Gamestop Manager expects ugly PS3 Launch

[wraggster]

A confession from a Gamestop manager:

"I asked the regional manager about PS3 preorders," one told me "and he paused and then said he can't answer the question. He said there is a plan, but they can't talk about it; we should know in a week to two weeks." He started to sound tired, "Sony just didn't seem like they had a plan with the show. No plan at all. Barely a mention of the PS3, and almost nothing playable. On the other hand, I waited two hours for Gears of War. There is a feeling that Nintendo and Microsoft really set out to wow us, and Sony didn't have much to show. There was a PS3 under glass you could look at, and that's about it."

The difference between HD-DVD and Blu Ray was striking as well. "Blu-ray had a tiny presence in the very back of the show floor, while Microsoft had large displays and surround sound systems in their hospitality suite so you can take a look at what their HD-DVD drives would look like. It was impressive, and gave the feeling that HD-DVD was real and Blu-ray wasn't ready for the show."

I asked him his feelings going into the PS3 launch with no word on allocations or preorders, and no news on what will happen towards the holidays. "It's going to be ugly, there is no way this launch is going to go well."

[irongiant]

Ugly only in the sense that the launch units will sell out immediately and leave plenty of buyers disappointed. Oh and Gamestop won't make as much money as they'd hoped.