It seems that the recent stories of how Europe’s largest game retail store, GAME, has been encountering problems with selling all of its pre-sale tickets for the PS3 has prompted the retailer to issue some damage control. Anna Marcario, the marketing director for GAME, said to GameIndustry.biz, "The customer reaction to the arrival of the Sony PlayStation 3 really has been nothing short of phenomenal. With a huge range of titles available for launch and having so much more functionality than any other games console, our customers can’t wait to get their hands on this incredible machine."
We don’t know about you, but the recent spin by GAME sounds suspiciously like hype to us. Only last week, a store manager at GAME indicated just the opposite. "We’ve had a lot of interest in the console, mostly from PS2 owners looking to upgrade, but the price is putting many off. It looks like you may be able to just walk in and pick one up without a preorder on launch day."
Several major European retail outlets have scuttled their plans for a midnight launch of the PS3 because of concerns from the police regarding the safety of shoppers. This is likely in response to what happened in the US, with isolated cases of robberies and violence being reported on the launch day of the PS3. Some of the stores have now rescheduled for a 7AM launch. But the rescheduling may also indicate something else — stores may believe that few shoppers will brave the late night vigil to stand in line to buy a PS3. If this is really part of the motivation for the rescheduling, it would be quite embarrassing for not only Sony, but also for the stores describing the interest in PS3 as "phenomenal."
