Sony a vraiment trop d'argent et ne sait plus quoi faire avec...

[reaper007]

PS3 queuers get free 46-inch Sony TV
Phil Elliott
GameSpot UK

Sony finally unleashed the PlayStation 3 in the UK on Friday, with a midnight launch at Virgin's flagship store on London's Oxford Street. After receiving warnings about safety from the Metropolitan Police, Virgin decided to prevent fans from sleeping rough and made space in its basement to accommodate the hardiest gamers.

Even so, not many took up this offer of hospitality, and with only a few hours to go before launch there were just a handful of dedicated people lounging in sleeping bags, watching the clock. Fortunately, as midnight drew near, more fans began to trickle into the store, and after some photo opportunities with the massed ranks of the media, they were ushered upstairs for the final hours to enjoy some light entertainment -- including break dancing and basketball juggling.

Around 120 people had joined the queue shortly before midnight, and if the prospect of getting their hands on the latest bit of top-quality gaming hardware, along with a complimentary copy of Resistance: Fall of Man, wasn't enough, Sony had one final trick up its sleeve.

Just minutes before the tills were due to start ringing, a Sony representative made the shock announcement that everybody registered in the queue would receive a free Bravia 46-inch plasma HDTV, something which took some time to sink in with the gobsmacked crowd.

Jason Sarris, from Wood Green in London, said, "I'm speechless, I still don't believe it. I think it's a hoax." Akwasi Poku, from Forest Hill, also in London, added, "It's restored my faith in Sony. I was thinking about getting an Xbox 360, because it's half the price, but now it's paid off."

It's just the sort of reaction that Sony Computer Entertainment UK's managing director, Ray Maguire, was hoping for. Moments after the first PS3 had been officially purchased, he told CNET.co.uk's sister site GameSpot UK, "The issue for me is that not many people here would have a flat-panel HDTV. It should only be about a week before everybody's got them in their homes."

He went on to add that in the UK only about 15 per cent of homes contain a high-definition television, compared to around 25 per cent in the US. "We're lagging behind, but just about everything being sold nowadays is flat-panel, and we're in the situation that people are starting to wake up to 1080 [resolutions] rather than 720 [ones]."

Also attending the event was the president of Sony Worldwide Studios, Phil Harrison. In a brief interview with GameSpot UK he admitted that the past few months had been something of a rocky road, but was keen to put the problems in the past.

"I can't deny that we would have loved to have launched everywhere in the world last November, but that's behind us," said Harrison. "The important thing is that people who buy a PS3 today or tomorrow will be getting a machine which has got a better network functionality, better firmware, a better variety of software, and a bigger range of Blu-ray movies."

The event at the Virgin Megastore was the only official event to take place at midnight, although there was two further events taking place later in the morning at HMV and Game, also on Oxford Street.

[Ninty]

Ils veulent que leur console marche j'ai l'impression! A voir le lancement en France, c'est pas gagné pour Sony.