PS4 Launch Date: November 15th 151
Today Sony announced the official release dates of the PlayStation 4 console: November 15 in North America and November 29 in Europe. From the article:
"The system will be available for $399/€399/£349 in 32 countries by the end of the year, the company said. The date comes just days before the Black Friday post-Thanksgiving sales, but given the strong pre-order interest for the system already, the PS4 might be hard to find on store shelves in the days after it drops. Sony revealed that one million PS4 systems have already been pre-ordered worldwide. The company notably did not mention a release date or price point for the system's launch in its native Japan."
Re:1 EUR == 1 USD?!?! (Score:3, Interesting)
People always complain about stuff being more expensive in Europe and totally overlook import tariffs, VAT, sales taxes and whatever other taxes the various nations of Europe like to assess. The United States demands virtually nothing to import products, which is why a Playstation 4 in the US will cost roughly what it costs in Japan. Sure, we do have sales tax in most States but that, even at it's worst barely exceeds 12%. There's a reason why the United States is a far bigger gaming market than the EU despite similar populations.
For all the taxation and expensive goods Europeans manage to save more than Americans. They're incredibly frugal. They're not embracing a subscription services with restrictive contracts like idiots,they're not obsessed with huge houses or bloated SUVs, they don't incur massive debt to make up for an income they think they deserve.
Socialized healthcare, well-maintained roads and extensive public transit all cost money. I used to think the American way was better. Americans generally have a lot more disposable income but also more personal financial responsibility. Not that I have any delusions that the American government is capable of building social programs. Europe isn't perfect, but they're a hell of a lot better at it than Americans. Unfortunately, consider how wasteful Americans have become.
So yeah, a $550 Playstation 4 would probably be a good thing for many Americans.
Given Sony's Track Record (Score:1, Interesting)
No thanks (Score:5, Interesting)
Even forgiving all of the dumb-ass scams Sony has pulled over the years that have alienated me as a customer, the one thing that keeps reminding me why I hate them so much is the forced updates that I have to endure almost every single time I turn on my PS3. I only use the thing a couple of times a month (for movies, usually), and it seems like almost every time I turn it on I need to apply some update, and if I refuse the machine refuses to let me do whatever it is I wanted to do. Why??? Because of this, almost every movie I want to watch on the thing becomes 15-30 minutes of dicking around with updates, rebooting, etc, followed by 90 or 120 minutes of movie. WTF. I've never seen any other product that was so antagonistic towards its user. It's a constant reminder that Sony doesn't give a shit about me and would gladly throw me under a bus if it meant they could make another dollar off me. I'm sure other companies think the same way, but at least most of them have the decency of not being so blindingly obvious about it. Up yours Sony, you can keep your PS4.
Re:Hmmmm ... (Score:4, Interesting)
Well, the EU prices include tax(es) (don't forget VAT is 20+% in EU, plus import duties of 20+% as well). Then add in the cost of an extended warranty (because all durable goods have 2 years return-to-store mandatory warranty, sometimes 3 years) and it really comes out even in the end. I think Sony charges $50 for a 2 year extended warranty, too. Other places like Best Buy probably charge more.
So it's $399 US + 20% tax = $480 US + $50 extended warranty = $530 US is what the EU pays, or €395. Not bad. £338, which is close enough at today's rate.
And FYI - € is €, £ is £
Re:No thanks (Score:5, Interesting)
Sorry dude, blame the studios for that.
They setup DRM type checks on BD movies, which requires updates to be able to play. It's why if you take a 4 year old BD player it wont play a recently released BD movie most likely.
Re:No thanks (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:plus warranty costs (Score:5, Interesting)
Actually 2 years is the EU minimum, but individual states may grant you more.
For example in the UK the Sale of Goods Act states that products must last a "reasonable length of time". For a laptop computer that is generally five or six years, for a TV say ten years, a car maybe 20 years or at least 200k miles. If it fails before then the vendor (not the manufacturer, the place you bought it from) has to either replace it, fix it or give you a refund. If the product is beyond the two year minimum period the vendor can offer a partial refund based on the amount of use you have had out of it, so a laptop that dies after three years might be due a 60% refund (50% expected lifespan, plus costs the buyer incurred like having to recover data and get it transferred to a new machine).
The key thing to remember is that the law states that the vendor must do all this in a reasonable amount of time. Often they will fob you off by saying that you should contact the manufacturer, but that is their responsibility. Sometimes they will say things like "it was a cheap laptop, you can't expect it to last that long", but you most certainly can. Sometimes they will take a very long time to resolve the issue, but in most cases anything over 28 days will be considered too long by a court and they should refund/replace immediately.
When you adjust for tax products are not significantly more expensive in Europe. Don't believe the hype.