The Dark Side of the Japanese PS3 Launch

[Draft]

Kotaku coming through with some genuinely interesting content for once. Check this out. (http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/top/foreigners-and-fights-ps3-jpn-launchs-dark-side-214130.php)This is the true face of the PlayStation 3 debut in Japan. Hardcore gamers are not here waiting in line overnight, buying a first-run PS3, and running home to play some good old next-gen gaming. Rather, opportunistic Japanese businessmen have the largest presence, hiring poor Chinese men and women to wait in line for a PS3, one which will later be sold on web auctions to wealthy gamers around the world for exorbitant amounts of money.

...

Based on my observations of the first twenty PS3s sold at Bic Camera, they were all purchased by Chinese nationals, none of whom bought any software. After making their purchase, television crews asked for interviews but all were declined. These temporary owners of PS3s would then make their way down the street where their bosses waited. After several minutes, a dozen PS3s were rounded up, as their Japanese business manager paid out cash to those who waited in line for them. I witnessed a homeless-looking Chinese man, in his sixties or seventies get paid 20,000 yen for his services and was then sent away.Preliminary sales figures do seem to support this. I found these on GAF (http://www.neogaf.com/) (can't vouch for their authenticity, obviously.)Software
- Ridge Racer 7: 27.000 St. (38 %)
- Gundam: 20.000 St. (26 %)
- Resistance: 16.000 St. (40 %)
- Sega Golfclub Featuring Miyazato Family: 3.000 St. (24 %)As you can see, that's not even 70,000 pieces of software sold, meaning over 10,000 PS3s were snatched up sans game. Preview of the North American launch?

[LilAbner]

Damn that capitalism. Damn it all to hell.

[f1sh3r]

yeah, keep calling it capitalism, one day it'll be believable. if you want to defend sony using that word, fine. it would fit. but stop calling these social parasites capitalists.

[eth3rton]

I thought Sony was tracking PS3s that were shipped out of their intended regions.....? Of course this does not mean that will stop it but with only 80,000 to track this shouldn't be that hard....

[Savok]

Well that's new

[Lunar Blue]

Makes those guys buying 3 360's last year look like noobs!

[Deadend]

Man, trusting a homeless guy with enough money to buy a PS3? That is crazy in the US.

Oh, and bundles could have been a good thing in this situation, even if it's a DIY bundle of find 2 games.

[Captain Awesome]

wow, thats terrible.

[Sophism]

As you can see, that's not even 70,000 pieces of software sold, meaning over 10,000 PS3s were snatched up sans game. Preview of the North American launch?
That's assuming that the people who DID buy a game only bought one game. I know the PS3 is expensive, but that would seem a stretch in my mind.

Very interesting stuff though, I wouldn't have thought it would go like this over there. I could see the exact same situation repeat itself here in all relevant camping locales.

[Royal Fool]

*"Silent Night, Holy Night" plays in background*

[Evil Avnovice]

It's all too easy to make a crack at Sony's grand PS3 launch in Japan, but after reading the blog... :eek:, with a capital "HO-LY S**t.".

At this moment, the videos can't even compare to the article itself.

[lurker4hire]

Man, trusting a homeless guy with enough money to buy a PS3? That is crazy in the US.

I think the "businessmen" in this situation were probably of the type whom you don't cross, especially if you're poor and homeless and nobody cares what happens to you.

l4h

[MaiXu]

For the health of the PS3 as a viable platform, Sony better hope to Christ if and when actual gamers get their hands on the (now even more expensive second-hand) PS3s, they snatch up a few titles. Those pitiful software sales are not making anyone's bottom line happy.

[Heretic Machine]

Meh, anyone with half a brain would of known that this isn't a real launch for Japan. It is more like a sneak peak for a very small number of people. Real people are going to have to wait a while to pick one of these consoles up.

Which isn't such a bad thing, considering that the launch titles are about the weakest I've seen since... well, the PS2. I'm sure it'll be successful, but this so-called launch was tailor made for hardcore gamers who are also rich, and can afford to buy over-priced consoles on ebay. I mean, even if the PS3 had launched with three AAA titles, that I really wanted to play, and I happend to get a hold of one for $600, I would still just throw it up on ebay. The profits are too good to pass up, considering that I should be able to get one with relative ease in just a few months.

[Karmakin]

There's two ways to look at it.

Most people bought only one title, attach rates for the PS3, at least thus far are crap.

