Sony to Boost PlayStation 3 Demonstrations Fivefold

Sony Corp. will use five times the number of U.S. demonstration booths to promote the PlayStation 3 as it did for the last console, part of a plan to keep users from defecting to Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox and Nintendo Co.'s Wii.

Sony, the world's largest maker of video-game consoles, will spend $30 million to put the consoles in 15,000 U.S. and Canadian kiosks during the holiday season, said Jack Tretton, co-chief operating officer of Sony Computer Entertainment America. The 2000 introduction of PlayStation 2, which dominated the last generation of game consoles, used 3,000 demo booths

[Boink]

and they will have to have a rep at everyone to reboot it and keep the fan blowing on it if TGS was any indication:)

[Shadow Flare]

you know, the xbox 360 is no spring chicken itself

and going by TGS, I only heard of one ps3 unit failing. And considerin that failed unit was demoing riiiiidge racer 7, i dont think it was the game pushing the console too hard. It was one faulty unit thats all.

Im glad however sony is spending alot of money to get loads of ps3 kiosks out there, cos that way, the public can try the ps3 for themselves. Its always better for a person to try before they buy, cos then they'd feel better about spending $600

[drewdrakes]

There was another unit running Armored Core 4 that went down, so it seems you arent very well informed ;). But that is to be expected from a new console. And im glad Sony is starting to do that thing called "Marketing".

Link to broken PS3: http://www.kotaku.com/gamin...

[achira]

this links to the failed ps3 are fake, they are photoshoped! use your logic, why is the ps3 off, and uses a fan to cool it down ? isnt it logic only to turn off the ps3 and it will cool down alone ? this is a freaking fake, look at the fan, its inlcuded in the picture, the truth is the man only turned on the ps3, and an idiot included this fan with photoshop !

[tatical]

What are you talking about? There's no fan in that picture.

[Boink]

no, but the ps3 is gearing up to be a big xmas turkey.

There were reports of systems crashing all over the place. and that was still with systems having a ps3 on top, but the games really running on pretty much a dev kit underneath.

developers dropping online play because they don't know what sony's doing a month and a half before launch doesn't fill me confidence for some reason.

Nobody doubts that the 360 had it's launch issues, and the ps3 will have theirs as well. but the problem is that Sony having a less than stellar launch, gives a HUGE advantage to MS and nintendo.

this will be the closest console race ever, and sony isn't off to a great start, and the idiots that write their press releases aren't helping.

it's go time for sony, everyone's waiting for them to blow our minds, and it's not happening.

[Shadow Flare]

well apparently sony blew a few japanese minds at TGS

however i understand what you're saying. Sony IS going to have its share of problems at launch and they've already experienced a lot

In my opinion though (and im european), the PS3 is still the most exciting to me and its the console i want most. And the more info and news i hear about the ps3, and especially the quality of games, its making me want the ps3 more and more, and to me, the 360 is not even an option to me anymore

[THE TRUTH]

What will YOU do when you see THIS at your local Best Buy or Video Game store?

http://i13.photobucket.com/...

http://i13.photobucket.com/...

Link: http://ps3forums.com/showth...

Imagine 15,000 of these "Battle" stations are set up all over at a very busy christmas time.

PS3 Demo Area". It will consist of 2 couches, 2 wireless controllers per couch. A Sony Bravia 46" 1080p set, and Sony 7.1 Home theater system."

That will definetly turn alot of heads

[Boink]

as a retailer I'd be incredibly impressed.

reaction 1:
wow this is awesome, how much?...WHAT!!!!! maybe in a year or 2 I'll come back.

reaction 2:
customer:wow, this is awesome, can I buy one?

retailer: well the tv and stuff we have, but there is no ps3's, sorry.

See, the problem with that setup(aka battlestations), and anyone with half a brain in sony marketing should have figured this out: To Joe average, it all looks great, BUT it all looks really expensive(cause it is), and therefore out of reach.

nonetheless, should be an interesting xmas in the console industry:)

[happygamer]

it seems like a lot of people are going to be able to play the game they want before they decide to buy a ps3.

[THE TRUTH]

WOW, you seem like your just so in tuned to the "average gamer" whatever the hell that means....

