By Adam Hartley
Shanie Chatfield (aged 19) and her boyfriend Anthony Brophy (aged 21) are joint-second in today’s PS3 queue – and getting ready to camp down for the night with the rest of the Sony faithful (should they turn up!) downstairs at Virgin’s flagship London ‘Megashop’ tonight.
I just returned from a late night trip down to Virgin where a 'tight' (read: small) group of hardcore PS3 campers, pictured below, are holed up for the night ready for tomorrow's launch day (and night) shenanigans.
Shanie, it turns out, is a true Sony devotee. She loves the Japanese consumer tech giant so much, she could probably pass a Masters Degree in Sony Knowledge with first class honours.
Now, before you read the following interview that SPOnG conducted earlier today with Shanie, let me be frank. I am still not entirely convinced she is not a Sony stooge and, as you will see, I ask her this question directly at the end of the interview. That 'nagging feeling' I still cannot shake that I might have been had is purely based on the fact that she knew A HELL of a lot and appeared to answer questions like a well-briefed PR person
However, she was unlike most PR people I know, in that her knowledge really did seem genuine and based on the passion of a true gamer (and not the parrot/rote-learning of a PR stooge with little interest in gaming) so (for now) we'll give her the benefit of the doubt and I'll confidently state that I am 99% sure that she is not a plant or a stooge. Although she did tell me she was very keen to get a marketing job. Preferably at Sony!
Phil Harrison, you could do far worse than considering giving this girl a job! Here’s what she told our man on the shopfloor earlier today:
SPOnG: Hi, so you’re second in the queue? Been here two hours already…
Shanie: Yeah, it’s gone really fast [grins]
SPOnG: What’s the main attraction of getting a PS3?
Shanie: What do you mean? Like getting one here? I wanted to show everyone how excited I was about it!
SPOnG: So, what games are you picking up tomorrow?
Shanie: Resistance: Fall of Man, Motorstorm, F1: Championship Edition. Although I’ve just been told I’m getting Resistance free now, which is a bonus [grins wider]. So I might buy something else.
SPOnG: What?
Shanie: Dunno yet, maybe Genji, I’m not 100% sure yet… it’s something to think about tonight. There’s also games I want to pay for and download from the PlayStation Network so… and they’re gonna cost around six to seven quid each. I dunno.
SPOnG: The price [of the machine] is a bit high isn’t it?
Shanie: For a console yeah... But it isn’t a console, it’s an entertainment centre with a Blu-ray player included, which is worth a grand alone. So in my opinion, the price is nothing. It’s a good price for it really. The sad thing is that we are paying more than the Americans or the Japanese did for it. But apart from that the price doesn’t bother me whatsoever.
SPOnG: I don’t suppose you’d bat an eyelid about spending that amount of money on a half-decent PC.
Shanie: Yeh, think of what you spend on a new Vaio these days! OK they may also have Blu-ray in them, but the PS3 is just as good. Better, in my opinion, for many things. You can look up the internet on the PS3 and so on.
SPOnG: So would you describe yourself as a fairly hardcore gamer? You own other systems and so on?
Shanie: Yeah, well I’ve got a 360. Which I got for a really cheap price, or else I wouldn’t have bought it. I don’t really like it to be honest…. Wii, my boyfriend got it for me for Christmas, or else I don’t really think I would have bought myself one (yet)… my PSP is probably my most played system at the moment.
SPOnG: Would you maybe describe yourself as a Sony fangirl?
Shanie: Yep, definitely. [laughs]
SPOnG: You mentioned you don’t like 360 – why?
Shanie: It’s a very bigheaded console… the PS3’s got everything for anyone in my opinion. The 360 is for people who really like games and want to show off with this “I’m a better gamer than you” type of attitude – with the whole achievement points thing and that. I just think… Well, I’ve just never liked the console to be honest. Viva Pinata caught my eye, but even that was so buggy I just don’t play that anymore.
SPOnG: But then, the Xbox fans would maybe argue that the achievement points are a better reason to buy games on Xbox 360 as opposed to PS3?
Shanie: Well there’s a similar thing that Sony’s doing on PlayStation, but it’s done in such a unique and non-bigheaded way in my opinion…
SPOnG: This is Home yeh?
Shanie: Yeah, the whole hall of fame idea, where basically you get trophies…but by the looks of it you can only put a certain amount of trophies up, so you pick your favourites, you get something that’s 3D and looks really cool. And then to actually show people that you’ve earned them, you have to invite them there. So it’s not like, you add someone to your Gamertag or whatever… and there it is… “I’m better than you” you know, with this star rating thing… Plus also when you go online on Xbox Live all you get is this threatening, nasty attitude… people swearing at you and that… and I really don’t like that. With Sony’s security stuff on the PlayStation Network you know the people within your region – so this all makes it a better offering in my opinion…
SPOnG: So, also, you mentioned you have a Wii, which is more of a party game console you think?
