Shootings and Shooters at PS3 Launch

Days after its debut in Japan, the PlayStation 3 is now having another shaky start, this time in the US.

Wherever he is today, Sony's American boss, Kaz Hirai, is probably breathing more easily. With the stroke of midnight came launch day for the PlayStation 3, a time for Sony to finally see through what has been a painful birth for the console.

News wires burned Thursday and Friday with disturbing reports from around the US. If the stories of profiteers going to extremes to bag as many consoles as possible didn't irk you, there were also more violent ones to disgust, in one case ending with a 21-year-old Connecticut man being shot twice in the chest and shoulder according to the Associated Press. There were also reports from Oregon about armed men robbing people standing in line.

Mostly, though, things appear to have gone well, with most stores exhausting supplies quickly. At Sony's flagship store in San Francisco, nearly a thousand people lined up for the chance to be anointed, but staff cut that down to around 700, handing red wristbands to the lucky few, according to a GameSpot report.

Many of those first consoles seem destined for eBay. People in lines around the US, interviewed by various local TV stations, spoke freely about their quest for profits.

EBay is calling the PlayStation 3 its "it of the day", and it's not hard to see why. Dozens of 60 GB models are selling for over $2,000 - more than three times the $600 asking price.

Profits likes these are prompting inventive strategies. One man, interviewed by CNBC, hired homeless people to stand in line outside retailers. Even one-time presidential hopeful Senator John Edwards got involved. Aides to the senator called a Wal-Mart in North Carolina to try to secure a system for the senator's family, but Wal-Mart rebuffed him. It did, however, send out a snarky press release highlighting the attempt.

One concern Hirai must have is whether this profiteering is going to have the same result as it did in Japan, where Enterbrain says less than one game, on average, was sold per PlayStation 3.

The great white software hope is Insomniac's Resistance: Fall Of Man, which is being pushed as the game to get. By virtue of its 40-player online modes, the game is also the bellwether for Sony's relatively hands-off online strategy.

There aren't nearly as many games sitting alongside Resistance as Sony would have hoped. At one time, it looked like the PlayStation 3 library would start with around 20 games on day one, but as launch supplies shrank, many publishers pulled out, choosing instead to hold back until there were more people to sell their games to.

Only around a dozen games are out for the launch this weekend, and most of these are already available on the Xbox 360.

With the US and Japan taken care of, Sony now has at least four months to take it easy before the console launches in Europe. The company has not committed to a launch date yet, but it says that it is confident that it will make the date.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo