to my fellow video game store employees.

[Kogarashi]

Count me among those who don't quite get the draw of waiting in a freezing cold release day line just to get the latest and greatest doodad, when it doesn't even have enough games to entice me yet. I'll wait until there's a reasonable selection in games and a decent drop in price first, thanks. Let someone else wait in line on release day.

Even if I do get a WiiU this Christmas, I still must keep my regular (GC ready) Wii because some games like Mario Kart Wii can use a GC controller (and for me it's the most ideal) and I use it to play my GC games (very underrated console that deserved a lot more respect). And I still have to have a GC hooked up to use the Game Boy Player.

Ditto. I don't know when I'll be getting a WiiU, but I already know that I need to hang onto my trusty Wii nonetheless if only because I don't have a GC to fall back on (but I'm okay with that part because I don't have a GBA to use with it anyway).

I just got my PS3 last December. Man, I am way out of the loop.

I still don't have a PS3. I'll get one eventually. Whenever I end up saving up the money and find a good deal on one.

Of course, this is the person who only just got around to actually selling her old Dreamcast bundle on eBay because she never hooked it up anymore and can get all the games she really liked on it for the GC or PS2 (since I have a Wii and a PS2).

[wolfie]

So! Mr. Bells works for a video game developer that makes a popular MMO. Last night, as an early Christmas bonus, they somehow got their hands on over three hundred PS4 consoles and handed them out to the entire staff.

Awesome right?

Well we ran out for some accessories/games, plugged it in and got the setup out of the way. Popped in our first disc and ... it crashed. Refused to turn back on. Unable to boot in safe mode. Unable to contact Sony's customer service. Booted out of the chat queue three times.

Not a console gamer, so I haven't been following the PS4, but I can think of a possible reason for this. If last night was before the official release date, it could have been a DELIBERATE move by Sony to punish retailers who broke "street date". Insert code in the O/S to check the date, and if it's before "street date", "brick" the console. Retailer who broke "street date" has to deal with angry customers bringing back dead units, and when the warranty department at Sony runs diagnostics, they find the "turned on before street date" flag is set - warranty void.

I've heard of people who ordered games from mail-order retailers before launch date, the shipping company was faster than anticipated so the game arrived before launch date, and the customer tried playing it as soon as they got it - their copy was detected by the publisher's server as being active before launch date, so it got banned. Instant expensive "coaster".

[Jay 2K Winger]

But if this is as big a problem as it appears, it's going to be a really bad week for the retailers.

This right here is why I will NEVER get a new console on launch day. Let other people suffer the hardware issues and whatnot first, let the manufacturers shake out all the bugs (or as many as they can) before I go investing money in it.

Plus, by then, the launch titles will be available used, and thus cheaper.

[Gilhelmi]

But if this is as big a problem as it appears, it's going to be a really bad week for the retailers.

Ye Gods, it is RRD all over again.

HEAR YE, HEAR YE, SONY ENTERTAINMENT DID EXCEPTIONALLY POOR ON THIS, THE DAY OF LAUNCH, AND DESERVES SHAAAAAME!

SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAME!!

[Aethian]

If last night was before the official release date, it could have been a DELIBERATE move by Sony to punish retailers who broke "street date". Insert code in the O/S to check the date, and if it's before "street date", "brick" the console.

I have heard this theory before and am starting to think its right. Looking in a few forums I got to I've seen quite a few people congratulating themselves in their early find and then complaining about now having a brick.

[manybellsdown]

The consoles were handed out on launch day, 5 hours after the official launch. Some people had already pre-ordered them and were offered the bonus in cash instead.

A video game company isn't going to break street date on someone else's release. It's just not done.

Oops I edited this and it didn't show up. Anyway, I was saying that this is also why we tend not to buy hardware on release. We'd discussed maaaybe getting one for Christmas but hadn't decided yet. What worries me is the people who buy them now and stash them away until Christmas and find out theirs is defective then, past the return window.

Console #3 is working fine, for now. I hope. No more "pulsing blue light of death" so far anyway. That's not quite as euphonious as "red ring of death", is it?

[AccountingDrone]

or suffer chronic farfromdias of the bogroll. (apologies to Water Closet Fields)

Lavatory Meadows ...

[fireheart]

A video game company isn't going to break street date on someone else's release. It's just not done.

My boyfriend suffered from this at one point. He'd pre-ordered Skyrim via Steam. Someone broke street date in Aussieland with the PHYSICAL copies of Skyrim. He got pissy because he had to wait for the actual release date.

...And fences...

OK, I really do NOT get this one.

