Around 65 excited gamers queued outside a Sydney department store for around four hours early Friday to become the first gamers outside the United States to experience Sony's new Playstation 3 games console.
Organisers had predicted that thousands of fans would turn out to snatch up the first of the long-delayed units that were given a glitzy launch at Myers Department Store at midnight (1300 GMT), but only a few dozen tuned up at the event, barely managing to outnumber staff and publicists.
Across the other side of the world in London, gamers were camping for 36 hours for the kudos of being the first to own the long-awaited console.
Sony Computer Entertainment (Australia) managing director Michael Ephraim however told AFP the unit was launched simultaneously at 550 stores across the continent and that he had no doubt the PS3, which is making its debut here five months late, would be an enduring hit among gamers.
"I expected hundreds if not thousands of people to be here tonight," said advertising sales executive Danny Zarka, 31, who was first in line to buy the PS3 after turning up four and a quarter hours ahead of the midnight launch.
"But it's really been worth the wait and I was really thrilled to be the first one to get my hands on this baby before anyone else," he told AFP as he clutched his spanking new games console.
"It's going to be a sleepless night, but I haven't scheduled any meeting for early tomorrow," he said before heading home to let the games begin.
Organisers laid on a giant screen in the pedestrian mall outside the store that flickered with the images action of the latest James Bond epic "Casino Royale," interspersed by Playstation games.
Bored-looking masseurs rubbed the shoulders of any takers of the free service, as legions of vendors gave away pop corn, ice cream, water and soft drinks, crates of which were left over after the launch party to the handful of fans queuing to buy the PS 3 as well as to journalists.
"I really wanted to be one of the first to see this thing which has so much promise," said Geoff London, a 32-year-old student of veterinary science who queued with his girlfriend.
"I've been looking forward for months to get my hands on it and to see its crystal clear graphics. I think it's a bargain at the price," he said of the 999 Australian dollar (808 US) tag.
But Sony's Ephraim, who presided over the launch at Myers, said he was unconcerned by the low turnout, saying similar crowds would gather outside stores across the country.
He also said the delay in delivering the console here may have been a blessing in disguise as it meant the company has been able to ensure stocks did not run out.
"In a way, the delay has a silver lining in that it has allowed us to build up production so we have stocks not only for the pre-order buyers that are here tonight but also for the walk ins," he said.
The new console will revolutionise home entertainment, replacing the PC for all but work, and would endure for a decade, he predicted.
A Sony spokesman said earlier 10,000 of the consoles -- Sony's answer to the challenge thrown down by Nintendo's Wii and Microsoft's XBox 360 -- had been pre-ordered in Australia.
The PS3 was launched in the United States and Japan in November, but production problems delayed its release in the rest of the world.
The delay allowed Sony's rivals to move a step ahead in Australia, where the XBox 360 was launched a year ago and the Wii has been on the shelves for five months.
The PS3 is also the most expensive of the trio because Sony is only releasing its top-of-the-line 60-gigabyte version in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Australasia.
