that the reception has been very lukewarm and they are not selling anywhere near like expected.

But they did a worldwide release so the comparison isn't really valid. Whether that was the right thing to do or not is another debate, but Sony have had several months to build up stocks ready for the Euro launch. It's interesting to see that in the USA, the 360 is still outselling the PS3, despite it being well over a year old and the PS3 being the latest new thing. I suspect the high price tag and lack of any decent games has a lot to do with it. When I went into town this morning, there were far more people browsing the 360 stuff than there were looking at the PS3 stuff.

But it's only the GT4 engine with higher res graphics, less tracks, and less cars. Not sure how that can be called amazing. A nice, quick diversion maybe, but that's all. You seem very easily pleased Ed

Edcase

Oh I can't be bothered to argue, you are welcome to your opinions, I'm not in the mood for a 'debate'

cheers
Ed

Iain Young

Not debating. Just stating the facts

bootsy

thank you for letting us all have an opinion ours is as valid as yours

mart360

Sorry Ed, you have a vested interest, if your working in the industry per se!

of course you want / say the console will do well, it obvioulsy generates work / revenue for you (or your company)

re gt 97 turbo cruiser yada yada, if you think this is ****, then you serioulsy need to get out more

Ok so Sony has far more consoles available at launch......

except the rest of the world got theres six months ago, and at a far reduced price, and a better spec!!!

if your in the industry, you do the math....


which sells more......a cheaper, better specced console £300 (U-S conversion)

or a poorer specced console.... UK £425 no emotion engine....

where is the 20 gig version.....if i recall MS had both versions available at launch.

Wren Sony launched the PS1, there customer support and after sales was superb......

with the PS2 launch, they totally ignored the existing user base regarding allocation of units, despite promises that they wouldn't..

lets face it for a console thats six months old, i would have thought that the UK launch would have some better games.... motorstorm is akin to that desert fox thing they launched with the PS2, all eyecandy. no gameplay and poor AI (cars turn corners in real life!!!!)

if the console had been £300, then i would have one on my shelf now.. as it is, ts either got to come down in price, or have some stunning games available to sell its capability.

Gone are the days of sticking with a console for the latest killer game....

there have been too many failures along the way

Mart

Prasius

iTrader: (1)

<- another person surprised at how many PS3's are sitting on shelves.

I tend to agree with everyone else here with regards to games line-up - a £425, 6 month old console should really have something better on the shelves than it has. I'm 28, and you would think my group of friends and myself would be sitting right in the middle of their sales demograph being in the position of not having to plan £500 purchases (which is really what you'll have spent once you've walked out of the shop) - yet I know no-one who pre-ordered one, or for that matter, in any rush to buy one. Its not a good sign surely?

jjones

being pretty much underwhelmed with my 360 (games wise) i am not surprised at the apathy for the ps3.

the 360 and live are excellent items, but the games available just don't float my boat.

MrShades

You've actually done nothing of the sort...

What you've done is explain that Sony put a lot of units into retail for the launch - you've done nothing to explain why they don't appear to be moving (at all) on the 2nd day after launch, and the first weekend. (By my calculations from my straw-poll observations yesterday 11-11=0 and 6-6=0)

Great - 220,000 units @ £450 (or whatever they are) is "a £100m initial weekend" - yes - but not if half or more of them sit on the shelves. Something tells me that initial figures for this weekend's sales will show you to be slightly mislead in this respect. Getting volume into stores is one challenge (you could say controlling it is more of a skill, see Wii launch for details) - selling it is quite another...

I'd put very good money on the launch figures for the Wii and Xbox360 to wallop the PS3 launch figures into the ground...

mart360

Dixons Have allready dropped the price!!!!


£409 online


Mart

DanPhillips

Sell through figures for the first day? or weekend ?

Think it might be mighty close

Cheers

Dan

Edcase

And bear in mind both others were lauched for xmas, so there was a lot of pester power and gift buying.









Oh god, sorry, I'm pointing out a fact that is negative against Microsoft and Nintendo...I must be a Sony zealot

mart360

exactly! would the PS3 have been in contention with a £425 price tag?

lets be honest...if the ps3 was in the shops from last friday, priced at £300 notes, how many do you think would be on the shelves today??

it may be superior/evenly matched to the360, but the price is doing itself no favours.....

and the lack of rumble pad (sony you should be ashamed!!!)


Mart

Edcase

Of course it would! Of course not for everyone, but more than there would be now, which is zero.

Thing is, I don't think there are that many left on the shelves. We'll find out very soon.

Agreed, it is not cheap, but its just a different choice. 360 you would need to buy a wireless adapter, a HDDVD addon, wireless pad charger, a bigger HD eventually. With PS3 Sony have chosen to add it in the box. That's difficult today, but as the production costs, and the price fall, it will be seen as the clever move. It's the difference between short term tactical moves (MS) and long term strategic moves (Sony).

Sony have now resolved the patent issue and there will be rumble again soon.

ScoobyDoo555

One big difference is that Sony have put all their eggs in one basket by backing BluRay....... Micro$haft haven't........

Doesn't really matter who's "winning the war" - the real winners are the consumer. Better consoles/games (although the games aspect is still to be proven on the PS3) and lower prices will only fuel the debate.

Personally, I won't go near the PS3 as it doesn't remotely interest me. I never found the games from Sony overly exciting (bear in mind, IMHO!)

But it is nice to see the underdogs (M$ & Ninendo), giving an arrogant Sony (in respect to the CEO's comments about the price), a bit of a bl00dy nose.

Again, all IMHO

DAn