On Saturday PlayStation Vita launched in Japan. While it’s customary for shops to open at midnight here in Europe and Australasia, in Japan the stores open just an hour or so early and shoppers queue through the early hours of the morning. I was there and here is the entire morning as seen through the lens of my camera.
We arrived at the Tsutaya store in Shibuya at 5am…
…and there was already a queue of gamers snaking around the corner, eager to lay a hand on PlayStation Vita.
(Left) A team of shopkeepers prepares for the imminent stampede and (right) journalists from all over the world jostle for position and the pre-opening countdown is about to begin.
Andy House,President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, steps into the spotlight to give a presentation before starting the countdown.
(Left) He is joined by Kaz Hirai, Executive Deputy President of Sony Corporation, and the two look at the PS Vita journey so far as the clock counts down, and (right) clutches the first console to go on sale worldwide.
The first gamer in the queue is called on stage to collect his PS Vita from Mr. House…
..And is compelled to text or tweet about it immediately.
The doors open and the tills start ringing.
Customers grasp their pre-order documents and are asked to write down which games and accessories they would like to speed up the process.
And all that’s left is to go home and start playing.
The only person allowed to write “first!” in a comment on this blog.
47 CommentsAdd Yours
1
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 12:08 pm by manutreble
can’t not wait to get my hands on th vita looks awesome & james do u have 1 yet ?
2
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 12:20 pm by Goonboy
I like that the first person to get a Vita immedietely texts from his iPhone.
3
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 12:22 pm by European_Gamer
What about the europeans who won a trip Japan via the Inside Vita competition?
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 3:17 pm by James Gallagher
I didn’t see those guys while I was out there (I was pretty much working solidly) but I’m sure they had a great time.
4
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 12:23 pm by ScaryKids69
First! There, just did it!
5
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 12:31 pm by extermin8or_
6
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 12:31 pm by Carl-G
If i knew GOD Kaz Hira was there i would of gone
+ that queue of gamers looks long. I bet if it was a queue for a MicroSoft product that photo would be on every gaming site on the internet LoL
7
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 12:32 pm by Skookie30
they don’t look please in the top picture, you would think they be happy getting a Vita.
maybe they Xbots lol anyway I’m glad that the japanese got they vita but what was the purpose of this Post?
it serves no purpose for us.
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 3:18 pm by James Gallagher
Bear in mind that the picture was taken at 5:30am. Not sure about you, but I never look too thrilled at that time in the morning either!
8
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 12:42 pm by MoeRonimoe
His name is Kaz Hirai
9
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 1:11 pm by waldoribeiro
@Goonboy: It’s not an iPhone. It actually seems to be a Galaxy S II. I am not too sure, though.
10
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 1:12 pm by alanh
can’t wait to get my hands on the ps vita
It’s gonna be the must ave gadget for 2012 and glad my preorder is in for one.
11
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 1:25 pm by Gadbury
According to Eurogamer’s article on the launch event, Andrew House spoke fluent Japanese when he did a public talk at the event – that I respect.
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 3:17 pm by James Gallagher
He did – Mr. House also worked in the Tokyo office before he joined us here at SCEE and is a fluent Japanese speaker.
12
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 1:35 pm by BRISTOLAD
big meh for me, but i understand why there’s all this noise. different strokes for different folks.
13
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 2:03 pm by chrisandsheva
Nice article, though a little bit jelous of the 1st (purchased!) vita owner i have to feel a tiny bit sorry for him, ie are you sure he wasn’t txtn his mom or dad for help, as he looked terrified. plus did the guy know he was going to be dragged up in front of the worlds media, or is that how most every japanese (young, ) man chooses to dress, But i can garauntee that he will be a celeb back in Tokyo over the holiday parties n such, Maybe even till the 1st ps4 buyer gets his chance…. i mean we all know how crazy (in a Good way) those guys are, Reminds me, i haven’t had the chance to watch much, Any, Japanese tv shows lately, please tell me they are still the same, ie the funny reality, game shows etc, don’t think i have ever laughed so hard watching anything else.
