Phil Harrisson a annoncé le 10 novembre via le blog semi officiel de Sony, ThreeSpeech, que nous, européens, pourrons réserver notre pseudo le 17 novembre prochain via un site internet, dont l'adresse ne nous a pas encore été communiquée.

Certaines personnes aux États-Unis se rappelleront longtemps de l´attente qu´elles ont démontré envers la PlayStation 3. En effet, une fusillade a éclaté au sein d´une file d´attente en face d´un magasin Best Buy de Nicholasville Road alors que des dizaines d´individus attendaient pour mettre la main sur une PlayStation 3.
 
Selon le rapport de la police, une voiture est passée à côté de la file d´attente avant d´ouvrir le feu. Quatre personnes ont été blessées par les balles, aucune n´ayant été atteinte sérieusement. Parmi les victimes, on compte une journaliste du réseau 27 NewsFirst, qui interviewait quelqu´un en ligne au moment où les individus dans la voiture ont ouvert le feu.
 
La police enquête présentement afin de retracer les suspects et de déterminer pourquoi cette fusillade a eu lieu.

AP: How long will it take until everyone who wants a PS3 can get one?
 
Hirai: We are trying everything we can to get as many units into the North American market as possible. The thing that we're trying to focus on now is shortening the lead time from the factories to the retailers and consumers. Usually, something this size and weight we would put on a boat, but what we're doing is chartering planes to fly them in ... that combined with trying to ramp up production as quickly as possible as well.
 
 
AP: So are we talking months here before there's a surplus in the stores?
 
 
Hirai: Well, I think that's really going to be a function of the demand for the product. ... I think we are going to be selling out of the product very quickly. Hopefully we'll replenish it very quickly as well with the weekly shipments. But ultimately, when we have a situation that the consumer can walk into retail and pick one up remains to be seen, basically.
 
 
AP: There are rumblings out there among people waiting for the PS3 that some stores won't be able to fill their pre-orders because allocations have been moved between retailers. Is there anything to that?
 
 
Hirai: We've always allocated our products to our retail partners in a very fair way and also a transparent way. We don't favor one retailer over another.
 
 
AP: What is the bottleneck in production?
 
 
Hirai: I think it was well publicized that we had some issues initially with laser diode production (used in the Blu-ray disc player). Those issues have been ironed out, but with any component, whether it's laser diodes or anything else, you do have a ramp-up period. You suddenly can't go from zero one day to 100,000 units the next day.
 
 
AP: How do you feel you're positioned vis-a-vis the competition?
 
 
Hirai: We have a long-standing history of providing a stable platform that the consumer can enjoy for many, many years. We launched the first PlayStation in 1995 in the U.S., and we were in that business till last year. PlayStation 2, six years into the market, continues to be the best-selling video-game console in the market, with over 110 million units shipped worldwide. With the PlayStation 3, we'll be embarking on the same kind strategy, where the console will be supported by a fantastic lineup of software titles ... It's really all about making sure that you have content that's fresh in the eyes of the consumers, month in and month out. That strategy has worked very well for us in the past, and we're going to continue on that strategy.
When we introduce a product, we introduce a product that's going to be relevant for a very long time, we don't suddenly leave the other, older console twisting in the wind, which seems to be a strategy some of the older companies go through. ... We have many more years to go with the PS2, we're not suddenly dropping support for that platform.
 
 
AP: There have been some complaints in Japan that the PS3 had problems playing some games from the older PlayStations. Is that something that can be fixed?
 
 
Hirai: Just to put it in perspective, I think there are probably 8,000 titles out there for the PlayStation 2 on a worldwide basis, and the vast majority of those titles will play on the PlayStation 3 right out of the box. If you look at the launch of the PlayStation 2, there were some titles there as well that did not play on the PlayStation 2.
The beauty with the PlayStation 3 is that you can always have the firmware (the console's underlying software) updated as you connect the PlayStation 3 on to the Internet. As we go through these upgrades, one of the things we want to do is make sure that the percentage of compatible games goes higher and higher.

Gamers, Opportunists Line Up Early For PS3 Debut
 
CARY, N.C. -- The PlayStation 3 gaming console doesn't go on sale until Friday, but people are already lining up to buy it.
 
Outside one Cary store, the line started forming just before noon Wednesday. Gamers and people trying to make a buck are going to great lengths to get their hands on the latest electronic craze.
 
"You can make a lot of money if you had a few of them," said Dillon Selinger, who was one of the people waiting outside the Target store Wednesday afternoon for one of the eight units expected to go on sale Friday.
 
Thomas Rosatti and his buddies were first in line at the store. But shortly after they pitched their tent, they got company.
 
"A truck rolls up, one of those U-Haul type trucks, and seriously, 50 people rolled out, and he says they got them from the homeless shelter," Rosatti said.
 
While WRAL was there, the truck used to transport the men from the homeless shelter returned with food for the men. Abdul Salem said he and a friend came up with the idea. They said they plan to pay the men $100 a day to stand in line for a ticket to purchase a PS3 unit that costs around $600.
 
"It's got to be the eBay incentive," Salem said.
The eBay incentive is all about money. The going price on the site for a PS3 unit is approaching $2,000. Salem called his arrangement with the men from Raleigh's homeless community a win/win proposition.
 
"We thought we could lend them a hand, throw them a few bucks, and at the same time make a little something off of it," he said.
 
The Target store manager declined to comment on camera, but he did say the store doesn't plan to make any judgments about people standing in line. The tickets will be handed out on a first-come, first-serve basis at 8 a.m. Friday.