Police are concerned about the midnight PlayStation 3 launch in Europe
The PlayStation 3’s launch in Europe is scheduled this March 23, and Virgin Megastores’s Oxford Street branch has decided that they will host a special midnight event to mark the occasion. This is in spite of the fact that the Marylebourne Police have spoken against this move.
“We do not support these midnight launches, that is the bottom line. There are inherent problems we can’t deal with easily,” a spokesperson from Marylebourne Police said in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz. The spokesperson also adds that “If the launches do go ahead, we have to negate the issues as far as we can, but we can’t remove the risk factors for people coming to or going away from the store.”
Because of these warnings, Sony and Virgin Records have been doing all they can to ensure the safety of the event. A spokesperson from Sony spoke regarding this problem.
“Both Sony PlayStation and Virgin Megastores take the safety and comfort of consumers extremely seriously. We’ve liaised with both the police and Westminster Council, and put a number of measures in place to ensure that everyone attending the midnight launch gets home safely.”
To those who will be attending this event, the police are advising everyone to take precautionary measures. Traveling without cash and with a friend or parent is advised. They also recommend that those who will be going home with a “hot” commodity (a.k.a., a PS3) may want to consider carrying their purchases in an unmarked bag and/or hiring licensed cabs to get home (remember all those mugging reports back in November?). Hopefully, the event would go without a hitch, and we here at QJ are also hoping that the violent incidents that were reported during the North American PS3 launch will not be repeated in Europe.
The PlayStation 3’s launch in Europe is scheduled this March 23, and Virgin Megastores’s Oxford Street branch has decided that they will host a special midnight event to mark the occasion. This is in spite of the fact that the Marylebourne Police have spoken against this move.
“We do not support these midnight launches, that is the bottom line. There are inherent problems we can’t deal with easily,” a spokesperson from Marylebourne Police said in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz. The spokesperson also adds that “If the launches do go ahead, we have to negate the issues as far as we can, but we can’t remove the risk factors for people coming to or going away from the store.”
Because of these warnings, Sony and Virgin Records have been doing all they can to ensure the safety of the event. A spokesperson from Sony spoke regarding this problem.
“Both Sony PlayStation and Virgin Megastores take the safety and comfort of consumers extremely seriously. We’ve liaised with both the police and Westminster Council, and put a number of measures in place to ensure that everyone attending the midnight launch gets home safely.”
To those who will be attending this event, the police are advising everyone to take precautionary measures. Traveling without cash and with a friend or parent is advised. They also recommend that those who will be going home with a “hot” commodity (a.k.a., a PS3) may want to consider carrying their purchases in an unmarked bag and/or hiring licensed cabs to get home (remember all those mugging reports back in November?). Hopefully, the event would go without a hitch, and we here at QJ are also hoping that the violent incidents that were reported during the North American PS3 launch will not be repeated in Europe.
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