UK PS3 launch a bit of a mess

The big launch has arrived in the UK and throughout Europe, the PS3 is finally here. While there was a sellout in Japan and the US launch was the normal ebay success albeit somewhat marred by violence things are starting off with a crawl in Europe.

There was of course the early-launch in Italy and the well publicised midnight opening cancellations in London, but what of the remaining big-name shops in the capital? Well it's pretty much down to Virgin so you'd expect their in-store campsite to be the focus of desperate gamers throwing cash around if you believed Sony's spin. Instead you get a mere 100 people (some report less actual purchasers) and they are all bribed with Hi-Def TV's costing 5 times as much as the console they've just bought. This is known in the biz as the "We had planned to give the first lucky few out of the thousands we expected a special gift.. but since nobody turned up.." technique. It's quite similar to the "Here's a free Hi-Def TV" trick that Microsoft pulled with the press when launching the 360 in terms of pushing HD and ensuring your product is seen at its best.

There have been some other amusing give-aways at the launch mind you. While ebay sellers haven't learnt that the PS3 profiteering angle stopped long ago I expect a few of those TV's to be changing hands over the coming days.

Even the Beeb's World Business Report (on BBC News 24) is questioning Sony's strategy and asking if the 40% premium being paid in the UK means the Japanese giant has priced themselves out of the market. Of course things may go well this weekend and beyond into the 'launch period'. I expect Sony will sell a lot of consoles throughout the country but the launch will not be the unmitigated success Sony really need and they won't ever reach the dominance they had with the PS2. There will undoubtedly be questions from gamers when they can't play their favourite PS2 titles on their shiny new kit and the rest of Europe may not be as faithful to the brand as us Brits.

Update: So what do Virgin have to say about how things were looking when they started their own version of Eurocamp on Wednesday?

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Virgins promotions and PR manager Stephen Lynn said he wasn't disappointed by the level of turnout on Wednesday. "I'm delighted that we've got anyone at all, to be honest.