View Full Version : "The True Face of Gaming"
Midnight Dream
11-12-06, 12:26 AM
A sad sad day, in my opinion. If people in the world are declining to an ethical level such as this.
This is the true face of the PlayStation 3 debut in Japan. Hardcore gamers are not here waiting in line overnight, buying a first-run PS3, and running home to play some good old next-gen gaming. Rather, opportunistic Japanese businessmen have the largest presence, hiring poor Chinese men and women to wait in line for a PS3, one which will later be sold on web auctions to wealthy gamers around the world for exorbitant amounts of money.
Why is it that an era which was started by the Atari and Nintendo, for the pure entertainment of the masses, has degraded to a squabble among businessmen, trying to get the most of these game consoles, just to resell them. Pathetic.
Source (http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/top/foreigners-and-fights-ps3-jpn-launchs-dark-side-214130.php)
Please Note: This is not a bashing of Sony, nor the PS3. My focus is on the actual action taken by the businessmen.
Greed. Plain and simple. Greed
On one level I am morally outraged. On another I'm wondering if those poor chinese will leave the line if I throw money out of their reach.
First guy that starts an arguement that this is 'capitolism' gets my immediate scorn.
cornbread
11-12-06, 12:56 AM
Not any worse than the gold farmers in games. Another reason I learned to hate WoW. It was obvious to see who bought gold in-game and who didn't. I for one farmed herbs, mining, played the AH, etc and never came close to some of the amounts some people had of gold.
Back on topic though...
Do we blame the business men/gold farmers or the greedy buyers? Something to think about.
zexmarquies01
11-12-06, 12:56 AM
On one level I am morally outraged. On another I'm wondering if those poor chinese will leave the line if I throw money out of their reach.
First guy that starts an arguement that this is 'capitolism' gets my immediate scorn.
oh, i agree with capitolism. BUT, this is NOT capitolism. This is exploiting the poor, for your own greed.
I don't mind when someone waits in line THEMSELF and then goes out and sell it.
this is really horrible for gaming. and even worse, it shows the lack there of any security, or police officers in an area where THOUSANDS of people are packed.
jivetrky
11-12-06, 01:07 AM
I witnessed a homeless-looking Chinese man, in his sixties or seventies get paid 20,000 yen for his services and was then sent away.
That's $170 to stand in line for a day (Or however long it was)
You wouldn't stand in line for $170? I would. But then I'm kinda poor. :shrug:
EDIT: and it's basically just a business deal. The rich ******** pay some poor ******* to do the dirty work. Then the rich ******** get richer because they turn around and sell the PS3 for far more of a profit than that $170 + cost they paid to get it.
I mean yeah, they suck because they are taking that PS3 out of the hands of someone that legitimately wants one. Making it so they would have to pay $1000 on eBay for it. But, that's just the way the world works.
oh, i agree with capitolism. BUT, this is NOT capitolism. This is exploiting the poor, for your own greed.
Free labor, extraction of surplus value, of course it's capitalism. Am I missing something here?
My feelings on the situation? Well, if I were to post them, I'd probably be banned.
That's $170 to stand in line for a day (Or however long it was)
You wouldn't stand in line for $170? I would. But then I'm kinda poor. :shrug:
EDIT: and it's basically just a business deal. The rich ******** pay some poor ******* to do the dirty work. Then the rich ******** get richer because they turn around and sell the PS3 for far more of a profit than that $170 + cost they paid to get it.
I mean yeah, they suck because they are taking that PS3 out of the hands of someone that legitimately wants one. Making it so they would have to pay $1000 on eBay for it. But, that's just the way the world works.
I'm not poor and I would still do it lmao
consoles bleh
I'll keep my compy thank you very much
you wont ever see me with a console again
OC Noob
11-12-06, 09:59 AM
Yup that is definitely capitolism in action, for good or bad and its certainly no different then all the people here who are going to buy em and flip em to make some cash.