Shanie: This is the main problem with Wii, you need someone with you all the time to really enjoy it. The online features are free, which is a good thing… but they are not done very well and are currently fairly limited, plus friend codes and stuff are too long and you have to keep repeatedly putting them in for each different game and so on. PlayStation Network basically seems to take the aspects of the Wii’s “freeness” and the best bits of Xbox Live… and with Home coming up, I just think it’s the perfect mix.
SPOnG: But still, don’t you think that a lot of people are going to wait until there’s a price drop with PS3?
Shanie: Yes. And I understand that. But my honest opinion is that I want to support Sony and I want it now. The price is not an issue…. I know it’s just after Christmas and that, when people are still a bit skint… but if you are one of those people who bought a 360 or a Wii for Christmas then I truly think you should have maybe waited for a few months longer, saved your money and got a PS3.… because it is considerably that much better and worth the money and extra bit of a wait.
SPOnG: One other area that a lot of consumers maybe need a bit more educating and convincing on is in the whole issue of Blu-ray versus HD-DVD…
Shanie: Yeah, well I’m clearly a Blu-ray supporter on that front. But I haven’t really seen the differences between the two yet. We’re told that Blu-ray has better sound quality, sharper images and so is worth paying slightly more than HD-DVD for… Also, a problem is that you can only get certain HD films on HD-DVD and some on Blu-ray…
SPOnG: It’s Betamax/VHS all over again no?
Shanie: [laughs]Don’t remind us! Yeah, once again poor Sony went for the Betamax and it was such a superior system technically to the VHS, and then, the cheaper, lower quality one won out… If that happens with HD then it’s really going to come down hard on Sony.
SPOnG: I suppose it comes down to what the big [movie] studios decide they want to support, for whatever reasons.
Shanie: If Sony gets enough support on it…it should have a good chance. Getting a Blu-ray player for just over £400 instead of £1000 or more… this is why Sony put it in there, not just because you’ll get more storage space for your games, but for the fact that everybody will soon have a Blu-ray player in their homes. With a 360 you need to buy that HD-DVD player separate, which is a £130 extra right there.
SPOnG: And also I suppose, not forgetting, with PS2, loads of people obtained their first DVD player.
Shanie: Yeh, plus DVD players were quite costly back in 1999, so Sony putting the DVD player in the PS2 convinced millions of gamers to start buying DVD movies.
SPOnG: A lot of Sony fans want a PS3 because of the backwards compatibility, so they can play their back catalogue of PS2 titles.
Shanie: Yeh, I would also have liked it if they had left in the emotion chip in, but I’ve got a PS2 at home, in case any PS2 games aren’t compatible. So I don’t mind too much about that.
SPOnG: So, you’re clearly a BIG Sony fan. What are your favourite games?
Shanie: On PSP it’s LocoRoco. Plus I like Doko Demo Issyo – a cool Japanese game. That means ‘together everywhere’… On PS1 it would be Legend of the Dragoon On PS2… Oooo that’s a tough one…I like the Ape Escape series, God of War, Killzone…
SPOnG: Shadow of the Colossus?
Shanie: God yeah! And Ico… I love all the Sony games. There’s some good third party stuff, but it’s all about the first party games.
SPOnG: You clearly know a lot about Sony and its products. Are you a paid for Sony stooge?
Shanie: [laughs nervously]NO! I’d like to be!
SPOnG: Ah well, maybe you’ll get a job there.
Shanie: Yeh, I’d like to do marketing actually…
Shanie Chatfield (aged 19) and her boyfriend Anthony Brophy (aged 21) are joint-second in today’s PS3 queue – and getting ready to camp down for the night with the rest of the Sony faithful (should they turn up!) downstairs at Virgin’s flagship London ‘Megashop’ tonight.
I just returned from a late night trip down to Virgin where a 'tight' (read: small) group of hardcore PS3 campers, pictured below, are holed up for the night ready for tomorrow's launch day (and night) shenanigans.
Shanie, it turns out, is a true Sony devotee. She loves the Japanese consumer tech giant so much, she could probably pass a Masters Degree in Sony Knowledge with first class honours.
