Japan got over 80,000 PS3 consoles. America is allegedly getting 400,000. And Hong Kong? It got 200 machines. What. Is. The. Point. Double question marks. Reader Martin Froejd sends word that the release wasn't hyped, and that the local news only gave it a few notices. His account of the event after the j-u-m-p.

I was more than willing to try and get my hands on a PS3, and that even before the US would get its thanks to the time difference. The release event was simple enough - queue up for some tickets that will be released 7.30 AM on the 17th, and then go pick up your PS3 60GB, 3 games, 2 controllers and some Playstation branded clothes for 5245 HKD - roughly 670 US dollars, but the basic unit with one controller went for only 490 USD. The queuing itself was supposed to be done in the Gateway Shopping Mall, in the famous shopping district of Tsim Sha Tsui and right next to the five star luxury hotel Marco Polo. Well - the queuing was hidden behind some panels, right at the exit ventilation of the nearby parking garage. In other words - noisy, dirty and with the occasional scent of gas. I got to the scene at 8 PM. I was quite surprised. More than 50% of the people were elderly women - with no apparent interest in PS3. "Street hawkers", as one fellow queuer preferred to call them. These were only here to get a profit in reselling - probably not by selling the units themselves but just queuing up for someone.

We talked to the official looking Sony guys that walked around. They confirmed what still is unbelievable - only 200 units, in addition to a small batch of pre-orders that were already sold. They guessed more units would arrive within "one to two weeks". Nobody knew if and when they would show up outside the official Sony store. We also got an idea of the organization behind it all. My first impression was quite decent. They had made sure the queue was roped and sealed with panels. The whole thing was under a roof (it is Hong Kong after all). There were at least two security guards patrolling, and a number of Sony employees, or "event staff". They would go regularly through the crowd and write up ID-card numbers, to check that people weren't cheating. If you would miss one count, you'd risk loosing your place in the queue completely. But it could have been much better - the queue looked more like a "shelter for homeless" than anything else, as one guy told me. The staff was quite frank with the fact that maybe 90% of the people there only were going to resell their units - and they kind of recommended us normal, decent gamers to try the next batch.

As for me, the event was a failure. I thought I had arrived in good time, but then I realized all the others had already stood in the same spot for hours (the first had arrived at 10 AM this morning). With a place of 40-something on the waiting list (that is, the list of people in excess of the first 200), I didn't feel it was worth gambling a good night's sleep. I just have to hope that Sony can release something more than 200 - a mere sample - of its much-wanted product in the coming weeks, so that normal people can expect to get their hands on it. And when they are so aware that the first batches only go for resale, why not find a better way of delivering their products to "retailers"?

That's it. I didn't get one.