# PS3's French Debut: A Total Disaster **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 23, 2007, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps3s-french-debut-a-total-disaster/397206 "2007-03-23T17:02:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Heckxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f1d935/32.png) [@Heckxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heckxx)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps3s-french-debut-a-total-disaster/397206/1 "2007-03-23T17:02:19Z")
[Check it](http://www.playfuls.com/news_06689_PS3s_French_Debut_A_Total_Disaster_95_of_Consoles_Left_Unsold.html) I find it amazing how we went from fans waiting an entire week on the American launch to this. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps3s-french-debut-a-total-disaster/397206/2 "2007-03-23T17:08:13Z")
[Nelson] HAH-hah! [/Nelson] ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps3s-french-debut-a-total-disaster/397206/3 "2007-03-23T17:29:10Z")
Christ that sounds embarrassing. How big is the French market for Sony and the PS3? ETA: I should say, how _important_ is the French PS3 market to Sony? ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps3s-french-debut-a-total-disaster/397206/4 "2007-03-23T17:35:13Z")
By contrast, the UK release went quite well, with some people getting [free HDTVs and cab rides home.](http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/23/londons-crime-free-ps3-launch-results-in-free-hdtvs-cab-rides/) ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps3s-french-debut-a-total-disaster/397206/5 "2007-03-23T17:46:09Z")
Sony should just be greatful that the French didn’t riot, which is one of their national pastimes, it seems. (That’s one of the things I like about the French, BTW.) ---
**Author:** ![anamnesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@anamnesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anamnesis)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps3s-french-debut-a-total-disaster/397206/6 "2007-03-23T18:38:07Z")
I wouldn’t take the French reception of a consumer electronics launch as any sort noteworthy event. The French didn’t do anything when the Germans were storming their beaches either. They’re too busy being … French. If Sony launched a brand new vintage of wine with the PS3 alongside a cheese tasting event, maybe they’d have had a bigger turnout. ---
**Author:** ![xnylder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbce88/32.png) [@xnylder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xnylder)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps3s-french-debut-a-total-disaster/397206/7 "2007-03-23T18:45:25Z")
It gets better…The French PS3 boat-party launch was pwned by a XBox360-banner bearing vessel. [Video link](http://www.360style.net/news128.html) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps3s-french-debut-a-total-disaster/397206/8 "2007-03-23T18:48:33Z")
[QUOTE=anamnesis] The French didn’t do anything when the Germans were storming their beaches either. [/QUOTE] When exactly did German soldiers storm French beaches? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps3s-french-debut-a-total-disaster/397206/9 "2007-03-23T19:00:20Z")
Forget it, he’s rolling. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps3s-french-debut-a-total-disaster/397206/10 "2007-03-23T19:01:54Z")
[QUOTE=anamnesis] I wouldn’t take the French reception of a consumer electronics launch as any sort noteworthy event. The French didn’t do anything when the Germans were storming their beaches either. They’re too busy being … French. If Sony launched a brand new vintage of wine with the PS3 alongside a cheese tasting event, maybe they’d have had a bigger turnout. [/QUOTE] You forgot the Jerry Lewis film festival. ---
**Author:** ![anamnesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@anamnesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anamnesis)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps3s-french-debut-a-total-disaster/397206/11 "2007-03-23T19:08:46Z")
Guess I should’ve known people would get bent out of shape over a figurative analogy. If you’re really that interested in debating the finer details of Germany’s invasion of France, then that’s your hijack to make. Point is that the French can’t be bothered with much of anything relating to what’s going on in the world most of the time. It’s part of what makes them French. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps3s-french-debut-a-total-disaster/397206/12 "2007-03-23T19:45:57Z")
[QUOTE=anamnesis] Point is that the French can’t be bothered with much of anything relating to what’s going on in the world most of the time. It’s part of what makes them French. [/QUOTE] I know this is Café Society and all, but do you have any kind of reputable cite to back up this claim, other than the “them French are a bunch of cowardly surrender monkeys”-meme? If you want to, we can take it to another forum. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps3s-french-debut-a-total-disaster/397206/13 "2007-03-23T20:04:33Z")
