According to Ephraim, Sony is using this limited launch to test the market.
“We’re going to test it because it is innovative technology. We really wanted to test it before we made a big commitment because it’s not like a Memory Stick kind of product, there are long lead times on manufacturing, high price,” said Ephraim.
“I can tell you that we will sell it initially exclusively through Harvey Norman. It is Harvey Norman embracing new technology and us having a partner there that we can test it with.
“If it goes extremely well, we’ll keep supporting it. It is a high ticket price item and there is 3D TVs out there, we just want to make sure there’s a market for it.”
Harvey Norman seems like a strange partner for what is essentially a niche display aimed at gamers, but Sony Australia has had a stories relationship with Harvey Norman as a retailer – holding their main PlayStation 3 midnight launch at one of its stores back in March 2007.
Still, it doesn’t seem like the ideal testing ground for such the device…
Limited launch for PlayStation 3D display [Screenplay]
Elod
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 10:09 AMWhat’s a stories relationship?
Woffle
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 1:30 PMThink they mean storied not stories, bit of an old fashioned word to say that they have a history together of some sort :)
M1557
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 10:09 AMId rather it was tastefully marketed by Harvey Norman, than splashed all over the windows and walls of a local EB while they throw useless pre order promotions wraped in red and white warehouse tape at unsuspecting shoppers.
weresmurf
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 10:49 AMToo true and most excellent point. HN do tend to advertise well.
Trjn
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 10:50 AMTastefully marketed?
I’m not sure you’re familiar with Harvey Norman.
Foggy
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 11:17 AMYou mean those TV ads where grandpa Gerryatric yells at you while the word SALE flashes in huge writing on the screen?
Mmmmmmm- classy!
weresmurf
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 11:24 AMIn terms of the retail market, HN is one of the better ones at advertising, they’re hardly as bad as ‘The Good Guys’ or other ones. Im not saying I approve of their prices, but their marketing practices are far superior.
Lebowski
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 12:05 PMTASTEFUL SALES ON AT HARVEY NORMAN, NOW!!!!! EVERYTHING IS SO TASTEFUL, WE HAVE TO SCREAM AT YOU FOR A SOLID MINUTE WHILE SHIT FLASHES RANDOMLY ACROSS THE SCREEN. SALE!!!!! NOW!!!!!! HARVEYNORMAN!!!!!!!!
Daniel Timmons
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 12:12 PMHuh? At least the Good Guys are creative with advertising. Harvey Norman really do just yell at you.
I have to turn the TV down every time they come on (Or those other Warehousey store advertisements).
Weresmurf
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 2:40 PMMust catch up with their latest advertising campaign then, haven’t seen any of this yelling yet. Don’t doubt its there, just havent seen it?
matt
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 6:56 PMi despise all forms of television advertisements. there should be a fucking channel, called AD-TV where you can flick to it and watch ALL DAY. i hate being treated like a sheep, getting yelled at by idiots with flashing colours everywhere and annoying tunes. It’s the only reason i don’t watch TV at all! just venting.. the topic doesnt arise much…
Glenn
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 10:15 AMAm I the only one that wants to walk up to that TV and try to slide it up like a PSPgo?
Effluvium Boy
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 11:19 AMWe’re in the same boat.
Eltial
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 10:18 AMwould have preffered JB… harvey is always twice as expensive… bit sad to hear them say that its a high ticket price item.
Shane
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 10:23 AMGreat idea, but not enough games these days are split screen… especially for a high-ticket-price item! :(
mccawsome
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 10:24 AM$699 for 24 inch is ridiculous.
Grandmaster B-Funk
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 11:33 AMyeah it’s 24 inch, but it’s also 3D, i think it might be nice to have in my bedroom
Rize
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 11:36 AMThat’s what she said.
Jared
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 12:00 PMYou are a GOD. *applause*
Chazz
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 10:31 AM$699.95 for it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_-e_iSFE6g
matt
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 6:57 PMbravias are a percentage above the average cost as well, and add in the 3d, as well as the fact that its a brand new product, im assuming with some new features, i can see that being a reasonable price. not that i would pay it. but some people will
Chazz
Friday, October 14, 2011 at 9:06 AMIt’s just a 24″ screen with 3D. It has no particular special features and it’s specs are actually pretty standard if not a little lacklustre when compared to what else is out there. Samsung 27″ 3D monitors are cheaper and better.
Steven
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 10:42 AMwhy do they have to use one of the most overpriced retailers in Australia?
WiseHacker
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 12:04 PMYou have to ask? Sony at the end of the day is out to make money. Enough said.
Adam Ruch
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 11:10 AMYeah, I wonder if they’ve calibrated their ‘test’ to account for the fact that they’ve chosen the store probably most hated by their target audience to sell this thing through.
brent3000
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 2:45 PMHow did you come to this fact?
Its a TV being sold by one of the leading retailers in the country… Sounds like an ace partnership for me…
And i dont see how Gamers have alot of hate for HN either… Unless your referring to the import tax debate?
Andy
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 4:05 PMbecause most gamers hate HN for its rip off prices. Also the fact that JBHIFI is just way better in terms of the “experience” as well as the price.