Now, before you read the following interview that SPOnG conducted earlier today with Shanie, let me be frank. I am still not entirely convinced she is not a Sony stooge and, as you will see, I ask her this question directly at the end of the interview. That 'nagging feeling' I still cannot shake that I might have been had is purely based on the fact that she knew A HELL of a lot and appeared to answer questions like a well-briefed PR person
However, she was unlike most PR people I know, in that her knowledge really did seem genuine and based on the passion of a true gamer (and not the parrot/rote-learning of a PR stooge with little interest in gaming) so (for now) we'll give her the benefit of the doubt and I'll confidently state that I am 99% sure that she is not a plant or a stooge. Although she did tell me she was very keen to get a marketing job. Preferably at Sony!
Phil Harrison, you could do far worse than considering giving this girl a job! Here’s what she told our man on the shopfloor earlier today:
SPOnG: Hi, so you’re second in the queue? Been here two hours already…
Shanie: Yeah, it’s gone really fast [grins]
SPOnG: What’s the main attraction of getting a PS3?
Shanie: What do you mean? Like getting one here? I wanted to show everyone how excited I was about it!
SPOnG: So, what games are you picking up tomorrow?
Shanie: Resistance: Fall of Man, Motorstorm, F1: Championship Edition. Although I’ve just been told I’m getting Resistance free now, which is a bonus [grins wider]. So I might buy something else.
SPOnG: What?
Shanie: Dunno yet, maybe Genji, I’m not 100% sure yet… it’s something to think about tonight. There’s also games I want to pay for and download from the PlayStation Network so… and they’re gonna cost around six to seven quid each. I dunno.
SPOnG: The price [of the machine] is a bit high isn’t it?
Shanie: For a console yeah... But it isn’t a console, it’s an entertainment centre with a Blu-ray player included, which is worth a grand alone. So in my opinion, the price is nothing. It’s a good price for it really. The sad thing is that we are paying more than the Americans or the Japanese did for it. But apart from that the price doesn’t bother me whatsoever.
SPOnG: I don’t suppose you’d bat an eyelid about spending that amount of money on a half-decent PC.
Shanie: Yeh, think of what you spend on a new Vaio these days! OK they may also have Blu-ray in them, but the PS3 is just as good. Better, in my opinion, for many things. You can look up the internet on the PS3 and so on.
SPOnG: So would you describe yourself as a fairly hardcore gamer? You own other systems and so on?
Shanie: Yeah, well I’ve got a 360. Which I got for a really cheap price, or else I wouldn’t have bought it. I don’t really like it to be honest…. Wii, my boyfriend got it for me for Christmas, or else I don’t really think I would have bought myself one (yet)… my PSP is probably my most played system at the moment.
SPOnG: Would you maybe describe yourself as a Sony fangirl?
Shanie: Yep, definitely. [laughs]
SPOnG: You mentioned you don’t like 360 – why?
Shanie: It’s a very bigheaded console… the PS3’s got everything for anyone in my opinion. The 360 is for people who really like games and want to show off with this “I’m a better gamer than you” type of attitude – with the whole achievement points thing and that. I just think… Well, I’ve just never liked the console to be honest. Viva Pinata caught my eye, but even that was so buggy I just don’t play that anymore.
SPOnG: But then, the Xbox fans would maybe argue that the achievement points are a better reason to buy games on Xbox 360 as opposed to PS3?
Shanie: Well there’s a similar thing that Sony’s doing on PlayStation, but it’s done in such a unique and non-bigheaded way in my opinion…
SPOnG: This is Home yeh?
Shanie: Yeah, the whole hall of fame idea, where basically you get trophies…but by the looks of it you can only put a certain amount of trophies up, so you pick your favourites, you get something that’s 3D and looks really cool. And then to actually show people that you’ve earned them, you have to invite them there. So it’s not like, you add someone to your Gamertag or whatever… and there it is… “I’m better than you” you know, with this star rating thing… Plus also when you go online on Xbox Live all you get is this threatening, nasty attitude… people swearing at you and that… and I really don’t like that. With Sony’s security stuff on the PlayStation Network you know the people within your region – so this all makes it a better offering in my opinion…
SPOnG: So, also, you mentioned you have a Wii, which is more of a party game console you think?
Shanie: This is the main problem with Wii, you need someone with you all the time to really enjoy it. The online features are free, which is a good thing… but they are not done very well and are currently fairly limited, plus friend codes and stuff are too long and you have to keep repeatedly putting them in for each different game and so on. PlayStation Network basically seems to take the aspects of the Wii’s “freeness” and the best bits of Xbox Live… and with Home coming up, I just think it’s the perfect mix.
SPOnG: But still, don’t you think that a lot of people are going to wait until there’s a price drop with PS3?
