well… sony’s move to still require ps2 region encoding (ie. not unlocking it themselves) is gunna hamper any legal moves they may make against the creation of a chip…
which is kinda ironic, cos isn’t that the reason they were gunna make the blu-ray region free? cos they lost the battle against chip makers due to regional encoding
yea it does. And the thing that kills me is that I’ve been reading the video game boards, and found out that DS isn’t encoded. And you can use DS with the WII. “We” my ass. :fume:
Sorry, If I get one (comes out Dec2) I’m not selling it. :raspberry: 
That baby is coming home with me.
But I have an old PS2 you can have to play until you get your 3. OBO
Big line today at 101 to get into the PS3 area.
anyone get a chance to play one at 101 today? interested in how it handles
Sorry, just saw your post. Actually I had no intention to go since I don’t play games consoles, was just passing by yesterday after the AV show …
pubba,
You’ve just arrived in Taiwan after much anticipation, and you’re concentrating your thoughts and energy on gaming software/hardware? Man, you should be more concerned about getting your hands on some sweet-tasting local poontang rather than a f@cking PS3. Get with the program!
Well, its certainly fun to look at the local lasses everywhere, but I dont like my chances with any of them… Im kinda goofy looking and weigh 115kgs and am 184cms tall. I feel like the HULK (or is that SHREK?) standing around here… 
Although, I did see some ugly dorks with hot girlfriends at the night market in Shi Da (?) so who knows?? At least I dont have to buy my game console a LV bag and get accused of ‘thinking too much’
DS games are cheap here namahottie - saw some tonight for 8000 TWD, which is heaps cheaper than back home…
I want a Wii - screw the ps3… The guys at the game shop in Shi Da said they are going to end up costing more than 20,000 TWD due to demand… pfft !
Also - the PS3 console is region free, but its up the developers if they make their games region free or not, just like with the 360
Any new info. on where to pick up a PS3? Got a couple people that are willing to hang out at different shops Thursday night, but I’m not too sure what stores will have a large shipment.
Any advice?
Feds
I have pretty much given up on getting one at even close to retail price this year…
The Japan launch was a disaster, with most of the people in line being paid by dodgey scalpers, who later sold them in online auctions for grossly inflated prices…
I think the same might happen here… I will be in Taichung on launch day so will ask around at the gaming stores and with my friends who live there.
Check out this article…
[quote]At the worldwide sales debut of PlayStation 3, Sony’s newest console attracted dozens of media outlets and thousands of people willing to camp outside overnight for a chance to score the 60,000 yen game system.
Minutes before the clock struck 7:00 A.M. and Sony’s new PlayStation 3 console would officially go on sale, a company representative addressed the crowd of media and the new face of early bird game console buyers - Chinese nationals.
“Everybody, the PlayStation 3 is the door to a new world of interactive entertainment,” the spunky Japanese rep trumpeted as SCE CEO Ken Kutaragi joined her on stage.
Unfortunately for her and the rest of the Sony entourage, the men and women standing patiently in the front of the line either didn’t understand what she was saying, or didn’t care - the first buyers of PS3 were largely elderly Chinese men and young Chinese women with shaky Japanese language skills.
This became readily apparent when Kutaragi welcomed the first official PS3 owner on stage for an on-spot interview. A 26-year-old Chinese man politely stood on stage while the organizers earnestly tried to squeeze some information him.
Questions like “When did you start lining up?” and “What games will you buy?” were left unanswered as the young man shook his head, refusing (or unable) to respond. The Japanese media would later catch up with him, confirming suspicions that the first PS3 buyer didn’t understand Japanese. An eyewitness claimed the young man didn’t purchase a single game for his brand-new PS3.
This is the true face of the PlayStation 3 debut in Japan. Hardcore gamers are not here waiting in line overnight, buying a first-run PS3, and running home to play some good old next-gen gaming. Rather, opportunistic Japanese businessmen have the largest presence, hiring poor Chinese men and women to wait in line for a PS3, one which will later be sold on web auctions to wealthy gamers around the world for exorbitant amounts of money.
THE LINE
Some waited patiently for the clock to strike 7 A.M., others pushed.
Around the corner of Bic Camera, the line continued on and was partitioned by a television news van. With one hour left of waiting, this became a troublesome spot for Bic Camera employees who tried to calm a crowd of increasingly agitated people, upset over the lack of organization, cramped spaces, and increasing number of people cutting in line. Soon pushing ensued, men began yelling at one another, and some women began crying for help.
