Were you at the European PS3 launch?

by Jem Alexander { Mar 5th 2008 at 1:30PM }

We're only a few short weeks away from the one year anniversary of the European PlayStation 3 launch. A whole year since European gamers finally got their hands on Sony's (then, very expensive) black behemoth. It also marks a year since firmware update 1.60, when PS3 owners finally received background downloading and started the benevolent PS3 computational network that is Folding@Home.

Were you there on day one, standing in the cold, itchy to get your hands on your new toy? We want to hear from you. We want your photos, videos and stories from launch day as well as your feelings on the past year. If you were at the London launch, how's that free TV working out for you? Be sure to let us know and you could appear on the site. If you're interested shoot us an email at

Thanks to all the Europeans who have visited us over the past year!

Tags: europe, launch, PS3

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Brodie-san @ Mar 5th 2008 1:43PM

I waited 'til Christmas. I had a wealth of games to get through and the price WAS a bit steep. And let's face it, those launch games (notwithstanding R:FOM and Motorstorm) weren't great. Genji anyone?

It was always going to happen though. It's amazing the amount of people I speak to now who are in the process of getting a PS3. And I don't think it's solely due to the format war. A lot of these people are gamers and are now finally getting excited about the cornucopia of great games on their way. Late adopters perhaps but sure, who am I to criticise, I'm hardly an early one.

In the end of the day, we're all PS3fanboys.
:)

[Sorry if this gets double posted. The comments functionality on these sites is as buggy as hell]

Rammstone @ Mar 5th 2008 1:46PM

I was sat outside my local electronic store (which was the only store selling ps3s) and yeah, I live in a very small town.

I arrived with a mate around 5 hours before the store opened that day, and not long after we arrived people started to pile up in a queue. But when the store opened, they only had 8 ps3s and since I was one of the first two that arrived I got one. I got talladega nights blu-ray for free along with my ps3 and picked up Motorstorm and cod3 at the same time.

I can admit ps3 was about nothing around that time as it is today, but I'm glad I was lucky enough to experience its prime since day one. I think I've used more time on my ps3 the past year than I have used on my family.

And this is only the start.. bring on 2008!

I will buy a cake the 23rd so celebrate the past year of gaming happyness :)

Pat_f40 @ Mar 5th 2008 1:51PM

YES!!!
23-3-2007... great day for me.
I took mine at 5pm with no people in the store (Media Markt of a town near Barcelona), just 'couse i've reserved my PS3 the 4 o april of 2006...
They gaved me a free Blu ray for the reservation and PSN gave me a copy of Casino Royale 100% free direct to my home.
I love my PS3!!!

Brodie-san @ Mar 5th 2008 1:51PM

elephant_stone @ Mar 5th 2008 1:54PM

I preoredered and drove to Gamestation at 11:45pm...waited in the queue having some good banter with the fellow gamers...discussed which games were the best etc...I held the bag so tight on the walk back to my car. Played it until 4am, setting up my PSN account, downloading my free Gran Turismo "game"...good times!

Couldnt belive how heavy it was! I got: PS3, MotorStorm, Resistance: Fall of Man and a free copy of Xmen3 on Blu-Ray...jeez I spent around £500 - what a sucker! But thanks to some back pay at work it wasnt that bad.

I didnt even plan on getting a PS3 until a month before release, but I am so glad I did and still own all of my launch purchases!

Rob @ Mar 5th 2008 2:10PM

I live in NY and here everyone was already piled up way before I had even planned to camp out. Plus there were servere storms roaming that entire week. So, I missed my first chance. :(

However, a friend of mine use to work at GameStop/EBGames. About a month later they got a shipment in with only two 60GB versions. He called me and I drove about 100mph to get to the store before anyone else went in looking for it. 30 minutes later I was leaving with my baby. :)

hadders @ Mar 5th 2008 2:35PM

well i thought about going down to london and picking one up from there which in the end i was glad i did because i got a free 42" inch hdtv for FREE I LOVE YOU SONY XxX

kentuckyfried @ Mar 5th 2008 2:48PM

I was one of the last minute campers for the ps3...didn't get anything. I decided I wanted it after seeing how Resistance was going to look.

