Last night was the Aussie PS3 launch, so we sent our Australian reporter out on a mission - to visit three popular stores in the capital city of Brisbane and gauge the popularity of the PS3 at midnight, when those who pre-ordered could finally collect their consoles. This is what happened:
Heading into Brisbane tonight, which for those that don't know is the third largest city in Australia, I wasn't quite sure what to expect as stores opened at midnight to launch Sony's long delayed console. I got the chance to check out three stores in the city, two EB Games stores and a JB HiFi (think Best Buy), and the word that comes to mind is 'underwhelmed'.
With just a half hour until the launch of the console the stores were virtually empty. In all three cases there were more store employees in the shop than there were customers.
EB Myer Center had 2-3 customers. EB Wintergarden had 4 employees, a security guard and zero customers. JB HiFi was a similar story.
Rigs were set up with the new console displayed on pretty TV's, but the only people taking advantage of them were employees. This is in high contrast to the Nintendo Wii launch just a few months back, where stores required police for crowd control even out in suburbs, and lines reached well over a hundred people hours before launch.
Upon questioning EB games cashiers said that approximately 70 consoles had been pre-ordered between the two stores, while at JB Hifi a clerk revealed 50 consoles were reserved there. I was offered a console at each of the stores, with JB's clerk revealing that pre-orders had only claimed half of their initial shipment. EB employees were less eager to share their total shipment numbers, only saying that "anyone who wanted to get one would be able to".
It appears that despite the popularity of it's predecessor in Australia (until DS and the Wii, Nintendo was virtually a forgotten name here), Sony's PlayStation 3 will be sitting plentifully in stock on store shelves for a while. It is only the beginning, but it certainly was a quiet night down under.
Update: News just in from the official Sydney launch event. 70 people turned up at the Myer Pitt Street store. Other stores in Sydney received smaller crowds of 20 - 30 customers.
Source: GWN
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