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 3:16 pm by James Gallagher
He was a cool guy but yes, I think he might have been a tiny bit freaked out by all the cameras. His face is going to be in quite a few newspapers this morning!
14
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 2:25 pm by ALhammadi51
I’m just wandering will we gonna get the dynamic theme for The Last of Us this week
15
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 2:53 pm by shamoonmessi
This is telling us that ps4 will be out soon
16
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 2:55 pm by EfcJonny123
Play.com have listed VITA prices in the UK will be £45 (for uc golden Abyss)
Now Sony if you don’t want the same to happen to the psp, where no one buys and games, why are you putting these prices for a handheld game? (In the middle of a recession!!)
I was looking forward to the VITA and I’m still planning on buying one. But I shall now hold off on buying the games… Anywhere between 30-50 pounds for a VITA game is RIDICULOUS! Especially in the current economic climate! I really hope this isn’t true about VITA prices.
Also I can buy Iphone games for anywhere between 49p and 99p and play on them for hours on end! And you see how many people buy the software on a Iphone. But I don’t want them games on a vita. I want an Uncharted, Bioshock, GTA etc full fledged games on the VITA but at the price of 45 pounds? (which is more than you asking for ps3 games!) I don’t think too many people will want to buy those games…for that price. (also an kind of app store on the vita will be great I think. We can play all 99p games and full games which should be priced are £15-30 depending on what it is.
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 3:12 pm by James Gallagher
We still haven’t announced the pricing of games so I wouldn’t read much into some of the numbers that have been going around online.
And I take your point about mobile games but when you get your hands on titles like Uncharted : Golden Abyss then hopefully you’ll see that we’re talking about something completely different in terms of scale.
17
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 2:59 pm by extermin8or_
@efcjonny well I have uncharted golden abyss on preorder from amazon.co.uk for £27 as of yesterday-they are selling all the launch titles you can preorder for about 30 quid
18
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 3:01 pm by STEALTHSNAKE1
why cant “Joe public” start a new post on the PlayStation blog? or am I just missing something? if we cant whats the point of the blog?
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 3:14 pm by James Gallagher
The blog is the place to read and comment on breaking news direct from PlayStation and other game publishers. If you’d like to start your own discussion topics then check out our forums at http://community.eu.playstation.com
19
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 3:02 pm by jetpacksheep
For Uk buyers worrying about game prices it looks like there will be 2 categories e.g games like little deviants and reality fighters are on sale on Play.com for £17.99 and bigger titles are all around the £30 or less mark on Amazon.co.uk. Also the cheapest price i have found a vita is on Gamestop.co.uk for £209 and to help you students out (Like me) a lot of Gmaestation stores do 10% student discount. hope all this helps you.
20
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 3:05 pm by STEALTHSNAKE1
can “Joe public” start a new post on the PlayStation blog ? or am I just missing something ? if we cant whats the point of the blog?
21
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 3:08 pm by SHAFTRULES
same here,looking foward to this piece of kit,got mine pre orderd,but Iam a wee bit worried how much the games are being priced at! & the freakin price of the memory cards aswell to consider.
22
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 3:09 pm by VictorAnalogy
I had heard that online pricing was going to be much better for the Vita, any signs of that playing out now that the machine is out in the wild?
23
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 3:51 pm by EfcJonny123
@JamesGallagher Yeah and that’s why I said I’m buying a vita because of games like Uncharted, Bioshock (and hopefully a new GTA game!).
I just hope these prices listed by play.com are not the actual prices.
@extermin8or_ Let’s hope that the prices listed on Amazon will be the same in every other retailer!
24
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 3:53 pm by obiadekanobi1980
wow talk about rubbing the uk gamers faces in it i hope your coverage of the uk event is going to be as good as we still have a way to go yet i also hope those memory cards come down in price its like sony are sayin
“we’ll sell the console cheap but rip them off on the bits and bobs mmwwaahhh!!!”
which i find unfair also are they going to give the patent rights out to 3rd party to make there own?? oh well the more i hear about the vita the laess appealing it is to me bring on the PS4 i say !!!