But the happy ending to this story is that I started to religiously hang out at the Target down the street at 7:50 a.m. every morning thereafter. About a bit over a week, that Monday, me and the 3 other campers walked into Target and found 2 20 gb units and 2 60 gb units. I was able to purchase one of the 60 gb's and have been a happy camper ever since.

kevin @ Mar 5th 2008 2:53PM

they gave out a free 42 inch tv ?? wow i wish i could of gotten that deal thats amazing

Jakob @ Mar 5th 2008 3:05PM

Got mine day one in Denmark, and I LOOOVE it :D

ClarkyCat @ Mar 5th 2008 3:05PM

I was one of the launch dayers too. No queues, no fuss or anything. Had it preordered, walked in and walked out.
Then I got it home and found that I was in the 0.4% or whatever that got defective units. So I had to go allllll the way back to the store (45km), get a replacement and go home again.
THEN I find out that Sony gave out free HDTVs to people in England! Whereas diehards like me who got the PS1, PS2, PSP and then PS3 all on the launch day get shafted. Well thank you so ****ing much.

morpheus @ Mar 5th 2008 3:12PM

i pre-ordered mine from good old Argos-same as my psp.
arrived 9 am on day one.
amazing its been a year, and what a great year it has been for the Playstation brand and 2008 looks like it will be a winner 2.

jonas @ Mar 5th 2008 3:32PM

Got mine day 1, with 2 sixaxis, motorstorm, NBA2k7, Virtua Tennis and Resistance (of what I can remember).
First in line and crazy happy :)
Stockholm Sweden - you know it..

TinyTim121 @ Mar 5th 2008 3:39PM

I pre-ordered mine as I was going to school on the 23-3-07. But after school, me and my mate went to collect the 60gb PS3, Resistance and Motorstorm. I remember opening up the box and being amazed at the look of the PS3. I’ve seen pictures but my god, what a stunning piece of equipment! And I hadn’t plugged it in yet.

We then looked at the controller and remember how transparent it was. I think we spent about 20 minutes looking through the controller lol. A while later, I had plugged in the PS3 and switched it on at the back, I then remember turning it on and saying “Sweet, touch sensitive!” I knew it was already going to be their…but wow; Touch sensitive!!

First thing I did was put in Motorstorm. What an intro…WHAT AN INTRODUCTION!!! I couldn’t believe the look of it! This WAS next generation gaming…THERE! In front of me!

Unfortunately, then things turned bad

we’re on playing Motorstorm and then…THE CONSOLE CRASHED. I had a panic attack. Nono seriously. £425 for somebody in high school is hard to find. Really hard. Luckily I experienced no more problems, and I played resistance till 6am that night…or next morning lol.

Luckily it was a one off thing, and I haven’t experienced anything like that anymore. But on release day, after I heard so much about the 360…I was pretty pissed.

A year later and I have had a lot of happy memories with Oblivion, made great mates on Rainbow Six Vegas and entered heaven with COD4 and Orange Box. I also boosted my PS3 to 250GB and I am more than pleased with my purchase.

So yeah, Bring on 2008!

Sorry for the long speech by the way lol

balaam @ Mar 5th 2008 3:42PM

got mine from my local blockbuster at midnight and took the next three days off school, damm that was an awesome week
I got Resistance and motorstorm
I even got a tub of celebrations because i picked up the first one :)

Tranando @ Mar 5th 2008 3:49PM

Got my 60GB from Argos on day one, still going strong, and never regretted for it for a second, even though the price has dropped from £425 down to £299

I had a year of gaming, blu-ray and media streaming from this puppy.

My only disappointment, is the shameful state of the EuroPSN. Someone needs to be sacked....

O yea @ Mar 5th 2008 4:06PM

Got mine day one aswell :D resistance and oblivion and a 40inch sony bravia tv :D lost my girlfriend, got shit grades and havn't been out on a weekend since..... damn

maverick_saturn_626 @ Mar 5th 2008 4:23PM

You poor soul, want a cookie?