Or that the lion's share of the systems went to resellers.

[DangerousDaze]

Kotaku coming through with some genuinely interesting content for once.
Only if your definition of "interesting" is "Hooray! We've found a way to overshadow the sellout launch by blaming it on Chinese fucking farmers".

DD

[Lord Dongkey]

Only if your definition of "interesting" is "Hooray! We've found a way to overshadow the sellout launch by blaming it on Chinese fucking farmers".

DD

Go read the article Dangerous. It's painfully obvious that either you didn't, or you didn't pay attention to the fact that they flat out state, clearly, in no uncertain terms, that THE CHINESE NATIONALS ARE NOT TO BLAME FOR THIS SITUATION.

Oh wait, there, I've done it. I ruined the surprise for you.

[Captain Awesome]

Only if your definition of "interesting" is "Hooray! We've found a way to overshadow the sellout launch by blaming it on Chinese fucking farmers".

DD

Slow down there cowboy, did you read the article?

[DangerousDaze]

Go read the article Dangerous. It's painfully obvious that either you didn't, or you didn't pay attention to the fact that they flat out state, clearly, in no uncertain terms, that THE CHINESE NATIONALS ARE NOT TO BLAME FOR THIS SITUATION.

Oh wait, there, I've done it. I ruined the surprise for you.
I read the article and it's a good piece of journalism. My disappointment is that EA decided to mark the PS3 launch with this message:One elderly Chinese man, next in line to buy a PS3, was in a state of panic. He explained to a Bic Camera employee that his "friend" has his money, but that he is further back in the line. After further investigation, these poor Chinese are not given the 60,000 yen to purchase the PS3 until minutes before their reach the registers, perhaps out of fear that some will run off with the money. The Bic Camera employee assisted the elderly gentlemen, escorting him back to the cash registered after he received the cash from his good "friend."
...rather than this more balanced one:
The crowds we saw in the overnight lines consisted of hardcore gamers, foreigners, and homeless people hired by scalpers. They were mostly male, and many of them wore heavy clothing to survive the cold, additionally prepared with portable chairs and handheld gaming machines.

On the other hand, the lines that formed at raffle locations this morning consisted of more casually dressed people with a good number of female customers, parents with children, and a few elderly folks also lining up for the system.Not unexpected though.

DD

[Xenkylm]

Of course, they didn't monitor sales of PS2 games along with those shiny new PS3s... it's backward compatible, so maybe people didn't feel obligated to get "new" games? ;)

[Johan]

Console launch leads to hoarding systems for resale later?

OMG...what a SHOCK! This should be illegal! Only poor little children who are starved for nex-gen video game action should be allowed to get one...by lottery. And resales should be illegal for the first year. And you should be forced to buy multiple games with your launch console, in order to raise the attach rate.

/sarcasm off

[Heretic Machine]

The crowds we saw in the overnight lines consisted of hardcore gamers, foreigners, and homeless people hired by scalpers. They were mostly male, and many of them wore heavy clothing to survive the cold, additionally prepared with portable chairs and handheld gaming machines.

This just in: The DS is exceedingly popular with homeless people.

Favorite game: Animal Crossing DS, for obvious reasons.

[DangerousDaze]

This just in: The DS is exceedingly popular with homeless people.

Favorite game: Animal Crossing DS, for obvious reasons.
Not my words, it's from Gamespot's launch coverage.

DD

[Jenga]

Kotaku should really hire the guy who wrote the article.

[Buddha Lotus]

Wait wait.. wait a sec..

There is GUNDAM game for the PS3???

[pacman]

yeah, keep calling it capitalism, one day it'll be believable. if you want to defend sony using that word, fine. it would fit. but stop calling these social parasites capitalists.

I don't know how they aren't capitalists. They invested capital into a business enterprise (the sale of PS3s on ebay etc) privately, for the benefit of no one but themselves. Sounds like capitalism to me.

Meh, anyone with half a brain would of known that this isn't a real launch for Japan. It is more like a sneak peak for a very small number of people. Real people are going to have to wait a while to pick one of these consoles up.

Which isn't such a bad thing, considering that the launch titles are about the weakest I've seen since... well, the PS2. I'm sure it'll be successful, but this so-called launch was tailor made for hardcore gamers who are also rich, and can afford to buy over-priced consoles on ebay. I mean, even if the PS3 had launched with three AAA titles, that I really wanted to play, and I happend to get a hold of one for $600, I would still just throw it up on ebay. The profits are too good to pass up, considering that I should be able to get one with relative ease in just a few months.