I give you factual information and you reply with fictional information about what you "think" is going to happen... The only truth is that there may be 100 different interactions that would happen between the customer and store clerk, so why do you only have 2? And more importantly why do they all have such a negative ending? You make it seem as though no one on earth could afford such a set up.... Funny because I consider myself average and I have no problems affording a above average gaming setup.. We are past the age of black and white 12 inch TVs my friend. HDTVs are selling well so are many other high priced appliances so get over this "poverty stricken average gamers" I can't wait to take a few hours at my local best buy before buying my PS3 on Nov. 17th!

[Boink]

what I think??
sorry buddy, it's not what I think.

FACT: casual gamers think the PS3 is EXPENSIVE...sorry, i'm not making that up. read the price reactions at just about EVERY gaming website. you fanboys of course don't see it, but everyone else does.

FACT: there is only 400,000 coming on launch day, and there will be shortages all over. do you think you will be able to just walk in and buy one at your leisure? are you that blinded with hope?

are these things I'm making up? have I been imagining all these articles about people not liking the cost? did sony not scale back their "worldwide launch"?

[Marriot VP]

How is that gonna help?? If someone wants to check it out they can wait in a 5 minute line or go to any store really.

People who drop 600 bucks + a couple games don't need to see a demo console to make their decision. If they're gonna do it, they're gonna do it for their games they grew up with.

I said it once, I'll say it again...

NORMAL PEOPLE DON'T BUY A 400$ CONSOLE

[DJ]

And Normal people don't spend $300 on music players and $500 on cameras either, huh. ?!

Considering how much inflation has rose over the past decade, $500 doesn't mean as much as it did ten years ago. Adjusted for inflation, the 20Gb PS3 is almost the same price as the NES when it first launched.

The Demo Theaters for PS3 are meant to show people the optimal home console/entertainment experience, and they convey that message a lot better than tiny little demo kiosks in the corner of a games section. Sony is emphasizing the fact that their console is a full-fledged entertainment system, even more more so than the 360. Movies, Games, Music, Online, all out of the box without the need for add-ons or updates. Consumers love well-executed simplicity and owning a box that does everything they need. The PC already does this, and PS2 pioneered the idea for consoles; in fact, it was the system's ability to play dvd movies that breathed life into the niche industry and assisted its monumental takeover of VHS. It only makes sense that the PS3 would be designed and positioned to do this better than anything else on the market. It's the next logical step.

The Best Buy setups are a great idea, and I'd love to see Sony repeat these setups in other electronics stores around the world.

[richie007bond]

Give a rest why dont you,your the hardcore and i mean hardcore sony fanboy,its the averrage joe on the street that will decide to buy the ps3 if the price is right and if it launches with good games,there the main bulk of the buying public,and guess what the price is not right and the launch games arent really up to much,also ive personally noticed a trend with most of my friends and familys kids is that there not really interested in getting a ps3 which is quite surpising considering everyone of them has a ps2,everyone of them and i kid you not whats a xbox 360,and me being the curious sort of fellow asks them why,and the simlpe response i get is its to exspensive they dont have a clue what blue ray means or does lol and the games they have seen dont look any better than the 360,and come xmax the the core pack 360 will retail for 199 pounds which is a sweet deal compared to 550 pounds ps3 and thats not including cables,how much that translates to american dollars i dont know but its not cheap by any streach.You do the maths i rest my case

[Boink]

you guys forget that we are mostly the hardcore gamers/early adopers aka the alpha males,(well of technology anyway). So we buy the stuff early, we have the HDTV's, we have the high end PC's cause that's what we like, but we are not the casual gamers, which make up the mass market.

and your mention of 300$ mp3 players, and 500$ cameras is completely different, those are about average prices for those devices(maybe a little less, but whatever) but that's what people expect to pay. but even the premium 360 is seen as pretty pricey, and the same goes for both versions of the ps3, they are above what people are looking to pay for a console.
Both MS and Sony will have to convince them it's worth it.

I don't know who said it, but someone said the first console to get to under 200$ will likely be the winner, and that's probably quite right.

[Karibu]

You're saying

"I bought a 500$ camera, damn cheap. I also bought a 500$ gameconsole, thats frikkin expencive!"

WTF?!

