The official European launch of the PlayStation 3 has come and gone. The inequity has ended. But, it honestly looks as if Sony’s reception in Europe wasn’t exactly stellar. At the very least, the launch sounds like it was almost boring in comparison to earlier releases in American and Japan.If the snaking lines, the days of camping and massive amounts of hoopla and even the violence surrounding the North American and Japanese launches are considered, the European debut is downright mild.
For instance, Spong had this to day: “Over a hundred people turned up at HMV to pick up a PS3 with a free copy of the sublime Virtua Tennis 3 from Sega.”
And, this: "One guy had even turned up at midnight last night to be the first in the queue!" Simon Winter, PR manager for HMV.
That’s over a hundred in a line and one guy in an early queue. Remember the campouts in front of stores in America? The ridiculous fan behavior? The store manager that made wannabe buyers play silly games that resulted in injury?
MCV confirms the modest lines, “Queues of around 100 people who had pre-ordered consoles waited patiently outside both retailers’ flagship London Oxford Street stores before doors opened – GAME’s at 7am and HMV’s at 7.30am.”
With consoles reported still available after pre-orders were filled, the launch sounds like it went very smoothly, as compared to elsewhere. Perhaps if gamers had known a free HDTV was in the mix at some locations, the lines would have been more out of control?
While the excitement level doesn’t sound up to snuff with what gamers had in store at earlier launches, it sure sounds like the Europeans did this one right. So far, there are no reports of PS3 thefts or buyers getting robbed or beaten. The crazy antics that made headlines with the North American launch just aren’t there.
Whether this is due to a lack of interest in the console or perhaps that European gamers are more civilized than some Americans, doesn’t matter. The fact is, numbers aside, the launch sounds like it went off without a hitch, or at least a big one.
Congratulations Sony. Congratulations European stores. Congratulations European gamers.
Related:
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Labels: european launch, PlayStation 3, playstation 3 launch, ps3, sony
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