Some poor dude gets $170 where he would have anything doesn't really sound like exploitation either. Hell, thats about a full weeks pay working for your local Walmart (after taxes) so who is getting exploited?
To me its still a bunch of middlemen *****s trying to get paid and offering nothing of value in return regardless of who and how they are doing it.
Aktunka
11-12-06, 10:00 AM
If you remember, it wasn't these businessmen that started this sort of thing. It was your friends and neighbors that saw the opportunity with things like Ebay and whatnot. I remember when the first "must have toy" tickle me elmo came out a few years back, and that was the first time I saw anything in the news about people buying them where they could, and then putting them up for auction for the highest bidder, where someone that could not find one would then spend a lot just to be able to get one. Happened with lots of other stuff too. So these businessmen learned that there was a profit to be made here and have found a way to capitalize on it. Sure, it kinda sucks if you were wanting to be in that first group to get them, but can you really blame someone for wanting to make some cash?
And it wasn't all businessmen either. Also in the story it talks about a group of friends that apparently pooled their money together to buy a bunch of the consoles to sell for profit as well. Heck, on this very forum, around every Christmas time, there are a LOT of people that go wait in line for the Black Friday sales to buy laptops and other stuff for the sole purpose of turning around and selling them on Ebay for a profit. Sure, maybe not quite at the same level as the PS3 thing, but same concept.
I guess I just don't really care too much. I won't be buying one I am pretty sure. Although I almost did break down and buy an XBOX 360 yesterday just to play Gears of War. But I stopped myself in time!
OC Noob
11-12-06, 10:01 AM
I'm not poor and I would still do it lmao
consoles bleh
I'll keep my compy thank you very much
you wont ever see me with a console again
Welcome to the console forum.
Anytime you'd like to get good games other than FPS and MMO games you are welcome to join the ranks of us who have a PC and consoles:)
Welcome to the console forum.
Anytime you'd like to get good games other than FPS and MMO games you are welcome to join the ranks of us who have a PC and consoles:)
thanks !
I kinda do miss those fighting games lol
I dunno I spend to much on PC stuff to justify a console, plus I love FPS !
Am I the only person in this thread to spell capitalism correctly?
Am I the only person in this thread to spell capitalism correctly?
Welcome to the console forum.
:thup:
zexmarquies01
11-12-06, 08:47 PM
Am I the only person in this thread to spell capitalism correctly?
hahaha. Meh, we are computer geeks, not english majors. :p
BS
This is a Sony problem that Sony has full control of. If Sony would just release when they have enough to go around then this would not be profitable and would not be happening.
Blame Sony for delay after delay and then setting a release date where they can not produce enough to match the demand. It is not only Sony who use this tactic and yes it is a tactic:mad:
The tactic is to make sure everyone is talking about how you can't get one blah blah blah, I would like to say boycot companies who pull this stunt but it seems like it is standard operating procedure in the console game market:(.
Jawsome
11-13-06, 12:16 AM
It's sad, but that's what happens when you release a product like the PS3 with a measily 100k units. Blame Sony.
nvidiaOCmaster
11-13-06, 01:11 AM
I dont know if this has been brought up or not...I couldnt read all of you're posts.
If you're a homeless guy...sitting around... not doing anything... and someone offers you 170$ to sit around and not do anything... what are you going to do?
Well, do we know anyone willing to be payed $1 and a keg of beer to wait in line for a few days?! lol
FudgeNuggets
11-13-06, 08:46 AM
Kendan has pegged it, they purposefully are short-launching these things to create a buzz in the community and the media and some false sense of exclucivity, like the big ugly turd of a black-box was a bottle of Krystal, Dom Perrion or a perfect diamond, geez. You're going to see news stories about people camping out in line, somebody getting trampled, somebody getting mugged etc.... Sony has the media eating out of their hand, giving them free publicity. Be like Nancy Reagan and "just say NO!"