Without the presence of Tokyo police officers, the Bic Camera employees were temporarily able to bring order to the line, most armed with their weapon of choice - ear-splitting megaphones.
The levy broke soon afterwards, as a truck attempted to pass through the narrow street, forcing the organizers to push back to the line closer towards the wall. Or in other words, squeezing together a line of people already packed like sardines.
The pressure was too much as the line busted open and more pushing ensued (which broke out in front of the waiting truck), causing those waiting in back to push forward, inching themselves closer to the finish line with a prideful Kutaragi waiting.
One man truly leveled-up - the chaos allowed him to push forward from roughly 200th in place all the way up to 20th in line.
The Tokyo police would eventually arrive just prior to 7 A.M. - fifty minutes after the pushing first took place.
A gruff-looking Bic Camera manager was the first to realize the problem - nobody in line understood the directions his employees were screaming. He quickly grabbed one of his Chinese-speaking employees, put him on top of a ladder, handed him a megaphone, and instructed the young man to address the crowd in Chinese.
CLOCK STRIKES SEVEN
To the relief of everyone, the final countdown took place at 6:59 A.M. as Kutaragi made a quick speech and officially kicked off the retail debut of PlayStation 3.
But what took place at the cash registers moments later would put a big, fat exclamation point on what can only be described as a failure of a hardware launch.
“Thank you for your patience!,” welcomed the cashier to the first PS3 buyers. “What game software would you like with your purchase?”
“Hai,” the consumer nodded, not understanding the question.
Most cashiers soon figured out that the men and women standing in front of them didn’t speak Japanese. Some would then repeat the same question in English, and would all get the say reply, “Only hardware.”
Based on my observations of the first twenty PS3s sold at Bic Camera, they were all purchased by Chinese nationals, none of whom bought any software. After making their purchase, television crews asked for interviews but all were declined. These temporary owners of PS3s would then make their way down the street where their bosses waited. After several minutes, a dozen PS3s were rounded up, as their Japanese business manager paid out cash to those who waited in line for them. I witnessed a homeless-looking Chinese man, in his sixties or seventies get paid 20,000 yen for his services and was then sent away.
The sales spree continued back over at the registers, and not everything was running smoothly. One elderly Chinese man, next in line to buy a PS3, was in a state of panic. He explained to a Bic Camera employee that his “friend” has his money, but that he is further back in the line. After further investigation, these poor Chinese are not given the 60,000 yen to purchase the PS3 until minutes before their reach the registers, perhaps out of fear that some will run off with the money. The Bic Camera employee assisted the elderly gentlemen, escorting him back to the cash registered after he received the cash from his good “friend.”
The transactions continued, tired-looking Chinese carried away their newly purchased PS3s, and avoided eye contact with journalists asking for interviews. All but one young man - a Chinese exchange student studying in Japan. He was willing to go on camera and was excited to talk about his new purchase.
The television reporter started off with a few questions that the young man didn’t understand, so she stuck to simple questions: “Why is PS3 good?”
“It’s interesting,” the young student said with a grin.
“What game will you play on your PS3?” she asked.
“The tennis game,” he replied. Among the four software titles that launched with the PS3 in Japan, there was only one sports title - Sega’s golf game. The student was perhaps referring to the recently released “Minna no Tennis” on PlayStation 2. Either way, it was obvious he was no gamer.
The young man would later head over to Yurakucho Station, where he added his purchased PS3 to a collection of consoles bought by his friends, which no doubt will be sold online in an auction later today.
TIME FOR CHANGE
Today I witnessed the most disturbing side of the video game industry in my three decades of game fandom. It’s not the Chinese that I’m upset about. Who can blame them? If you’re poor and without a good job in Japan, 20,000 yen to wait in line isn’t a bad deal. And for ambitious people like the Chinese students I encountered who scored five PS3s, this hardware launch could net them thousands of dollars in profit through online auditioning - that’s more money for them to spend on tuition. These are the lucky Chinese kids in Japan, getting an education, and trying to get ahead in life. If these kids are good students, who’s to say that they should be playing PS3 instead of using the console to afford more education?
But this story isn’t about the hardships of Chinese in Japan. It’s about how poorly run hardware launches are done in Japan and why they should change.
