What's wrong with this picture of PS3 promotional bliss?

So, those poor Australians not only have to deal with their toilet water flushing counter-clockwise, but a way-late release date for Sony's new-gen PS3 console: March 23rd, just like those poor European saps. Luckily they've got some snazzy display models to ogle, right? Not so much. A closer look at this seemingly innocuous scene reveals horrible secrets, too terrible to reveal even before the post break! (Seriously, keep reading, it gets better.)

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

Wait, that's just a 2D cutout! Scandal!


Wait, what the carp? Is that a 360?


It is indeed! Some Sony marketing guru out there is seriously in the wrong line of work.

[OPTICAL OUT PLEASE @ Feb 15th 2007 9:19PM]

Well, at least they found a use for bricked 360s.

[nuguns101 @ Feb 15th 2007 9:19PM]

no.freakin.way

[curt_fehr @ Feb 15th 2007 9:29PM]

Actually I think they might have had game demos looping from it...I mean its all hooked up and nobody can honestly tell the difference in graphics unless they are put side by side. This is great it's like Sony admitting their system is really no better than the 360--just a bigger hole in your wallet (ok so it has blu-ray big deal. I don't give a crap and you shouldn't either).

[Brennan @ Feb 15th 2007 9:29PM]

dude that sucks..........anyone can notice that n swipe it without anyone noticing

[AndrewNeo @ Feb 15th 2007 10:43PM]

Yeah, it's not like there's a security sensor or a LOCK on it or something.

[godgivemestrength @ Feb 16th 2007 3:19AM]

its belled up knobrot

[Gforce @ Feb 15th 2007 9:35PM]

Look at the AMAZING GFXS OF THE.......360?! hahahahahaha this was just too funny, something tells me theres going to be another push back. Poor Australians

[Kichigai Mentat @ Feb 17th 2007 4:18AM]

The thing was probably playing demo DVDs.

[Brennan @ Feb 15th 2007 9:31PM]

*anyone else* is what i ment to say :-P

[jorge @ Feb 15th 2007 9:38PM]

Looks like sony is indeed having major shortages again.

[nicholas Cardaci @ Feb 18th 2007 7:55PM]

I think its becuase the Ps3 hasnt even shipped over in here Australia but the ads are tsking off. Also PS3 will die here becuase its 1000 freakkin bucks i could get a wii and a 360 for that!!!

[Chris @ Feb 15th 2007 9:45PM]

somehow I doubt sony had anything to do with that

[jan rosencrantz @ Feb 16th 2007 4:15AM]

Sony went *mental* when their Rep realized the GAME store on Edinburgh's Princes Street were covering promotional PS2 boxes with XBox posters. They actually threatened to withdraw all Sony stock from the store unless the store undid the deed immediately. Needless to say the store manager was apologetic.

[Robubie @ Feb 16th 2007 1:59AM]

Actually the water can go either way in australia!

[Mike @ Feb 15th 2007 10:04PM]

Why don't we just send the tons of extra PS3's we have here in the states down there?

[Shan @ Feb 15th 2007 10:50PM]

Because the B-Ray drive is probably regioned. Also, I think AU uses PAL, not NTSC.

[klew @ Feb 15th 2007 10:11PM]

http://www.smh.com.au/news/biztech/harvey-norman-removes-fake-playstation/2007/02/16/1171405415017.html

it's all over now

[Veritas II @ Feb 15th 2007 10:09PM]

I call fake.

[Veritas II @ Feb 15th 2007 10:26PM]

Alright, it wasn't a fake, but it also wasn't Sony that did it.

[RyogaHibiki @ Feb 15th 2007 10:10PM]

It looks like that xbox is plugged in. Does that imply that a tv is hooked up to it and not pictured? That would be some seriously false advertising.

[Doug @ Feb 17th 2007 11:52AM]

That would be so funny if it was hooked up to a TV!

[barnz2k @ Feb 15th 2007 10:24PM]

Theyve taken it down, and they were using the 360 to play adds for the shop, Harvey Norman.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/biztech/harvey-norman-removes-fake-playstation/2007/02/16/1171405415017.html

[Michael @ Feb 15th 2007 10:28PM]

If you read that link from klew, you'll notice it says they have pre-orders for the 'highly anticipated' console..

...

I just can't think of a snappy comeback to that...

[barrett @ Feb 15th 2007 10:42PM]

Toilets don't flush differently in Australia or anywhere else in the southern hemisphere

[Jon Graft @ Feb 15th 2007 10:51PM]

You do realize that Sony didn't do this, right? It was some stupid moron who worked for the store who did it...

[Paul @ Feb 15th 2007 11:10PM]

They should be thankful they cannot purchase a PS3 yet.
By the time they are available there hopefully the aussies will have heard all the horror stories about the ps3 and how bad of a console it is that they won't end up wasting their money blindly like the early adopters of the U.S.

[DAZA @ Feb 16th 2007 3:16AM]

As an Australian, I cannot honestly say I know anyone who is hanging out or waiting for a PS3. Most people have heard about the horror stories and are skeptical about forking out $1,000 AUD for the PS3. They are not even going to launch the 20GB version until a later date, "until there is enough demand", to quote Sony. This means whenever they want. Oh and for those wondering, $1,000 AUD is $785 USD (thanks to xe.com/ucc ).

Mind you, the Wii and Xbox 360 are doing very well around here.