Shanie: Yes. And I understand that. But my honest opinion is that I want to support Sony and I want it now. The price is not an issue…. I know it’s just after Christmas and that, when people are still a bit skint… but if you are one of those people who bought a 360 or a Wii for Christmas then I truly think you should have maybe waited for a few months longer, saved your money and got a PS3.… because it is considerably that much better and worth the money and extra bit of a wait.
SPOnG: One other area that a lot of consumers maybe need a bit more educating and convincing on is in the whole issue of Blu-ray versus HD-DVD…
Shanie: Yeah, well I’m clearly a Blu-ray supporter on that front. But I haven’t really seen the differences between the two yet. We’re told that Blu-ray has better sound quality, sharper images and so is worth paying slightly more than HD-DVD for… Also, a problem is that you can only get certain HD films on HD-DVD and some on Blu-ray…
SPOnG: It’s Betamax/VHS all over again no?
Shanie: [laughs]Don’t remind us! Yeah, once again poor Sony went for the Betamax and it was such a superior system technically to the VHS, and then, the cheaper, lower quality one won out… If that happens with HD then it’s really going to come down hard on Sony.
SPOnG: I suppose it comes down to what the big [movie] studios decide they want to support, for whatever reasons.
Shanie: If Sony gets enough support on it…it should have a good chance. Getting a Blu-ray player for just over £400 instead of £1000 or more… this is why Sony put it in there, not just because you’ll get more storage space for your games, but for the fact that everybody will soon have a Blu-ray player in their homes. With a 360 you need to buy that HD-DVD player separate, which is a £130 extra right there.
SPOnG: And also I suppose, not forgetting, with PS2, loads of people obtained their first DVD player.
Shanie: Yeh, plus DVD players were quite costly back in 1999, so Sony putting the DVD player in the PS2 convinced millions of gamers to start buying DVD movies.
SPOnG: A lot of Sony fans want a PS3 because of the backwards compatibility, so they can play their back catalogue of PS2 titles.
Shanie: Yeh, I would also have liked it if they had left in the emotion chip in, but I’ve got a PS2 at home, in case any PS2 games aren’t compatible. So I don’t mind too much about that.
SPOnG: So, you’re clearly a BIG Sony fan. What are your favourite games?
Shanie: On PSP it’s LocoRoco. Plus I like Doko Demo Issyo – a cool Japanese game. That means ‘together everywhere’… On PS1 it would be Legend of the Dragoon On PS2… Oooo that’s a tough one…I like the Ape Escape series, God of War, Killzone…
SPOnG: Shadow of the Colossus?
Shanie: God yeah! And Ico… I love all the Sony games. There’s some good third party stuff, but it’s all about the first party games.
SPOnG: You clearly know a lot about Sony and its products. Are you a paid for Sony stooge?
Shanie: [laughs nervously]NO! I’d like to be!
SPOnG: Ah well, maybe you’ll get a job there.
Shanie: Yeh, I’d like to do marketing actually…
Companies:
SCEE
Games: Doko Demo Issyo F1 06 Genji: Days of the Blade ICO LocoRoco MotorStorm Resistance: Fall of Man Shadow of the Colossus
Games: Doko Demo Issyo F1 06 Genji: Days of the Blade ICO LocoRoco MotorStorm Resistance: Fall of Man Shadow of the Colossus
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Comments
Smelly 22 Mar 2007 01:54
1/13
Sony fan?
She sounds like she's a sony employee. (probably being paid to stand there).
Did you ask what she did for a living?
She sounds like she's a sony employee. (probably being paid to stand there).
Did you ask what she did for a living?
hollywooda 22 Mar 2007 09:59
2/13
I can almost understand if the PS3 was sold out & u wanted to make sure u got ur hands on new stock that was allocated to a store....but sitting out in minus temperatures to get a console that hasn't sold out
anywhere??....is this person a muppet?....(checks picture)...yes. I think this reeks of a Sony PR stunt, like that f**king s**t PSP blog they done, I'd love it if they exposed these t**ts as Sony employees.
anywhere??....is this person a muppet?....(checks picture)...yes. I think this reeks of a Sony PR stunt, like that f**king s**t PSP blog they done, I'd love it if they exposed these t**ts as Sony employees.
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alexh2o 22 Mar 2007 10:15
3/13
how can she say "poor sony" for losing the betamax war?!?!?!?! sony has consistantly gone against the general open consensus and made their own proprietry formats... and you feel sorry for them failing. argh! speaking as someone who has blown money on several of their 'amazing' formats i want to slap you (and myself, which i have done, hence no BR or HDDVD purchases).
that truly was an amazing read though, just to see how an ordinary person can be so converted by sony propaganda. everything about the ps3 was a good thing. at least the first guy actually rated all the consoles in an intelligent manner. they all have their plus points. this b***h, crazy!
that truly was an amazing read though, just to see how an ordinary person can be so converted by sony propaganda. everything about the ps3 was a good thing. at least the first guy actually rated all the consoles in an intelligent manner. they all have their plus points. this b***h, crazy!