[achira]

a nice idea, i hope this will be in europe also.

[richie007bond]

500 cheap what planet you on....the average joe wont fork out 599+ for a games console,times have changed its a different world now,people wont part with that much cash when theres cheaper and better value consoles,its a new generation and sony have lost a lot of market and branding share,your a dinosaur DJ ps2 and ps1 had no competion back in the early days,times are a changing JUMP IN

[EnforcerOfTheTruth]

You must be kidding, xboxfanboys like to cry PS3 is way too expensive, but in fact it's very cheap for the things it offers, much cheaper than the 360. Let's see what Xbox360 would cost if it would only offer just the not so future proof HD movie playback:

$399 Xbox360 premium + $199 HD-DVD addon = $598
Almoust the price of the future proof 60GB PS3. Xbox 360 sadly still lacks Wi-Fi, HDMI and offers only a 20GB HDD.
If you don't care about Wi-Fi you can buy the 20GB PS3, which offers exactly the same what Xbox360 with HD movie playback offers, but for almoust $100 less and it's unlike the 360 future proof cause of HDMI.

$399 Xbox360 premium + $199 HD-DVD addon + $99 Wi-Fi = $697
Still no HDMI and no 60GB HDD, but costs almost $100 more, what a ripp off.

Xboxfanboys like to say Sony is forcing us to buy Blu-Ray and MS is giving them choice. I'm askin myself what choice? Choice to get ripped off? Choice to buy way too overpriced products? No thanks MS, I would advise you folks to jump out ;-)
$99 for Wi-Fi is a ripp off. In the PC market you get such an adapter for half the price.
$99 for a 20GB HDD is a ripp off. For the PS3 we can buy an usual 2.5inch HDD for half the price, but twice the size. MS just wanna milk their poor fanboys, that's why they made it impossible to use an internal 2.5 HDD. And please don't come up with that you can use external drives. Who wants to use external drives? Not only that it looks ugly, it also takes more room. That's another advantage of the PS3. It takes just less room and looks much better if you have everything in one device than having an external HDD and external HD-DVD connected.
Sony also isn't forcing people to buy Blu. If you wanna experience the typical Konami, Capcom and Sony games without any cuts, Blu is nescessary. Why should people give up on spectacular CGI, something that was already standard in the last gen? This would be a step back and next gen shouldn't make a step back in any area. The next gen isn't about making a step back, but about making a step forward. Many gamers love spectacular CGI's and the developers are very happy with Blu, so Blu is nescessary.
Another negative side of Xbox360 are the additional costs for recharging the controllers. While Xbox360 owners have to buy a Charge Kit, the PS3 owners can do it with a simple USB cable.
This shows that Sony thought about everything to make it as cheap as possible for their fanbase and this shows that MS thought about everything to milk their fanbase as much they only can.
MS just doesn't care about gamers and their fanbase. Also the very short(only 4 years) Xbox support demonstrates it perfectly. They stopped it right after the 360 was released and this was an awful move. With such a decision they showed how much they care about the Xboxfanbase. From the Xbox owners I know, only 1 bought the 360. The rest is very pissed and some of them don't wanna buy a MS console again. Truth is, many gamers don't buy the new console right at launch. They want to wait 1-2 years for a price drop or for some games that really interest them. But MS doesn't care what they want, all they care is how to milk people of their money.
What makes all these even badder, is that MS is the richest company in the world. They could very well still support Xbox, they could very well sell the Xbox360 accessories at a lower and more reasonable price and they could very well make even a console that offers more than the PS3 but is cheaper. As the richest company in the world, sure they could, but that's not what they want...Jump out ;-)

BTW it's so funny that MS says the addon doesn't need HDMI, cause they think the movie studios won't include HDCP in the 360's lifespan. LOL do they really think people want use the HD-DVD addon only for 4-5years? Movies are different than games and people use their players much longer. What a ripp off, no thanks MS, I surely won't jump in.

[THE TRUTH]

IT's SO funny how 360 fanboys can say that they "KNOW" the average gamer and exactly what he will do. Your so in tuned to the "average gamer" but yet you don't see the big picture.........

