A free 46inch Sony Bravia LCD telly! We kid you not!!!

Sony’s Ray Maguire took the stage slightly ahead of the midnight deadline, acknowledged that his company would be nothing without the help of those present (we’re paraphrasing here) and then went on to say that he knew we were all here to buy the PS3 but what we really should be playing it on is one of these, and pointed to an enormous Bravia telly, which he explained he’d be giving free to each and every one of the first 100 gobsmacked punters in the queue. Needless to say the place went nuts!

So we guess that, coupled with the huge expense of providing free cab transport back home for (we think) everybody at the event, explains the absence of expensive celebrities and glitzy entertainment – Ray Maguire, a glamorous assistant, assorted Sony personnel, a dance troupe called Freestylers and some ‘light graffiti’ artistes (don’t ask) known as Random International was pretty much it on the night. But in view of the big payoff this now seems more than generous. Well, as far as the lucky first 100 are concerned it does. The rest of the country, including the true hardcore who pre-ordered their consoles months ago get nought but what they paid for. Hmmm...

So that’s it for now. Tomorrow morning we’ll cast our eyes over the best of Sony’s launch line-up, maybe reflect a bit on the night's events, oh, and we have some cool news about the Playstation Network too. But for now, cab home and beddy-byes.