Dreadknux 22 Mar 2007 10:48
4/13
I've known this girl for a few years, and it's a bit shocking she would come out as 100% Sony fangirl without being objective. Especially after all the bad press recently, even if Home is a pretty cool sounding function.
Marketing does sound like her true calling though.
Marketing does sound like her true calling though.
mrAnthony 22 Mar 2007 11:59
5/13
she's been drinking the kool aid. as various americans would say.
notice how all the games she wants are the (4) sony first party titles. one of which is genji, which has been slaughtered in every single review. 2 out of 10 people. broken. yet she wants it. (granted as a last choice, but there are other games that arent made by sony)
but the comment that made me chortle most was about achievement point. they are arrogant. in her opinion, and the sony version is less arrogant... yeah, instead of points, (something used in games forever) you get TROPHIES!, yeah come round my virtual house, and check out all these gleaming trophies i won. thats not showing off?
hmmm. fishy.
notice how all the games she wants are the (4) sony first party titles. one of which is genji, which has been slaughtered in every single review. 2 out of 10 people. broken. yet she wants it. (granted as a last choice, but there are other games that arent made by sony)
but the comment that made me chortle most was about achievement point. they are arrogant. in her opinion, and the sony version is less arrogant... yeah, instead of points, (something used in games forever) you get TROPHIES!, yeah come round my virtual house, and check out all these gleaming trophies i won. thats not showing off?
hmmm. fishy.
Dreadknux 22 Mar 2007 12:26
6/13
As ironic as it sounds, she's really not a Sony plant. Unless something happened to her since the last time I spoke to her...
Smelly 22 Mar 2007 16:09
7/13
See.. Such is my dis-trust of sony following all their lies, that i dont even believe you and believe that you too are actually a sony employee paid to make out this stunt was actually real.
Smelly 22 Mar 2007 16:09
8/13
See.. Such is my dis-trust of sony following all their lies, that i dont even believe you and believe that you too are actually a sony employee paid to make out this stunt was actually real.
Zazigglebub 22 Mar 2007 16:26
9/13
Smelly wrote:
See.. Such is my dis-trust of sony following all their lies, that i dont even believe you and believe that you too are actually a sony employee paid to make out this stunt was actually real.
bluff and duble bluff - your obv the sony stooge!
Joji 22 Mar 2007 17:13
10/13
Well, an interesting read, indeed. She does sound like she's been made to watch Sony propaganda for a month, then secretly dropped on her head, and then in the PS3 cue.
True about the achievements stuff. Even a staunch Nintendo fans like me, who also owns a 360 can appreciate the set up of Live. Achivement Points arrogant.....wtf..! Clearly not arrogant of Sony, to blantantly copy MS and Nintendo's efforts for their own benefit. Or building up the half hearted PS3 pad when it was fine as it was on PS2. Like one of you guys said, Sony have a lot to answer for, and especially after the Lik Sang biz, they won't have my support for ages and I can barely trust then now.
Its early days game wise for the Wii, but like the DS it will pick up in time. Either way she needs a reality check, her PS3 won't give her it.
True about the achievements stuff. Even a staunch Nintendo fans like me, who also owns a 360 can appreciate the set up of Live. Achivement Points arrogant.....wtf..! Clearly not arrogant of Sony, to blantantly copy MS and Nintendo's efforts for their own benefit. Or building up the half hearted PS3 pad when it was fine as it was on PS2. Like one of you guys said, Sony have a lot to answer for, and especially after the Lik Sang biz, they won't have my support for ages and I can barely trust then now.
Its early days game wise for the Wii, but like the DS it will pick up in time. Either way she needs a reality check, her PS3 won't give her it.
J_C_X 22 Mar 2007 18:42
11/13
http://kotaku.com/gaming/top/only-three-people-lining-up-in-london-for-ps3-246114.php
This is interesting I can't sell my American PS3 now!
This is interesting I can't sell my American PS3 now!
Smelly 22 Mar 2007 18:48
12/13
>Either way she needs a reality check
Something tells me, she's about to get a large "reality" check (cheque) from a certain company..
Something tells me, she's about to get a large "reality" check (cheque) from a certain company..
Dev 24 Apr 2007 03:36
13/13
Or perhaps...She really is a fan? Is there something so morbidly wrong about this? I think not.