A. Did PS2 sell 100 million units it's first day? Well Do you really think Sony would worry about the "console launch" numbers as the bar to measure the entire numbers that the PS3 can and will sell?

---"I think it's the nature of the business. I mean, we launched with a half million units on the PS2 and we sold 106 million. So I don't think it had a tremendous impact there. I think ultimately we're talking about a 10-year lifecycle, and the number of units you sell on day one do not anoint you a great success nor do they doom you to failure based on any magic number. Ultimately, it's what did the system do over the course of time, and that initial number, while great for making an initial start, is just really a drop in the bucket in terms of what the system will ultimately do and whether it'll be successful or not. So I think ideally we'd like to have as many units as possible... but it's a constant problem, given the rate at which technology moves, that every company faces and has faced since the beginning of time and probably will for the foreseeable future. I think the goal is to have mass quantities available in all worldwide territories; it's been our goal, it's been our competitors' goal [and] nobody's ever been able to pull it off."

B.) FACT: casual gamers think the PS3 is EXPENSIVE...sorry, i'm not making that up. read the price reactions at just about EVERY gaming website. you fanboys of course don't see it, but everyone else does.

First off gamesites don't relfect the thinkings of the "average gamer", and you are really not giving us facts because you have NOTHING to back up any of your statements!! FACT: YOU think the PS3 is TOO expensive, YOU haven't given PS3 a chance to PROVE it's value and YOU are the extremeist fanboy crying on about PS3 because YOU bought a 360 instead. The difference between me and you is I TRIED the 360 and I make my opinions about MS and 360 based on what I have played, experienced and have not experienced so get your "so-called" FACTs STRAIGHT!!! But to answer your question............

---"I could talk about pricing all day long and I think we could get into all forms of comparisons. What is the bar for a TV? Is it $500? Nobody will spend more than $500 on a TV... I mean 50% of the TVs that are going to be sold this year are going to be HDTV. People are spending thousands of dollars on TVs because they see the value in the technology and they say "I've gotta have a high-definition television." You can watch a football game just fine on a TV for $199 at Wal-Mart so why would anybody buy an HDTV?"

---"I think ultimately the concern is if you assume the consumer is not willing to pay more, and therefore to hit those retail price points you have to dumb your technology down, consumers will turn their backs on you because they're bored with the offerings. So we could say "Let's not spend a lot of money in software development and let's come out with a simple game that we can retail for low prices because I don't think that consumers will pay for the kind of technology that we ultimately would like to bring to them." I think the consumer rejects you. You have to go out and show them a state-of-the-art next-generation game. You have to go out there and invest $20-$30 million but if you do that, you're not going to be profitable and you're not going to be in business very long trying to sell those games at $29.99 or $39.99.

And I think what the consumer has said is "If you show me the quality and the depth in the gaming, I'll pay you more for the software." And I think the same thing is true of hardware. If you show them the technology and the value, they'll invest in it, and I think we're selling consumers short that spend $12 billion on gaming to say, "Yeah, they just won't spend over 300 bucks. I mean, that's it." Consumers that are interested in gaming spend thousands of dollars a year. They spend hours and hours and hours playing games and they want the best. If you're marginally better and greatly more expensive then that's probably not going to cut it, but if the value is there they're going to pay the price and I think they do it with all kinds of consumer items across the board and I don't think gaming is any exception."

C.)its the averrage joe on the street that will decide to buy the ps3 if the price is right and if it launches with good games,there the main bulk of the buying public,and guess what the price is not right and the launch games arent really up to much,also ive personally noticed a trend with most of my friends and familys kids is that there not really interested in getting a ps3 which is quite surpising considering everyone of them has a ps2,

So what your saying is that the "average gamer" (whoever the hell that is) ALL think the price is too high and (even after TGS) think the games just aren't any good?

Well what I can take from you ignorant statement is you'd really have to come up with ALOT more FACTS if you think that I would take your opinions with any merit. I gave you facts and you come back with what you think about the "average gamer" whom you HAVE NEVER EVEN MET! Give me a damn break , ANYONE on here that is a fanboy of any side (wii, PS3 or 360) could make such meaningless ignorant statements. THE REAL QUESTION IS HOW MANY OF THEM CAN PROVE IT? The answer is no one because 3 of the three systems haven't even launched yet SO THE AVERAGE GAMER HAS SEEN NOTHING but the price!!! Once they SEE WHY the price point is HIGH and what is included THEN they determine if the VALUE equals or EXCEEEDS the price. THEN AND ONLY THEN will anyone be able to determine what the "average gamer" thinks.

