Japan's PS3 launch is not so exciting

With a low shipment and lack of software sales, the initial launch of the PS3 is a little sad

November 14, 2006

While Sony is trying to build up hype for the North American launch of the Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) system which occurs this Friday, it seems Japan is getting less attention.

According to Japanese media, Tokyo didn't see any television commercials or major marketing activites up until a couple of days before the PS3's launch. Meanwhile, Nintendo went on a Marketing rampage with a huge marketing budget, filling the media with news of its upcoming Wii console.

The lack of push towards the PS3 lead to a very quiet launch this Saturday, but perhaps it was better that Japanese fans weren't rushing to line up in the streets — the systems didn't seem to be there.

Sony remained sketchy on the number of available consoles right up to the end. The number ended up around 80,000 units, with most specialty stores only carrying a couple of PS3 units. Larger stores that were expecting over a thousand units to sell ended up with less than a third of that.

The sales of PS3 systems degenerated into a lottery system, where pre-orders were nearly useless and you had to win your chance to buy a PS3.

The software for the system, which was more readily available than the PS3 hardware itself, hasn't sold well. Less than one PS3 game has been sold for the PS3 — meaning that there are several PS3 systems that were purchased at the Japanese launch and not being used yet. The most likely cause for this is that the systems were purchased to be re-sold for a larger amount to those eager to own the console.

In the end, the PS3 was sold out in perhaps the least exciting way possible, not because Sony had driven up demand for the console — but because there were too few consoles.

Of course, it wasn't entirely quiet. The launch did cause a bit of frenzy as confused and concerned customers fought over tickets, and a few PS3 systems were stolen off of shipment trucks before they reached the stores.

This Friday, November 17, the Sony PS3 will launch in North America. Sony confirms that 400,000 PlayStation 3 systems will be available for sale during that launch.