European Users: How well is PS3 selling in Europe?

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thenixta said: The PS3 launch seems to have bombed in Australia.... Sony said they had 20,000 pre-orders, but most stores were virtually deserted when they opened at midnight. The guy who bought the first PS3 in the country said he was shocked to be first in line when he only turned up after 9pm... http://www.smh.com.au/news/games/playstation-launch-is-a-muted-affair/2007/03/23/1174153291466.html The SMH is one of the most reputable news sources in the country

Im so not surprised (I live in Melbourne). Sony has been flogging the PS3 like anything for a month or so now (advertising everywhere), but the price is REALLY ridiculous. $1000 -- with no games. Its about $1500 for a couple of games, unit, etc. Also - although there are plenty of HDTV's here - almost ALL of them only do 720p. There are very few full 1080p devices on the market (and no one seems to really care about the difference). Plus the 360 has been out for over a year, and is doing really well here - and you can get a FULL pack (games and all), for about $700 - and that's really expensive as well. The original PS2 is doing really well - hit a sweet price point, and the games are very affordable. The Wii remains sold-out, and impossible to buy (without a pre-order). I work as a (mobile) games company, and I believe 1 (maybe 2) of our employees picked up a PS3 last night (at launch). Just about everyone has a PS2, and I think 6-8 employees have a Wii. Finally, no one gives a rats ar*e about BluRay here... even DVD's are overly expensive. Only the $15-$20 price point gets sales - $50 movies (its the SAME movie!), will not sell. Esp. when people don't own 1080p devices (I would say about 0.1% penetration for 1080p devices - maybe less). EDIT: The Aussie dollar was trading at US $0.81 yesterday (a 10yr record high). So $1500AU = $1215US. Work out the value there.