You guys make it seem as though these "average gamers" live, work and come together in one place for us all the question and get a real sense of what they are thinking or planning to do when they go choose which console they prefer to buy! Get Real!

some of my responses were taking from this link exclusive interview with SCEA Executive VP Jack Tretton, I thought it better if you got your answers directly from Sony

link: http://biz.gamedaily.com/in...

[richie007bond]

YOUR a mindless sony drone lol look at the rant you have just posted,i rest my case ur a lost cause.....

[EnforcerOfTheTruth]

...your a mindless MS drone that loves to get milked lol

[richie007bond]

Strange me being a ms drone when i have a ps2 and ps1 and game cube,i like gaming,i just dont like being lied to and ripped off.... SONY anyone lmao.

[THE TRUTH]

I own a 360 so how are you calling me a "mindless sony drone"? gamertag sumtynnaztee

I own GRAW, NBA LIVE 06, LOTR: BFME, Saint's Row and FNR3

advice**and watch how you address people the New MOD is always watching**

[BIadestarX]

I'm not calling you a "sony drone" but, what would you call someone that buys a 360, buy games for it; and spends the entire day posting negative comments and articles about that very same console? I know it's not sony drone; but there must be a word that best describe you. You ether have lots of money or ....

[ASTAROTH]

If you are a Gamer, A TRUE one, not a fanatic saying you are; you have to know that the 360 doesnt have enough good quality games before the PS3 arrives. Again a Fanatic must swear that even Open Season for the 360 is a killer app. So the TRUTH is not a Sony drone. He is a gamer just like me. Who bougth a 360 just like me. Who havent found that fun 160 games microsoft promissed. Who believes ,like me, that the PS3 could end up being the best and most complete next gen console. As saying the TRUTH always spoke bad about the 360, he is not obligated to be blind because he bougth one. He sees better games and a better console in the PS3 and thats his choice. You fanatics are like little kids always crying and complaining if we have different opinions. Also I Give my negative opinions on the 360 because I bougth it and play it, and havent found a lot of great games for it. Microsoft is loosing his big chance to KO Sony. So.... WELCOM3 CHANG3!!!!!!!!

[richie007bond]

Utter mindless sony drones,plain and simple ive proved my point lol over and out

[EnforcerOfTheTruth]

Toy Story graphics
"we don't want to dissapoint gamers"
1080p native
HD-DVD included
$99 20GB HDD
$99 Wi-Fi
$199 HDD without HDMI
MS anyone?
ROFLMFAO

You proved your point? With what? Any facts to back your claims up? Who was the one that backed it up who's ripping who? ROFLMFAO

[Dreamworker]

if i buy a 360 just for gaming it is a gamingconsole what i replace in 5 years i save 200$ over PS3. Games are cheaper as ps3 games. if i buy 30 games each $10-15 cheaper. 2011 i have saved enough money to buy the next generation console. in the next console will be the winner of the DVD drives.

[kewlkat007]

there have been pointless threads about"Sony" and "MS" pricing. "EnforcerofPropogander&qu ot; we do not need more bickering about pricing. We have done the Head to head pricing on these consoles. Ofcourse sony did have a change of heart for it's peeps in japen last week. As they like to say "to each his own."

The fact is Sony is expensive for a next-gen console regardless of how you compare it to the 360. Even if you werent comparing it, it is still expensive. On the Blue-ray justifications alone. Wether you swear that you need the features then to each his own. People will still see a $200 difference even when grandma open her wallet for little "Tiny Tim" this X-mas. Remember we are not talking about just the Console. (couple of games,controllers, accessaries and a nice 2 year warranty). Don't even bring up the HD-DVD drive that MS is putting out cause thats optional. If your a gamer then you wouldn't careless for it.

Sony will need a strong showing this holiday season as they are a year behind, for whatever reasons I don't care. I will be trying them DemoPods out. I probally be looking at the price still and be like, meng I'll just wait.