I agree with Perigon

[Heretic Machine]

Not my words, it's from Gamespot's launch coverage.

DD

Wasn't taking a poke at you, I was making fun of the article... and homeless people. Inexpensive virtual homes FTW.

[Borys]

So Kotaku is fine as long as it portrays Sony in a bad light and not ok when it deals with 360. Please tell me I am either paranoid or wrong cause I clearly remember we didn't post shit from Kotaku here since 360 launch last year.

Other than that this is sickening and it should be banned one way or the another somehow.

[[VSK]BadCRC]

Main Entry: rack·e·teer·ing
Pronunciation: "ra-k&-'tir-i[ng]
Function: noun

1 : the extortion of money or advantage by threat or force
2 : a pattern of illegal activity (as extortion and murder) that is carried out in furtherance of an enterprise (as a criminal syndicate) which is owned or controlled by those engaged in such activity



ex‧tor‧tion  /ɪkˈstɔrʃən/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[ik-stawr-shuhn] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. an act or instance of extorting.
2. Law. the crime of obtaining money or some other thing of value by the abuse of one's office or authority.
3. oppressive or illegal exaction, as of excessive price or interest: the extortions of usurers.
4. anything extorted.



Is this illegal? It very well should be.

The difference in this case is that this is clearly an organized effort. If a bunch of gaming yo-yo's want to go out and hock their PS3s on the net that's their business, but when a single entity hires what are basically immigrants by the hundreds to go buy up every single unit - that's wrong. Just fucking wrong.

And you can't, you simply can not compare what's going on over there with what happens here in the US. What's happening over there, again, is a unified effort to buy out all of the game systems. It'd be like Warren Buffet hiring illegal Mexican immigrants who didn't speak english to go stand in line and buy out all the game consoles at launch for a particular system.

The real question though is where, if any, is the outcry of gamers on the Japanese end? Or do they simply not give a fuck because they didn't want the console in the first place?

Oh, and one last point - this is a fucking travesty for Sony. Not only has this taken consoles from whatever gamers they had in Japan, but pretty much solidified the fact that no software sales means they'll scarcely make a dime off this launch, and Sony needs every penny they can scrounge.

[[VSK]BadCRC]

Wasn't taking a poke at you, I was making fun of the article... and homeless people. Inexpensive virtual homes FTW.

The Chinese buyers were also given, in addition to their money, the PS3 box, which surely must feel like a mansion to their old home.

[Siraris]

How come no other site has said anything about this? I dunno seems hard to believe that there's already public software sales data, and this anonymous guy broke this story this ring of using homeless Chinese people.

[Royal Fool]

How come no other site has said anything about this? I dunno seems hard to believe that there's already public software sales data, and this anonymous guy broke this story this ring of using homeless Chinese people.
Others have, they just didn't focus on it I think. Are you saying there weren't any homeless/poor/immigrant people being used to hoard PS3 units?

I think the "businessmen" in this situation were probably of the type whom you don't cross, especially if you're poor and homeless and nobody cares what happens to you.
Wouldn't surprise me if the Japanese mob took an interest in selling PS3 units online. They know there's a huge fortune to be made and they easily have the resources to organize something like this.

[Crenor]

wow, I know the PS3 is a pos, but I did not expect people to care. In japan I expected it to sell like mad, but those game sales are really sad. That means developers are going to run screaming away from the PS3 - and no games = one dead system.

[tayaya]

wow, I know the PS3 is a pos, but I did not expect people to care. In japan I expected it to sell like mad, but those game sales are really sad. That means developers are going to run screaming away from the PS3 - and no games = one dead system.

You also have to look at it and compare what's happening here to what happened with the PS2. Many Japanese ran out and bought the PS2 primarily because of its DVD playback capabilities. When the PS2 launched there it was a cheap DVD player, as the DVD player market in Japan in 2000 was full of high-end players and not a lot that the average joe could afford. In this case the PS2 was like a DVD player and a whole lot more at an amazing price.

the US software sales numbers will probably be a lot different than those of the Japanese console. In Japan, consumers are content buying the PS3 to use as a Blu-Ray/DVD player and web appliance, and it's very true that some don't even plan to buy any PS3 software for it. In space-starved Japanese apartments (i've been in several... they're tiny!) having one box to play DVD movies, Blu-Ray movies, PS1 and PS2 games, surf the web, and listen to MP3's/audio CD's on makes it a very useful and hot commodity, not even mentioning the next-gen PS3 gaming goodness it holds with in.

