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PS3's Irish pre-sales figures: is the world going mad?

So who says the PS3 is too expensive for the mass market in Ireland? Well I did, for one. But boy, am I shaping up to be wrong. In casual conversation with a clerk in Xtravision's Finglas branch last night, he said that they has already exceeded their pre-launch sales target of 10. In fact, they've already sold 27. In Finglas. And most of them, he said, were fully paid up! Just to remind everyone, the basic console (with no games and only one controller) costs €630. A package with two games and a second controller, which Mr Xtravision said was the most popular option, costs €715. I asked him who the hell was shelling out such bread in one of Dublin's poorer neighbourhoods. I mean, we're nowhere near Christmas. "Kids," he said. "Teenagers and Leaving Cert types." That's a lot of communion or confirmation money.

3's secret HSDPA figures

How many customers does 3 Ireland actually have using its HSDPA data card? 300 is what I am hearing. I guess the multimedia operator is going to have to seriously change its marketing strategy -- and that means price, as it costs €40 per month for the realistic package -- if it wants ordinary people to consider this as a realistic broadband option. Sadly, it looks like there is still some distance to go to make this crucial leap -- it is still talking about the product as a quasi-business service. Silly strategy, when it has no business customers.

Laptop Shop to open two new Dublin outlets

The Laptop Shop is to open two new Dublin-based outlets in the next four weeks. The first will be in Drogheda's Lawrencetown shopping centre while it will also open a store in Santry's Omni Park shopping centre. It currently has outlets in the Stephens Green Centre and the Dundrum Town Centre. Robert Brennan, the company's founder, also said that its website is (finally) due to go live in the coming weeks.

20,000 PS3s for Irish market

That's according to Sony's Irish boss, Niall O'Hanrahan. He also said that they expect to gross €15 million in Ireland on the first day of sales (March 23rd). The console will cost from €630 in 600 Irish shop locations.

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PS3 -- pricey, but packs a punch

Apologies for the absence. Consider any 'blogger' status revoked :)

The PS3 -- which I've played with in advance of its March 23 launch -- is certainly impressive. The list of games for it, however, isn't. Other than Ridge Racer, there are few big hitters here, though 'Resistence Fall Of Man' is certainly fun to play. But man, that €630 price is going to hurt! For an explanation from Sony Ireland as to its high price, see an article I wrote here.