I don't honestly think that this shortage is engineered. I think in all honesty that this is merely a lack of resources for building the units. You don't cut the amount of units in your largest market by 20,000 unless you absolutely have to. 80,000 units to Japan is insane.
What I think should've happened, is that Sony should have waited until they had enough units to satiate demand. If that means waiting until after Christmas, so be it. If they think demand is going to dry up for the system so soon they're foolish.
The PS2 shortage was engineered. The Xbox 360 shortage was engineered. This shortage is not.
FudgeNuggets
11-13-06, 09:20 AM
If they could've waited until they had enough, then it was indeed engineered, Oni. We know they had yield problems with the cell and that they didn't get dev kits to the developers quick enough, but that is still no excuse, when they saw that they were going to have so few units available and they knew this way back in May, then they should've postponed release. The fact that the wound up with even fewer than they though they would, doesn't matter. The fact that they KNEW they would have nowhere near enough and were having fab problems, then not delaying it does show that it was engineered.
Mr.Guvernment
11-13-06, 11:18 AM
demand..
if "idiots" would stop buying them on ebay for %500 mark up, people wouldnt do this
Dont be mad at people trying to make some money.....
And is it morally wrong,? helping out a poor person? $170 is alot to someone who lives on the street, so is what they are doing so wrong?
better some poor person then some well paid working person...
jivetrky
11-13-06, 11:26 AM
A. MEN
I don't honestly think that this shortage is engineered. I think in all honesty that this is merely a lack of resources for building the units. You don't cut the amount of units in your largest market by 20,000 unless you absolutely have to. 80,000 units to Japan is insane.
What I think should've happened, is that Sony should have waited until they had enough units to satiate demand. If that means waiting until after Christmas, so be it. If they think demand is going to dry up for the system so soon they're foolish.
The PS2 shortage was engineered. The Xbox 360 shortage was engineered. This shortage is not.
I will give you that they did not want such a great shortage, but it is still an engineered shortage anyway you look at it:mad:
I wish they had decided to wait but with the iportance of getting it out in time for Xmas buying season and the xmas hype machine in full action to exploit the shortage they just wont do the right thing:mad:
demand..
if "idiots" would stop buying them on ebay for %500 mark up, people wouldnt do this
Dont be mad at people trying to make some money.....
And is it morally wrong,? helping out a poor person? $170 is alot to someone who lives on the street, so is what they are doing so wrong?
better some poor person then some well paid working person...
It is the other way around. The demand creates the ebay auctions to go so high. If there were enough units in the stores there would be no gouging on ebay.
OC Noob
11-13-06, 07:08 PM
I don't honestly think that this shortage is engineered. I think in all honesty that this is merely a lack of resources for building the units. You don't cut the amount of units in your largest market by 20,000 unless you absolutely have to. 80,000 units to Japan is insane.
What I think should've happened, is that Sony should have waited until they had enough units to satiate demand. If that means waiting until after Christmas, so be it. If they think demand is going to dry up for the system so soon they're foolish.
The PS2 shortage was engineered. The Xbox 360 shortage was engineered. This shortage is not.
"You don't cut the amount of units in your largest market by 20,000 unless you absolutely have to. 80,000 units to Japan is insane."
By the same token why would MS short North America when they could have sold hundreds of thousands more units in those first 3 or so months. Thats lost interest on the money that could be banked, depreciation costs, storage costs and most important lost game sales, which is the bread and butter of the industry.
I don't think the hype is every worth losing 6 and 7 figures in sales. Unless there was a 1 or 2 week shortage to get everyone worked up and then all of a sudden there where pleanty to go around.
I guess I don't buy into the fabricated shortage theory for any system, BUT I will keep my eye out of r Mulder and Skully :sn:
ps Wii will likely sell out immediately too and I don't think they would enginer a shortage either.
pps Huk'd 0n foniks werkd fur mee, I poot teh ohhhh in capitOlism, lol.
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