The demise of the Playstation 3

Or even, PLAYSTATION 3, as Sony had decreed that you must spell it in all caps. You know, like eleven year old idiots do when they post on online forums.

Over here in the UK, the Playstation 3 (I’m not 11) will be released next Friday. Just like the 360 and Wii launches, the media is in a frenzy and retailers are being swamped with pre-order enquiries. Unlike the 360 and Wii launches, however, the enquiries are “Can I cancel my PS3?” rather than “OMFG! PS3 NEED!!!!111!”.

Sony Europe would appear to be pushing hard to stop people buying PS3 consoles over here. Firstly, they decide Europe wouldn’t mind getting the console months later than the rest of the world. Then they rewarded patient European gamers with a more expensive console, and, in a double clothesline move, didn’t bother letting us choose the cheaper 20GB model. Strike One, Sony.

But that wasn’t all! Last week, Sony had more marketing gold: they’ve decided to remove the PS2 “Emotion Engine” chip from the European PS3 consoles (although later they’ll remove it from other region PS3s too). If you don’t know what this means, then it’s simple: the chip was used to make the PS3 backwards compatible with almost all PS2 games (Sony say 100%, but that was A Sony Lie). Instead, our PS3s will do the PS2 emulation in software – with (Sony say, but again, it may be a lie) 1000 titles working. They won’t say which 1000, however. Strike Two.

Yesterday, there was a series of news reports on BBC Radio 1, our most popular national radio station. At the beginning of the day, it was reported that “hundreds” of people were cancelling PS3 pre-orders and importing instead – the two main reasons given being cost, and PS2 compatibility. The next report had a statement from Sony, explaining that US or Japanese PS3 consoles will not be covered by warranty in the UK, and “may not work as intended”. Apparently, the extra cost of the European PS3 is to make it work better over here, or something.

Then, a while later, Sony issued another statement. This time, they said that they would consider prosecuting people who import PS3 consoles. Because importing them is illegal, apparently. Of course, this is A Sony Lie, as – large and powerful as they are – they don’t actually make UK law. Surely such an outright lie, on national radio, isn’t right? I emailed the news team at Radio 1 and asked for clarification of the legalities of importing PS3s. To my amazement, later in the day, they actually interviewed a lawyer who specialises in laws regarding games, who basically agreed with me – importing is perfectly legal (so long as you pay the necessary taxes and stuff). Of course, importing loads to sell may have legal implications, but that isn’t what gamers have been doing. Strike Three.

So I joined the masses and cancelled my pre-order.

To be honest, I never really wanted a PS3 anyway. I pre-ordered a year ago when they first became available. I didn’t want one then, but having seen the 360 sell out so fast, I thought I’d get in early. I could always cancel later, or sell it on eBay and make a mint. Over the year though, my want for it dropped, and dropped, and dropped. Little things, like the lack of rumble. Big things, like the loss of some exclusives (GTA IV, for example). Parallel things, like the relative (compared to the DS and GBA) failure of the PSP. Other things, like Sony’s outright lies. I don’t want to be giving my money to a company that rips you off, and then tells you that you’re better off that way, and they were only thinking of your best interests.

I’ll be sticking with my Wii and 360 for the foreseeable future. I don’t expect I’ll be missing much anyway.