[QUOTE=anamnesis] Point is that the French can’t be bothered with much of anything relating to what’s going on in the world most of the time. [/QUOTE] Yeah, it’s not like they have troops in Afghanistan or anything … . :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps3s-french-debut-a-total-disaster/397206/14 "2007-03-23T20:33:27Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] Forget it, he’s rolling. [/QUOTE] ROFL! 😃 Regarding the OP - this is bad news indeed. I was going to pick up a PS3 this weekend, but now I don’t know. To know that people in France didn’t line up for them makes a big impact on my enjoyment of the system. ---
**Author:** ![anamnesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@anamnesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anamnesis)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps3s-french-debut-a-total-disaster/397206/15 "2007-03-23T20:40:03Z")
[QUOTE=Charlie Tan] I know this is Café Society and all, but do you have any kind of reputable cite to back up this claim, other than the “them French are a bunch of cowardly surrender monkeys”-meme? If you want to, we can take it to another forum. [/QUOTE] No, I don’t, because this is CS. By the forum’s own rules, not the place for discussion of politics, while satire isn’t unwelcome. I know a lot of Dopers take the advisement of having a sense of humor with a grain of salt, but I don’t owe any cites because it’s a thinly-veiled joke. Of course, to those without the requisite sense of humor, I’m a troll. I guess it’s all relative to whether or not you have a stick up your ass. I could make the same comments about the United States not having any concern about the rest of the world and the joke would probably get a better reception, wouldn’t it? I wonder which joke would be more accurate … us colonists, after all, are clearly more concerned with the success or failure of something as globally inconsequential as the PS3, aren’t we? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps3s-french-debut-a-total-disaster/397206/16 "2007-03-23T20:44:42Z")
[QUOTE=anamnesis] Guess I should’ve known people would get bent out of shape over a figurative analogy. If you’re really that interested in debating the finer details of Germany’s invasion of France, then that’s your hijack to make. Point is that the French can’t be bothered with much of anything relating to what’s going on in the world most of the time. It’s part of what makes them French. [/QUOTE] Honestly, if you’re going to resort to crude racial stereotypes, can you at least get them right? The French are known for their _arrogance_, not their _insularity_. They’re engaged in world events as much (or more) as any other European power, but (as the stereotype goes) they approach international diplomacy with the arrogance and high-handedness that Americans believe is reserved for us and us alone. Also, it was the _Allies_ who stormed the beaches at Normandy, not the Germans. Germany is on the same continent as France. You don’t need to take a boat to get from one to the other. Since I suspect you’re the type who likes to lord the American entry into WWII over Europeans, you might want to figure out exactly what you’re lording over them. And far from the French “doing nothing,” over 90,000 French soldiers lost their lives in the fall of the Third Republic. And what the hell any of this has to do with the PS3 is entirely beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps3s-french-debut-a-total-disaster/397206/17 "2007-03-23T20:54:20Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] And what the hell any of this has to do with the PS3 is entirely beyond me. [/QUOTE] He must not like Rayman … . ---
**Author:** ![xnylder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbce88/32.png) [@xnylder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xnylder)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps3s-french-debut-a-total-disaster/397206/18 "2007-03-23T21:02:53Z")
[QUOTE=Pochacco] He must not like Rayman … . [/QUOTE] His best friend was whacked by a psychotic bunny. ARRRRRGGGGHHHHH! ---
**Author:** ![anamnesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@anamnesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anamnesis)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps3s-french-debut-a-total-disaster/397206/19 "2007-03-23T21:13:14Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] And what the hell any of this has to do with the PS3 is entirely beyond me. [/QUOTE] So, you mean to tell me France has deployed troops to other countries? And they’re arrogant as opposed to insular? And their beaches don’t border Germany? Wow, I wonder else I got wrong about them. The whole joke was also beyond you because you took it seriously by launching into a “factual” attack on someone making a “satirical” joke. Thanks for making my point for me … by completely missing my point. Can I pet your high horse? ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps3s-french-debut-a-total-disaster/397206/20 "2007-03-23T21:28:23Z")
It’s not just France. [Australia’s](http://www.joystiq.com/2007/03/22/australian-ps3-launch-underwhelming/) launch was also meh. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps3s-french-debut-a-total-disaster/397206.md?page=2)