Morkai
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 4:17 PMyou mean this Harvey Norman? (http://bit.ly/pRDuX8)
yeah, total rip-off, compared to Jb Hifi (http://bit.ly/o6SDIk) and EB Games (http://bit.ly/phIjGL)
Wade
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 11:12 AMWouldnt this have been put out as a bid? HN are struggling to sell stuff at the moment and I wouldnt be suprised is Sony did some sort of tendering process to see who was most interested in selling it. Then its rebranded as an ‘exclusive’. The other interesting point is maybe that HN (compared to JB) are the most unlikely to budge on price. Sure they will drop $20 off the price in a haggle as oppsed to JB that will drop say $70 off. The fact that its at HN turns me off straight away.
MrBs
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 11:16 AMAm I the only one who had a laugh over the headline?
Powalen
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 2:10 PMThis part of one of the quotes is the main thing I had a giggle over:
“Harvey Norman embracing new technology”.
Stevorooni
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 11:21 AMewww Harvey Norman
Paul
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 11:30 AMNo thanks… I think I’ll pass. It’s one thing to have my PS3 at risk of being hacked (again) let alone my TV as well!!
Nooby
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 11:31 AMDid i miss something here ?
There was a story about this TV a while a go on Kotaku and almost every comment was if you were going to buy one or not. Not a single person said (what i think) that the TV would not do what it was supposed to do.
Are Sony telling us that each person will have crystal clear graphics while both are playing full screen – I just cant see this.
Am i wrong ?
James
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 11:58 AMIt should be just as clear and just as bright as watching 3D content, since it is using the same technology to display two separate images as other 3DTVs.
The novel part of this product is the way they use an existing technology rather than it being a new technology all together.
jeff
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 11:35 AMIs this a TV or just a display? Every article I’ve read refers to it as a “display”. Does that mean it’s just like a computer monitor, with no tuner included? If so, it’s pretty expensive.
masha2932
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 12:18 PMI like the idea of the splitscreen gaming on a single screen but there are not enough games that support the feature. As far as i know only resistance 3 and motorsport apocalypse support the feature.
Daniel Timmons
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 12:18 PMObviously this feature will need to be programmed into the games? Or what?.. Does it just.. know? I mean, will there be updates for dual fullscreen mode for previously released games?… and if this doesn’t catch on with consumers, could we expect the few subscribers to investing in this kind of display to just not have games released with this feature embedded??! I’m so confused…
f4ction
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 12:45 PMIIRC works on the basis of 3D games.
Game = 3D? see below…
3D Game = works!
Shane
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 1:05 PMI think Daniel was referring to the vaunted multiplayer feature of the TV, which allows two local players to play the same game on the same TV in multiplayer mode, but not have to share the screen.
Daniel, looks like, yes, this will have to be programmed as an optional extra into games… maybe released as a patch for existing games too, I dunno.
Daniel Timmons
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 1:22 PMHah, Yeah thanks for that Shane! Looking back at my comment I didn’t really make it clear that I was referring to the multiplayer viewing aspect of it!
See this is something that I WOULD invest in if it was widely supported, as I really hate split screen multiplayer. But if this is how they are going to ‘test the market’ I don’t think it’s going to get the software support and install base required to include this feature in new or old games and thus it will result in low sales numbers and never take off.. Ahh well..
Aaron
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 1:12 PMHopefully the testing will result in everyone finally admitting 3D gaming is a terrible idea and we can all forget about it.
DeeK
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 1:51 PMI’ve just finished playing ICO on the PS3. I played it in 3D. Thought it worked very well for the game. 3D gaming has its place.
veddermandan
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 1:33 PMNo one buys games from HN. Thats whay i always get the bargins when they sell off old stock. I have bough so many games from them at 1/3 of the retail price.
So im looking forward to picking one of these up in 6-12 months for about $250-300. Which is about the right price.
24″ is just right for a PC monitor not sure if it is big enough to play games on.
coolguy
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 2:57 PMStopped buying from Harvey’s when they stopped supporting PC gaming many years ago – the PC gaming section is next to non existant.
I wonder if this would make a good PC 3D monitor? maybe modder’s and indie dev’s will support it somehow.
nforsa
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 3:00 PMToo small I will stick to my 60″
blunt
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 3:29 PMSo do these ones catch fire too?
C.S
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 3:54 PMHarvey Norman has some of the worst prices I have ever seen, this is bad news. :(
brent3000
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 4:01 PMIts called RRP… Clearly you never shop at David Jones?
Morkai
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 6:00 PMI’ve posted this above, but I’ll post it again here just for you…
Uncharted 3: Special Edition;
Harvey Norman? (http://bit.ly/pRDuX8)
Jb Hifi (http://bit.ly/o6SDIk)
EB Games (http://bit.ly/phIjGL)
Ty
Saturday, October 15, 2011 at 11:56 PMBut releasing through Harvey Norman is like not releasing it at all.
Nick
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 2:51 PMI’ve been ringing Harvey Norman frequently to get my hands on this. Today I was told that Sony told HN these screens have been delayed until 2012 – can’t find any more information anywhere on the interwebs.