London PS3 Launch: Buy a PS3, Get a Free 46" HDTV

Sony hands out free 46" HDTVs to the first 100 customers in London

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Eager London gamers that waited in line to get their hands on a PlayStation 3 this morning got way more than they may have bargained for before camping out. Sony, obviously in a generous mood, gave the first 100 customers to purchase a £425 ($834 USD) PS3 a free 46" HDTV and a free taxi ride home.

In all, Sony gave away over £250,000 ($490,450 USD) in HDTVs to accompany the PS3 launch. The free taxi ride was most likely a nod to the fact that many customers who showed up to purchase a PS3 might not have exactly had enough room to transport a 46" HDTV back to their homes.

"I feel fantastic. I'm delighted that everyone here also gets a television," said 17-year-old Ritatsu Thomas who was the first buyer in line.

The PS3 has gotten off to a somewhat slow start in the United States and has been consistently outsold by both the Wii and Xbox 360 since its November launch. Sony is confident, however, that the European and Australian launches of its PS3 will help vault it into first place in the next generation console wars. A strong showing in these two regions could help boost the overall global sales numbers of the PS3.

Sony has also had a few months to add features to the PS3's firmware and bulk up its game library to entice European gamers. "There are benefits for European consumers - there are more games available, more Blu-ray movies and we've updated the online PlayStation network," said Sony's Phil Harrison.

Sony had originally planned to launch the PS3 simultaneously worldwide on November 17, 2006. The company announced, however, in early September 2006 that the European launch would be delayed until March 2007. Sony at the time cited problems with manufacturing blue laser diodes as one of the reasons for the delay.

Despite the delay, Sony is ready to conquer Europe and has made 200,000 consoles available for the UK launch.

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Hmmm it was 300 000 available consoles a few days ago. I wonder where the other 100 000 went. It still seems to have been a launch with better availability than the competitors, but pre-order demand for the Wii was much higher so we'll need to see some more figures a few weeks from now to really know how successful its going to be.

LOL, a free TV is what Sony needs to move any PS3. US and Japanese sales have been disasterous sofar. I bet 150000 of those UK consoles will end up waiting for another "1200$ a pcs if you can find any PS3 on the shelves" flop.

The PS3 might do beter in EU than in the US, just because it is a Sony Playstation. And it ain't a bad console, it might not be the best buy, but it ain't bad.

Free 46'' HDTVs?!? That's just crazy! If they did the same thing here I would rush out and buy a PS3 right away. Too bad it only happened in London.... :(

In Paris :

Microsoft makes the show : http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1i...ancement-de-la

Orther Place in Paris :

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1i...-playstation-3


Flop of the year :banana:

^^ Buhahaha

Buy the PS3, get the free TV, then sell or pawn the PS3.

Now I did see the PS3 running Yellow Dog linux and I must say that is pretty cool. The processor the PS3 has is amazing. It is an amazing machine but everything else right now beyond the PS3 is lacking. (ie Games)

Well its midday here now the shop has been open for 4 hours, I have 20 PS3's available for purchase and so far i've sold NONE!!!!

Too little too late, too expensive and not ground breaking enough for people to be interested.

I've had plenty of teenage window lickers standing and staring but guess what they can't afford it!

wow they gotta bribe people with a tv to get them to buy a ps3

Those French videos are pretty darn hilarious, and so far it looks like the euro launch of the PS3 is a flop.

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Originally Posted by [XC] MarioMaster

wow they gotta bribe people with a tv to get them to buy a ps3

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It is actually a move to compensate some that have waited 5 months since it's US release so not a bribe at all.

Those vids are French, not the most useful gauge of European Consumers. The UK & Germany are much better insights into whether it's a flop or not.

On a side note, according to the stInq the PS3 is selling better than the X360 was at a similar stage in it's lifetime in the US. I suspect it will follow in Europe aswell.

Sold out in 5 shops near me so it's not that much of a flop, yet.

Will that HDTV put the Emotion Engine back into the console? Didn't think so.

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Originally Posted by Kanten

Will that HDTV put the Emotion Engine back into the console? Didn't think so.

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Umm tbh i would trade an emotion engine for a free tv... Not looking so hot for sony here. Looks like its a nintendo and MS race, wow this is just crazy

lol, Sony atleast realized they need to bribe people to get the PS3 :rofl:

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Originally Posted by DeathReborn

It is actually a move to compensate some that have waited 5 months since it's US release so not a bribe at all.

Those vids are French, not the most useful gauge of European Consumers. The UK & Germany are much better insights into whether it's a flop or not.

On a side note, according to the stInq the PS3 is selling better than the X360 was at a similar stage in it's lifetime in the US. I suspect it will follow in Europe aswell.

Sold out in 5 shops near me so it's not that much of a flop, yet.

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who's fault is that ;)

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Originally Posted by DeathReborn

Those vids are French, not the most useful gauge of European Consumers. The UK & Germany are much better insights into whether it's a flop or not.

Sold out in 5 shops near me so it's not that much of a flop, yet.

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I had 20 PS3's this morning, I still have 20 i sold no PS3's whatsoever in the shop. Once the average joe found out the price they were'nt interested. If this is a reflection of the High street sale for most of the UK and possibly europe in general then it very very poor. On the other hand as someone from ZDnet mentioned on the radio earlier if may be like the PS2 where it took a year for it to catch on however, they did mention that the PS2 didn't have as stiff a competition from the Wii and 360 to contend with.

Free tv = nice addded bonus for taking so freaking long sony.

Playstation 3 not selling great

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Retail stores still have them

Walking in Saturn shop in central Vienna resulted with finding a Playstation 3 in stock, and I didnt even had to pre order.


I could just walk there and buy one and a bunch of games and accessories were there. It would cost me at least €600 for a console and about €60 for a game but I decided to skip it as I don't need one more PC in the house.


It took me three weeks to get Nintendo Wii and it was week till you could get the XboX 360 Premium or standard. I guess even Sony now realises that € 600 for a console is just too much and I would not hesitate to buy it for about €350 and I don’t see any value in Blu-ray player that you get in console simply as Playstation 3 is not that quiet.


Once will give it a try, the graphic looks good but that is today just not enough to push me to buy a console.

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Originally Posted by oublie

I had 20 PS3's this morning, I still have 20 i sold no PS3's whatsoever in the shop. Once the average joe found out the price they were'nt interested. If this is a reflection of the High street sale for most of the UK and possibly europe in general then it very very poor. On the other hand as someone from ZDnet mentioned on the radio earlier if may be like the PS2 where it took a year for it to catch on however, they did mention that the PS2 didn't have as stiff a competition from the Wii and 360 to contend with.

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I personally am not going to buy a PS3 until I see just how good/bad the PS1/2 Emulation is. If it can handle 90%+ of the games I have then i'll buy one. I did buy 2 in America 2 months ago but they were presents for my little brothers. I'm still reasonably happy with the X360 but not that impressed with the games so far, hoping that with the PS3 now out that will change.

They are on the expensive side (but hey, what isn't in the UK?) but I think that if they had Final Fantasy/MGS4/Gran Turismo releasing alongside the PS3 they would have sold out across Europe. That's what Sony needs to really get the losses piling in, some decent games.

Many PS3 were on shelves this afternoon in London Oxford Street. if I knew the TV 46 inch was free I would be the first to line up :D

It would be funny if those TVs weren't 1080P or "True HD" as sony likes to call it:D

I think this would have been a better buying incentive to the masses:

http://www.ps3grill.com/