Playstation 3 Launch Causes Violence

[MC]

And yet you completely ignored what I said. Security is the responsibility of the shopper, when you're not in the store. If you want to be protected from guns, and knives, and thieves (oh my), then hire your own security.

Did anyone get robbed inside of the store? Hell no. Anyone beat up, mugged, etc? No. It's 2006, and the US is too afraid of those from without to even bother trying to protect from those from within.

What luck, you can vote for fear tactics. But that's not the point of my argument.

Why should the store take a hit of thousands, or even tens of thousands for you? Assuming the price of a security detachment's rate per hour is $1200, and they're there for 3 hours, that's $3600.

Let's say they've got 40 units, $26000 made in that 3 hours. But then you figure, what's the cost of the PS3 before markup? We'll assume $600 (in-store managers, if any are here, this is your moment to enlighten us), so, we subtract $24000, and get $2000 profit. Wait a minute, do you see that there? Not only does the store pay a cut of its profit, but it even EATS $1600 in "profit."

So, to ensure the safety of customers, the store has to pay $1600, when it's not making up that $1600 for doing so. This is what we call "bad business."

If you want to have your cake, and eat it too- make the cake yourself. Either that, or accept the consequences and risks, and stop crying.

Either way, the store can be held responsible since you were shot/robbed/mugged on their property. At least that's my understanding, so correct me if I'm wrong, by all means.

 

[Hitokiri]

It isn't the store's duty by any means to hire security for the people waiting outside. In the end, the gist of Sandstorm's example remains true, that's why the Pinto stayed around for so long. Companies are all about gain, that's pretty much the sad reality.

Should the police perhaps be more vigilant of what goes on during "events" like these? I would say that's the only solution.

Either that or bring your own weapons to the line. >_> I would love to see some teenagers try to mug a bunch of people waiting for the Wii or something, only to see like 30 guns all suddenly pointed at their heads, Matrix style.

 

[Sandstorm]

It isn't the store's duty by any means to hire security for the people waiting outside. In the end, the gist of Sandstorm's example remains true, that's why the Pinto stayed around for so long. Companies are all about gain, that's pretty much the sad reality.

Should the police perhaps be more vigilant of what goes on during "events" like these? I would say that's the only solution.

Either that or bring your own weapons to the line. >_> I would love to see some teenagers try to mug a bunch of people waiting for the Wii or something, only to see like 30 guns all suddenly pointed at their heads, Matrix style.

Well, not neccessarily matrix style... Matrix style would be watching one kid robber stop all the bullets in mid-air, and then fly away, while spouting gibberish like "I know Kung Fu!" :laff:

 

[DiebytheSword]

You forgot the part where his love interest is killed in the lamest way while he goes blind from fighting Ken Kutaragi armed with an electrical cable.

Then we are left dissatisfied as all 10 PS3's shipped to the US carry him off to a stockroom never to be seen again.

 

[ZeroNightmare]

how is this sony's fault?

and what is with this mob mentality.... on a dbz web forum...

 

[Optimus Prime]

Either way, the store can be held responsible since you were shot/robbed/mugged on their property. At least that's my understanding, so correct me if I'm wrong, by all means.

That's like saying you're responsible if someone gets mugged on your front lawn.

This isn't Sony's fault in the least. You can't blame Ford for drunk driving accidents because they give people a means to drive while intoxicated.

 

[DiebytheSword]

I don't think this is Sony's fault per se, but it is a result of their poorly planned launch. How they could think this was a good thing after the PS2 laughable launch effort is beyond me.

 

[Adaptus]

Maybe it's part of the cultural differences between Japan and America (I don't think you'd see many muggings in Japan at PS3 lines), but I think SONY could have anticipated that there'd be some problems with the launch.

I think they should've waited and produced more consoles instead of rushing it out before Thanksgiving and Christmas.

 

[Optimus Prime]

I think MC summed it up perfectly.

Sony has already placed a lot of money into the Playstation 3, so they want to minimize how much more of their money they will have to spend on producing units and then utilize their revenue.

 

[Chakra-X]

Still, there shouldn't be a reason that that amount of assaults and robberies should have took place.

Speaking of which, anyone hear anything about Wii violence?