25
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 3:56 pm by ieatpixels
That’s great, nice way to launch the system.
26
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 4:00 pm by kilonen
I’m sorry for the off-topic comment.
I received a private beta code for Starhawk by e-mail, but it doesn’t work: it gives me an “invalid or already used code” error. Do you know what is the problem? How can I resolve it?
Could you help me, James or anybody?
27
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 4:01 pm by kilonen
P. S. Thank you!
28
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 4:07 pm by jakster123x
Andy House went and gave a speech? Oh, cool.
Did you bring me back a Vita, James?
29
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 4:11 pm by jakster123x
@11: Wow, that really does deserve to be applauded. Serious respect to big Andy
30
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 4:28 pm by Pesico
Waiting for my Vita to be shipped from Japan, along with a 4GB card and Uncharted. Just couldn’t wait for EU release. Gonna be my christmas present to myself:p
31
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 5:23 pm by maddogarchie64
lucky Japanese, how come they get it so much earlier than us?
32
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 6:15 pm by Tenchuwoh
Where can i preorder PSVita here in Greece?I dont want to wait in a huge queue to get one ^^.
Thanks!
33
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 6:23 pm by dividsmythe
I is be well jel,r
34
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 6:32 pm by Pesico
#32: Play-Asia.com is the place I pre-ordered mine.
35
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 9:52 pm by reddr1964
#32: Plaisio.gr has a nice pre-order offer.
36
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 10:26 pm by darrenj1
we aren’t in a recession!! havent been for over a year keep up!!!
37
Posted on 19 December, 2011 at 10:31 pm by Tenchuwoh
#34/35
Thank you very much
38
Posted on 20 December, 2011 at 2:57 am by TJOHO2009
I came to Tokyo around noon on launch day, and went straight to Akihabara, the gaming/gadget mecca of the city.
I was a bit freaked out that the first three places I went they were completely sold out (some had the WiFi/3G model left, but no WiFi only, which is what I needed).
The fourth place had it, I stood in line for about half an hour, and got my Vita, Uncharted Golden Abyss, an 8 GB card, a protective film and pouch. Best birthday ever!
39
Posted on 20 December, 2011 at 11:32 am by thunderking1981
hi james nice photos may i have a photo of the city of tokyo please it’s thunderking1981 that is my online id thanks and merry christmas and a happy new year foam thunderking1981
40
Posted on 20 December, 2011 at 12:40 pm by jojo13_iscool
lucky japanese getting their ps vitas
41
Posted on 20 December, 2011 at 2:33 pm by procion
Thundering you can copy that pic to your hdd by mousing over it & pressing /\ (triangle) then select x on file then select x on either image or target.
And I do agree that jpers are lucky getting Vita before us, but we can’t begrudge their early access after having to weather the HAARPed tsunami & its prevailing “earthquake”and their psn & store being down for so long after the outage had ended for us.
Playstation was born in Japan, Vita accessibility should be too, & lo, so it is… peace
42
Posted on 20 December, 2011 at 8:22 pm by charlievowles
so is there a comprehensive range of games out. Or is like the old psp where the range was not that great? And how much is it gonna retail in the uk 4?
43
Posted on 21 December, 2011 at 10:14 am by AvenGer20
cant wait to get my hands on it!
44
Posted on 21 December, 2011 at 3:23 pm by xXScCoPpeZxX
Add your comment here
45
Posted on 21 December, 2011 at 5:14 pm by Scuffy_P
James, I notice you’ve been removing ALL post’s that have anything slightly negative to say about Sony in general.
It’s not as though angry European gamers could sway or damage SCEE’s already tattered reputation now is it?
(Freedom of speech…so long as you don’t say anthing against Sony lol)
46
Posted on 27 December, 2011 at 12:34 pm by racer_hama01
may get it soon my brain is laid on it after sats
(I’m in year 6) england
47
Posted on 27 December, 2011 at 2:36 pm by racer_hama01
Got to ask though will it be able to play vids?message me on psn
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