Ian @ Mar 5th 2008 4:21PM

I pre-ordered mine from GAME in Telford (I work in offices in Telford) so thought I could go in late to work, grab some food and then queue up outside game from about 9pm onwards for the big opening at midnight.
Several days before the big launch they dashed my hopes and announced a 7am opening on the Friday. What a pain!
So reluctantly, I set my alarm on the Thursday night for a 4am start, expecting 30 minutes to get myself out of the pit, washed, dressed and then a very quick 40 minute drive up the motorway to Telford to get in the queue just after 5am.
After shooting up the motorway and filled with excitement, I pulled in to the shopping centre car park expecting there to be a mass of cars parked up already at the nearest doors to the shop. Nope.
I tentatively walked through the shopping centre doors looking for the queue outside GAME... None. Have I missed it?
After double checking the window display I'm very surprised to realise that I'm the first one there with about 1 hour and 40 minutes to go. I feel a little excited but also quite puzzled.
Just before 7am and there are 5 people queued up behind me (I'm FIRST!!!) and the staff open up the shutters with strict 'Only 3 customers in the shop at a time' policy. Huh, there are only 6 of us here, 10 if you include the shop staff!
Having pre-ordered the console, RFOM and Tiger Woods (yeah, I know!) they pull out my pre-packed console and proceed to put in a copy each of the two games. Picking up the package was such an exciting moment! I'm 36 and I've never before got a launch day console so this was a major first for me. It was SO heavy but I grinned like a school boy as I carried it out past the now lengthening queue of people outside.
I'd arranged for my wife and son to go out for the day so when I got home I immediately opened up the bag and its contents. What?! GAME have accidentally already put a copy of Tiger in the bag so I have two copies of Tiger (but only paid for one) and one of RFOM. I put one copy of Tiger to one side for my wife to EBAY and ever so carefully open the PS3 box. Near teary eyed I slot the cables in, grab the HDMI I'd already grabbed off EBAY and turn on the PS3...
Ooh, the all new boot screen (anyone else recall the wow factor of the PS2 boot screen when we first saw it?) and the XMB. After registering my ID, messing around a little and wondering how good it could be, I fired up RFOM and was instantly blown away by the on-line play. ON-LINE PLAY! ON-LINE PLAY! ON-LINE PLAY! ON-LINE PLAY! Yes, ON-LINE PLAY! This was the first FPS I had played on-line and I was instantly hooked! I rang up my best mate and, near heart attack, screamed like a girl about the RFOM ON-LINE PLAY!

On the strength of my positive reviews both my sister and my mate bought PS3s within the same week (there were plenty available). At this point the 'Friends List' became the next WOW factor for me. I could see and play with both my sister, my mate and other people all in the same game. It seems really basic now when we look at COD4 and the advances in the PS3 Firmware but the features at the time were mind blowing in comparison to the PS2.

I would say that the PS3 was way over priced at launch in the UK but I'd been saving hard and sold all my PS2 kit. Certainly the price has put many people off getting one until late last year.

My neighbour came round a few nights ago and over a few beers we went through all that the PS3 can do. He was blown away! I think the DivX and COD4 tasters I gave him almost made him keel over!

Upon reflection it's easy to say that we have a small selection of really good games at the moment and a whole lot of (EA) ports which suck but, when I look back at where we were, where we are now and what's promised this coming year, I will stand on the highest mountain and loudly proclaim my love for the big black PS3!

Maad Sheikh @ Mar 5th 2008 5:07PM

I was at Gamestation in East Ham, London. I arrived there at about 11:40pm to be expecting a huge line...
there was nobody there!!!
i was working there for work experience so i knew the staff and they saw me arrive (about 2 of them were standing outside smoking)
So i just waited outside the front doors and at about 11:55pm, a bunch of about 10-15 people arrived.
When the clock hit midnight the guy that saw me arrive 1st opened the door, looked at me in the middle of the crowd, pointed at me and said "You. Inside."
so i was the 1st in East Ham to buy a PS3!!!
i bought Resistance, Motorstorm and Virtua Fighter 5 and an extra controller. Also i got x-men 3 on blu-ray for free!
Really pleased with my purchase and am going 2 buy GTA4 and MGS4. Now i have Burnout Paradise, CoD:4, Orange Box and Unreal Tournament 3.
My PSN ID is: maad_dog_moodie
c u on the battle field, soilder!
lol

George Arauz @ Mar 5th 2008 6:32PM

If it werent for Europe.. PS3 would be doomed

Espiox @ Mar 5th 2008 7:31PM

I was helping out at the midnight launch at my Gamestation. It was actually a fairly boring night, especially after the Wii launch*. I didn't actually get one until September though.

* I realise this sounds like I'm a fanboy, but it's true. Everyone at the PS3 launch seemed to want to just grab it and get home to bed. At the Wii launch, the shop was packed, everyone was excited to try it out and there was cheering and such.

Consolcwby @ Mar 5th 2008 11:32PM

FACT: The European launch was a day right before my birthday! =) It was the week I decided to get a PS3! (Even though I live in NA, it's still relevant to the topic at hand!) =D

Jarred @ Mar 6th 2008 12:58AM

Yeah, I waited outside my GAME in Lund, where I had my PS3 preordered since that October. I waited there from around 9PM to midnight for the store to open, and then I had to wait in line another hour to finally get my hands on my shiny new PS3. I also managed to snag an extra controller, Resistance, and Motorstorm.