 

[MF29]

Most people aren't even aware of what the "Wii" is, everybody is so hyped about Playstation "3", just because there is a 3 on the end, nobody has an idea of what the "Wii" is, it's such an outcast name.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Still, there shouldn't be a reason that that amount of assaults and robberies should have took place.

Speaking of which, anyone hear anything about Wii violence?

Sony didn't start a new trend. People get mugged and assaulted for no reason all the time.

 

[Majin_You]

Most people aren't even aware of what the "Wii" is, everybody is so hyped about Playstation "3", just because there is a 3 on the end, nobody has an idea of what the "Wii" is, it's such an outcast name.

I beg to differ. There were line-ups at every Wii-stocking retailer in Winnipeg this morning. My bro and I tried 7 different locations, and all of them were either too crowded to bother getting in line (that, and most stores used a ticket system, wherein in the first x people in line were given slips to ensure they would get a Wii, where x is the number of Wii's in stock at the store), or were already sold out by the time we checked. Heck, even HMV (which, until today, I didn't think sold video games) was sold out in no time.

I am inclined to agree with Optimus as to the reason why the PS3 release was plagued with muggings and other violence - "People get mugged and assaulted for no reason all the time." I'm sure that if people were in line long enough for their Wii's on a weekday morning, one could expect to see much of the same; after all, what better target for a mugging than bits and pieces of a throng of gamers ready to unload $300+.

 

[Fire Phoenix]

Sony (any company for that matter) will only produce a certain amount of units to be sold in stores. The amount of units they produce is determined by numerous estimates given by people they hire. Now, I'm pretty sure the cost for making one unit is pretty expensive, let alone multiple units. So, with the cost of production in mind, Sony will only produce a specific amount of units. The amount of units they produce and sell will bring in revenue that will fund a certain percentage of the production costs to build more units. As time progresses, more revenue is generated - more units will be produced.

Sony has already placed a lot of money into the Playstation 3, so they want to minimize how much more of their money they will have to spend on producing units and then utilize their revenue.

Now, if you want to blame anyone, blame the people Sony hired to give them the estimates.

Because a billion dollar corporation only had the budget to produce 500,000 'units' right? In specific...the PS3. Sony can suck my unit for all I care.

Or sony could say "Jee, a **** load of people in America want the PS3 because 1. It owns. 2. It's awsome. 3. The graphics and the fact that it's better than the PC atm is ownage 4. It's awesome and 5. It kicks ass. Maybe, just maybe, we should make enough for the **** load of people in America to get one so we can make a **** load of money.

So what if it dies, people are dumb enough to buy one at launch anyways, and then ***** and complain that they get errors. So? Sony still made a huge ass profit for producing so many.

Now, I'll refute everything I just said if you can prove to me that the same thing happened with the PS or the PS2.

 

[sub]

FP, I don't think it had anything to do with money, I think it was just physically impossible for them to produce enough. I'm under the impression that the yield rate for some of the parts were extremely low. Also, the Blu-Ray Diodes were in short supply. I could be wrong, but from reading numerous things online, that's the impression that I got.

My teacher was actually covering this in school. He used this as an example of a company creating an artificial shortage to generate consumer interest. I just sat there knowing that he had no idea what he was talking about [God forbid I actually get involved, we couldn't have that].

The fact is Sony messed up the launch. They indirectly caused the violence, but it's the people who actually commited the acts that should be punished. Not getting a PS3 at launch is no reason to have violence.

 

[tolore]

So what if it dies, people are dumb enough to buy one at launch anyways, and then ***** and complain that they get errors. So? Sony still made a huge ass profit for producing so many.

you realize sony loses money for every console they sell right?

 

[Sandstorm]

you realize sony loses money for every console they sell right?

You realize Sony loses far more for every console they don't sell, right? :laff:

 

[Optimus Prime]

You realize Sony loses far more for every console they don't sell, right? :laff:

Which is probably why they limited the initial launch numbers, to ensure they sold all if not most of their consoles, to get some of the money back that went into R&D and production of the the initial batch.

 

[Sandstorm]

Which is probably why they limited the initial launch numbers, to ensure they sold all if not most of their consoles, to get some of the money back that went into R&D and production of the the initial batch.

All you really did was reaffirm my statement with that. But alright!

 

[Sandstorm]

And once more, Godmode expresses it perfectly...