[Castle @ Feb 15th 2007 11:22PM]

Probably done by some underpaid stock boy, who the bloody hell cares, this ain't news.

[E @ Feb 15th 2007 11:41PM]

"So, those poor Australians not only have to deal with their toilet water flushing counter-clockwise"

Yeah. That's not true. Also bumblebees are aerodynamically sound, and we don't just use 10% of our brains.

The more you know:

http://www.snopes.com/science/coriolis.asp

[Mangrel @ Feb 16th 2007 12:59AM]

E, you laid waste the rock of my psyche with a ten ton hammer. Say it ain't so. Next you'll tell me that Ethiopia is the bread basket of the world.

[mandrellian @ Feb 15th 2007 11:48PM]

Poor Down Underverse! We always cop everything f0cking six to nine months after everyone else in the world and I'm yet to hear a decent answer why.

BTW, we do use PAL and it's a superior system to NTSC and 90% of the rest of the world knows it ;)

[010111 @ Feb 16th 2007 3:14AM]

"BTW, we do use PAL and it's a superior system to NTSC and 90% of the rest of the world knows it ;)"


and that matters for an HD console how exactly? HD doesn't care about PAL or NTSC.

[jeff @ Feb 15th 2007 11:47PM]

Hilarious. Why is the 360 under there? Is there a hookup to play games or something? Would people not notice it's a 360 controller? Or did they put cardboard with holes for buttons on those too?

As someone who works in advertising...I love it.

http://averageidea.com

[LTM @ Feb 16th 2007 12:33AM]

................and then you break into the Xbox 360 covering the PS3 cardboard cutout to reveal, yes a Nintendo Wii. The plot thickens!

[khu @ Feb 16th 2007 12:50AM]

I'm glad I read thru to LTM's comment

[Charles @ Feb 16th 2007 1:15AM]

Paul, quit pulling shit out of your head. Where are these horror stories? The only horror stories have been about finding the console, not using it. It's a spectacular console. There were far more horror stories for the 360 on launch. Forums were crawling with people complaining of the red lights of death and subsequently sending their consoles in to microsoft.

[Blaine @ Feb 16th 2007 6:06AM]

it would be so easy to slip one of those spiders ( the security tags) over far enough to get that HDD off the top of that. but don't use wirecutters on them unless you feel like throwing them and running away in the opposite direction.

[tekdroid @ Feb 16th 2007 1:54AM]

All I can say is Harvey Norman know how to oil the PR machine. Well done. Well done...

[ph @ Feb 16th 2007 2:02AM]

"BTW, we do use PAL and it's a superior system to NTSC and 90% of the rest of the world knows it ;)"

Well, I prefer frame rate over resolution, but Ntsc is on its way out (as is pal) HDTV all the way!

Also, it is a myth that the toilets flush a different direction. It is NOT true.


And why all the negative comments on Sony? We all know that sony is crap. Why keep harping on it?

[2Perfect @ Feb 16th 2007 2:13AM]

you could probably sell that on eBay for 499 or something ^_^

"Selling PS3" (in fine print: picture)

[Richard @ Feb 17th 2007 11:53PM]

Yeah, pal and ntsc do matter for HD, since here in PAL land we get 50Hz 720p and 1080i modes, which caused huge problems when xbox360 came out, and loads of people that had bought 1080i compatible tvs in preperation found that they didn't work with the 360. So great, we get reduced frame rates and incompatibility with overseas sourced media, all for what? Oh yeah, compatibility with 25-30 year old TVs that cant handle the other refresh rate that probarbly about 5% of people still own and hardly any of those will even want to use with anything remotely modern.

[Karl Viklund @ Feb 16th 2007 8:11AM]

HAhahahahahaha man! :D
I don't believe it. I don't believe it! :D
This is like worse then the iPod stack on those poor Zunes :D

[Trowble @ Feb 16th 2007 9:38AM]

So that's what they really pack into a PS3. No wonder why its so big.

[Mike @ Feb 16th 2007 9:33AM]

This could have been TOTALY avoided, and even PS3 teaser content could have been played, by simply placing the 360 UNDER the advert, out of peoples vision. What the hell?! Some people are so stupid.

Also. I think, given that the 360 was being used for playback, that it would have been very noticeable if someone removed it from the store (the screen would go blank), not to mention that would need to be hunched over the ad for a bit, fiddling with the wires...

[Broo @ Feb 16th 2007 9:57AM]

They were just playing video loops on the xBox 360- like a DVD player (why they Hell didn't they just do that?). I have seen some shops where Nintendo (with a big 'property of' sticker on the side) uses a Neuros Recorder for it's GC/Wii videos- no biggie... Just using the technology that is available...

[ASTROBOT @ Feb 16th 2007 1:27PM]

Nice fake scoop. So who's the idiot who sent this in as a joke and who's the idiot from Engadget that felt for it?

[Adam K @ Feb 16th 2007 5:30PM]

OMG why do the australians get a slim version of PS3!! Americans should of gotten that first!

[Ben @ Feb 16th 2007 4:31PM]

Of course, whoever set this up *could* have done all sorts of things to cover it up. They probably thought this was funny. Australians quite like taking the piss.

[ace @ Feb 16th 2007 5:15PM]

Well that has to be the best thing i've seen all week. To sell a product, you dont use the competitors product to market your own!

[Gymj22 @ Mar 4th 2007 8:17PM]

I just saw this, but I can't stop laughing . . . that's just COLD!