PS3 Euro launch TBA

I hope so. My birthday is in the 2nd week of March!!! )))))

 

On the subject of HD-DVD penetration in Europe.
I was in HMV today, and spotted an entire HD-DVD section with a reasonable selection of titles. This surprised me since the HD-DVD player for XB360 has only been available for a short time, and I haven't yet seen any stand alone players. Never-the-less, it seems it's creeping into retail channels quite rapidly.

However, I haven't seen any BluRay discs at all, and the one BluRay player I've seen was around £800!

Sony better be quick, and sort out a sensible launch price (especially for the UK), or they'll lose Europe to HD-DVD.

EDIT: After searching online, I found a Toshiba HD-DVD player for sale in th UK for £375. The Samsung BluRay player is £770!

 

That's odd (no pun intended). Sure you didn't blink and miss? My local HMV (not a large shop by any means) stocks HD DVD and Blu-ray discs right next to each other, no players for either format though. I always end up being a bit of a local celebrity when I go in there to buy a HD DVD. I don't think they sell very many...

 

My local HMV in Moorgate in the City doesn't stock anything HD-DVD or Blu-Ray related, I asked about it back in December and the staff were all baffled.

 

There are a couple of HDDVD and BR titles in the area where I shop (Paris). Not much exposure, though, and especially no demos... Regarding the PS3 launch, it seems that their production capacity has indeed increased since the pitiful launch allocation, so they may meet their March launch date. Or they may make some extra excuses, put empty PS3 boxes everywhere, start a huge preorder campaign in order to cut down sales of the competition, and launch with enough supply in September (think PSP EU launch).

 

A limited selection of HDDVD & BR titles has been available in most retail shops here (Munich) since december. It's hardly anything worth the 25-30€ they charge though.

 

This may hopefully be the turn around time when us brits refuse to pay extortionate prices
for players / discs etc.

You can buy a toshiba HD player for $400 and we pay £375?

No Thanks.

 

I wonder how the ps3 launch in March fit in regards to the launch of God of war 2 for the PS2 13th of March. PS3 launch before or after? any comments?

 

I'm not sure if the god of war 2 europe date is the same as the NA date, so they could still pull it off. Put GOW2 and a bunch of other ps3 games out in march for NA, while europe would get the console launch and a bunch of ps3 games and maybe release GOW2 in europe a couple weeks after.

If GOW2 ships in Europe at the same time then that theory is kinda out of the water. Wish I knew the exact date.

 

You mean to say that Europe would get God of War 2 at the same time as the U.S. is going to? Now that would be a pleasant surprise! But I highly doubt it.

For reference, the original GoW was released on 24 June 2005 in the EU.

 

I found the release date for GOW2 is 27th of April for Europe. So then this will not affect the PS3 launch I guess.

 

Reporting on a launch at the end of March

 

I remember their first ad campaign being already reved up (the first CL matches featured extensive PS3 advertising only to be hastly converted to PSP later on) when they delayed their euro launch.

 

I remember that too. Oh how I laughed... then cried.

You'll note that I didn't say confirmed or anything. Was careful to use the word reporting.

 

I don't care what the exchange rate is at £425 the PS3 will sell well for a few weeks here and then do exactly what it did in America. It will develop shelfstickitis after the initial loons have bought up the first 500k units

 

I think that the fact that they started a pre-order campaign in September 2006 days before announcing the delay would still be in consumers' minds if Sony went to pull that same trick again this year.

 

PS2: £299.99

360: £279.99

Wii: £179.99 (i think)

 

Correct.

£425 sterling is absolutely insane. That's $835 US
I'm sure people will still buy it, but only the hardcore early adopters. The regular people out there, with modest incomes, will steer clear.

 

Personally (and I must stress I really do mean personally) I don't feel shocked by £425. If Blu-ray disks are taking up a bit more shelf space come March/April that may ease my pain a little more too. If they did release the 20gig model I wonder what price that'd go for?

Maybe my views been coloured somewhat by an article on the expected price of the iphone that I read recently...

Oh dear. I sound like a Kutaragi Jnr.