I've heard of people who ordered games from mail-order retailers before launch date, the shipping company was faster than anticipated so the game arrived before launch date, and the customer tried playing it as soon as they got it - their copy was detected by the publisher's server as being active before launch date, so it got banned. Instant expensive "coaster".

I'm surprised Nintendo didn't try and pull this with people who got a copy of X/Y before street date (and it was simultaneous release across the world btw, compared to previous gens where the Japanese one was released before the English one). As far as I'm aware though, the stores that did break street date were fined by Nintendo and employees responsible lost their jobs. So it DOES occur.

Count me in as another who does not see the appeal of waiting in line for a brand new console with very few games to its name. I purchased my Wii towards the end of its run. I prefer to wait until they've dropped in price.

[KatherineB]

OK, I really do NOT get this one.

Further ways to kill Sims. Fence them in and watch them walk themselves to death...

[EricKei]

AFAIK, both consoles had a Day 1 patch -- it's possible that, if they were either not connected to the internet, or you tried to play a game before it could go online, that you never got the notification to grab the patch...? As for deliberately sending out bad units...? Eh, theoretically possible, but unlikely. People STILL make jokes about the 360 RROD debacle; doing this on purpose would be PR suicide, and might very well eliminate the positive 'Gamer karma' Sony has that MS basically handed them on a silver platter earlier in the year. Hasn't stopped Sony from selling (not just shipping) a million units, tho >_> Also, keep in mind that early adopters are the one who are gonna be the most vocal about any issues, so you wanna keep them happy.

[wolfie]

As for deliberately sending out bad units...? Eh, theoretically possible, but unlikely.

The hypothetical case I described wouldn't involve sending out bad units - they'd be good units, but with a routine that would "brick" them IF they were run before "street date". If nobody broke "street date" in releasing them, the routine would never trigger.

[EricKei]

In that case -- If they unbricked themselves after the launch date, that would be ...well, less obnoxious. Thing is, the onus of observing the street dates is on the stores, not the buyers (unless the buyers went out of their way to get them early). Technically, a game publisher can fine a store several grand per copy for this, and decide never to ship anything to that store again, but I've never heard of it actually happening.

[Opalin]

So most of the ps4 problems have fairly easy fixes now, with a usb being all you need to fix it. Mine worked just fine, as did all but one of my custies, whom were absolutely lovely on launch night. I ended up being recruited to help line manage. A quote from a customer in the middle of the line, who had grumbled under his breath when he realized we were only letting 5 groups in at a time.
"I... I got out of here in under three minutes. W-what..."
"Have a lovely day sir!"

Our midnight launches are ultra fast because of extremely careful management. We have it down to a science.

Our big problems came with essentially one dude hitting all the GS and attempting to bribe us into selling someone elses. -_-'

[EricKei]

So let me ask for advice: assume I'm planning to get other games besides D3. What version of the X box 360 should I get (in terms of storage space).

Always go for one of the more recent, "slim" models (just ask anyone working at GameStore and they should know what you mean). Their random failure rate is much more in line with consoles in general (5-10%), as opposed to the 40+% of the "fat" models. they also have internal hard drives, as opposed to the long, grey external mounts of the "fat" systems. Some may include internal storage, but it's quite minimal, usually like 4 GB; these are sometimes called "Arcade" models. Aside from looks and physical configuration, they're essentially all the same machine.

As for storage space -- Do you plan to download a lot of DLC content, music, or videos? If not, the smallest-available hard drive size should be plenty. If you plan to download (not just stream) video content a bunch, you'd be better off with a large-hard drive model (or, I think you can just hook up an external drive via USB).

Also, game machines (especially 360s) are one of the few things I would actually recommend getting a warranty on.

[manybellsdown]

AFAIK, both consoles had a Day 1 patch -- it's possible that, if they were either not connected to the internet, or you tried to play a game before it could go online, that you never got the notification to grab the patch...? As for deliberately sending out bad units...? Eh, theoretically possible, but unlikely. People STILL make jokes about the 360 RROD debacle; doing this on purpose would be PR suicide, and might very well eliminate the positive 'Gamer karma' Sony has that MS basically handed them on a silver platter earlier in the year. Hasn't stopped Sony from selling (not just shipping) a million units, tho >_> Also, keep in mind that early adopters are the one who are gonna be the most vocal about any issues, so you wanna keep them happy.

A lot of people said they had trouble after downloading the patch, but we didn't have any trouble until we put a disc in. We'd plugged them both into the router directly.

I just realized it's Xbox One release on Thursday night. Hang in there guys.