PlayStation 2 Launch
We mainly cover Nintendo news on this site, but this is not a phenomenon to ignore. IGNPS2 was on hand around the San Francisco Bay Area to bring you first hand coverage on the official PS2 launch.
If the Japanese launch was any indication, the PlayStation 2, or Sony for that matter, will have a rippling effect beyond anything we can imagine. Sony cut the initial shipment of PS2’s from about a million to 500,000, which you can read about here. Sony’s launch is considered to be the biggest, most successful system launch in history. The inital PS sold 75, 000, 000 units worldwide, and we can only speculate on what kind of sales we’re (and Sony) is going to be expecting.
Outside most local retailers, lines almost 200 people long formed, as PS2 hopefuls waited out an entire day until the stores opened at 12:01 AM, October 26th.
Most stores opened today on 8:00 AM, and our local Canadian Tire decided to order in around 20 units. By 8:05 AM, all of the units were sold out. Ditto with our local EB, who ordered in about 200 units. Online shoppers will also have to wait for their pre-orders to arrive, as well as most stores, like Toys “R” Us. Most stores are giving their Dreamcast software the boot, in order to make way for PS2’s 27 launch titles, including Madden 2001 and FIFA 2001, also included is an ultra-cool snowboarding game titled SSX.
If you planned on waiting it out until the lines shortened, like say, the next day, forget about strolling in, shelling out your 450$, and walking out without being awed and stared at. I seriously doubt you will find a PS2 anywhere after the mayhem subsides, and it also looks that way for Christmas, in which Sony is certain to drop their price, and introduce a truckload of new games.
So what impact does this have on Dreamcast? A big one. Of course, you can expect Sega to appear unperturbed and hold their heads high. However, most stores had to push their Dreamcast displays aside to make way for the PS2. Sega has already reported a 3rd quarter loss of 2.8 billion yen, a bit shy of their expected 6 million dollar profit.
It seems like PS2 will be the only game in town (pun intended) for the next 9 months until we see the likes of Gamecube and Microsoft’s X-Box to put in their appearances in 2001. Until then, sit back, enjoy the ride and good luck in your epic quest for a PS2.