Sixty seconds before Kutaragi kicked off the launch, rain started to fall on hundreds of people in line, many without umbrellas. People were pushed and yelled at by out-of-control campers without the presence of a single police officer (even though a police box was located one block away), and hundreds more are still waiting outside as I write this, with the rain pouring down. Meanwhile, true Japanese gamers are waiting. Based on the record-breaking attendence of this year’s Tokyo Game Show, there are tens of thousands of Japanese interested in playing (not selling) PlayStation 3. They are waiting for their chance to play Ridge Racer 7 or Genji II (or maybe not), but still the interest is there. And should they line up again when the next shipments of PS3s come in? Hell no. As evidenced by the ongoing DS Lite storages in Japan, patient Chinese and their crooked Japanese bosses will be there too, waiting.
This is the true story of the PlayStation 3 debut in Japan. This is the kind of expose that Japanese media are prevented to run because of their nationalism and close ties with big business. While it’s honorable to not smear their own countrymen (Sony) for their botched launch, the truth must be told.
WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN
Sony should be scolded for staging a national launch event with 80,000 units. An extreme lack of supply ignited an extreme surge of demand - that of which poor Chinese and opportunistic Japanese took full advantage of today.
If Sony and major retailers like Bic Camera or Yodobashi Camera are going to participate in launch day festivities like today, police need to be present.
If measures aren’t taken to try and curb rampant scalping of hardware through online auctions, then retailers must address their customers - Mandarin-speaking Chinese. Don’t bother having your employees shout into megaphones all morning long - nobody understands a word they are saying.
CONCLUSION
As a fellow foreigner studying in Japan, I can tell you the hardships that many of us face everyday. The intent of this story is not to point fingers at hard-working Chinese nationals. Rather, I think this subject needs to be brought to light. This is the truth that no Japanese media wants to touch.[/quote]
Videos here :
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veoh.com/multiplayer.swf?..154645Ey7ZTg32
With Abe now in office, I suspect this will give more credence to the xenophobia the government has and their watchdog actions over foreigners will increase.
Good article…
Taken from a Buy & Sell ad.
Hahaha…yeah, right.
so did anyone go for the pre-order today at that sony shop?
i’m going to check out a few stores tommorrow to see if their in.
i read earlier in this thread that there would only be 150 ps3s available for pre-order but i didn’t realise there would only be 500 available in total…dude check out this article from joystiq.
0.002% of Taiwan to get a PS3
Posted Nov 16th 2006 7:30AM by Justin Murray
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3
Yes, the PS3 is in very short supply. We’re going to have to camp out days in advance; most of us will be told our wait was for naught (except maybe a $60 discount on a 360 game). As bad as we have it, Taiwan will have it worse.
According to Sony Computer Entertainment Hong Kong (SCEH), Taiwan will be getting a whopping 500 units. Taiwan has 23 million people according to the CIA Factbook; this means .002% of the population will get a PS3. For comparison, Japan has 127 million people, which translates into .06% of the population getting an opportunity for a PS3. Even if the US only gets 200,000 units as some predict, Sony will get the PS3 in .07% of the population’s hands.
Count your lucky stars you’re not in Taiwan; they’re going to have the toughest time getting their hands on the difficult-to-find machine. We’re confused, however, as to why Sony chose to do this. What exactly will selling a paltry 500 units do? They would have been better served staying in Japan and holding off on a Taiwan launch until production numbers picked up. It isn’t exactly a major battleground in the war between Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft.
Ouch! I give up then
Maybe in a months time there will be enough units in stock to just walk in and buy one?
I reckon most of those 500 will be sold in Taipei as well…
Has anyone bought one of these little beasts??
I rang 4 shops in Taichung today (with the help of my friend) and they all said they didnt even receive ONE for sale…
SONY have really dropped the ball with this launch, but the power of the Playstation name means they can do no wrong…
There have been some crazy stories filtering out of the US re: their launch today…
The sony website listed almost all FNAC shops in Taipei as resellers of the PS3 - I wonder how true that is?? I might pop into asiaworld later on and have a look.
Apparently about half a dozen FNACs, half a dozen Tsann Kuen (3C) and the Sony stores got 10 machines each to sell.
I wouldn’t expect anyone to be able to just walk in off the street and get one without queuing or pre-ordering or whatever.
Anyway, good luck to all of you.
PS3 Crime sprees. Gotta love it! And I still don’t even know what games are coming out. :S