Sure the attach rate may not look good right now (that and it only launched with 5 titles instead of the nearly 20 we're getting here)... but I think you're jumping the gun just a bit by saying the PS3 is "a failure" already, after it's been out for 2 days.

[absolut taco]

wow, I know the PS3 is a pos...
And you know this how, o poster of so much useful information? :rolleyes:

[absolut taco]

but I think you're jumping the gun just a bit by saying the PS3 is "a failure" already, after it's been out for 2 days.
I think you can sum up his feelings with 2 words: Wishful Thinking.

[Hemalin]

Others have, they just didn't focus on it I think. Are you saying there weren't any homeless/poor/immigrant people being used to hoard PS3 units?
I think what he is saying is that it is being blown out of proportion by, who else but, Kotaku.

Does this mean Kotaku is allowed on the front page now?

[Tohoya]

Rampant xenophobia out of Japan, but what's new? Move along, gullible gaijin.

[Zeal]

I reported this last night. It's all true.

Going this far to a secure a videogame system is both humiliating and pathetic. It's like "Congratulations, you just paid over a grand for a fuckin' toy."

[Siraris]

Others have, they just didn't focus on it I think. Are you saying there weren't any homeless/poor/immigrant people being used to hoard PS3 units?

I don't think so, no. I have not seen any other site mention it, and I have two friends that were in line at Yodobashi in Shinjyuku and they said they didn't see anything this guy did. Furthermore he states there were no police, yet there were, as shown in many Youtube videos and pictures.

[Exodus]

If you read the article it said the police arrived an hour after the pushing started. Reading is your friend.

EDIT:

And I think all this finger pointing at Sony is in terribly bad taste. This is a situation that ALL of the developers have to deal with and they have to get together and fight this thing. It's this kind of bullshit that makes the tight fisted crap attitudes like MS with Vista seem more right every fucking day. This is NOT just Sony's problem, this is every developer's problem console and game.

[MrE]

No, its not Sony's fault that this is a "soft" launch of a hot new product thus causing demand to outstrip supply. Same BS as the Microsoft launch last year. I've heard comment from someone that profited during the 360 launch that he was going to do it all over again for PS3 since people were willing to pay his price on eBay.

-E

[Zeal]

The reality is that Sony did not have enough units to launch the console. They knew a delay was not an option and therefore were forced to make the release as low key as possible.

Selling out a few thousand units is not something to brag about if you ask me. Sounds like they were screwed either way.

EDIT: I can't wait to hear about all the breakdowns coming in.

[Deadend]

Well, it was a better launch than the NGAGE.

[Karmakin]

Well, it was a better launch than the NGAGE.

The Challenger was a better launch than the NGAGE :(

[51|RandoM]

This is nothing new for any limited launch item.

I've waited in line for concert tickets with entire welfare families, they're just there to get around the two ticket per person rules so that the scalpers can get lots of tickets.

...really doesn't have anything to do with the ps3, other than to show that demand at release is extremely high. We knew that already, though. :p

[Stormwatcher]

I don't know what's MORE stupid.

The launch itself (80k units????);
The morons who think that this was a successful "sell-out launch";
All the people buying the PS3 to sell it on ebay;
all the idiots that are going to buy PS3's on ebay;
all the idiots arguing about the hobos in the lines...

Damn. that's all really sad.

[bapenguin]

bah..didn't see this. Just reposted. Very depressing.

What a sad state of the gaming industry that console launches, the precipice of what our gaming is all about has turned into a greedy money hungry charade. It totally takes away any joy there could be on that day, for many gamers a launch day should be like a kid on Christmas morning. Instead it looks like a bunch of malnourished 3rd world people pushing their way through a crowd for a spoonful of rice.

[Siraris]

According to Enterbrain, Sony sold 88,400 units combined on Saturday and Sunday, depleting stocks at most electronics retailers that were able to get their hands on a limited supply of the console.

Enterbrain said that Ridge Racer 7 and Mobile Suit Gundam: Target in Sight, both from Namco Bandai Holdings, were the top two selling games at about 30,000 units each.

Source (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15697125/from/RS.1/)

60,000 of just RR7 and Gundam would mean that almost every system was attached.