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PlayStation (Games) Sony

PlayStation 3 Still Set For March in EU, Price Revealed 110

Posted by Zonk from the breath-easy-old-country dept.
Despite an accidental slip-up on the part of Sony CEO Howard Stringer, the PlayStation 3 is set for launch in the EU this March. When it does launch, folks in the UK and Ireland will be paying a pretty penny for Sony's new console. From the article: "Sony has confirmed ... that the 60GB PS3 will cost EUR 629.99 in Ireland, as suggested on the official website. 'Ireland is traditionally more expensive than other territories,' a spokesperson explained. 'The VAT rate there is 21 per cent, whereas it can be as low as 16 per cent in other EU countries.' However, the spokesperson continued, the PS3 will still cost EUR 599 if you're buying it elsewhere in Europe. Of course, here in Britain we're still using the funny old money with the picture of the rich lady on it, so we'll get a price point all of our own. And according to our old friend Senior Retail Sources, that price point will be set at GBP 425."
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PlayStation 3 Still Set For March in EU, Price Revealed More

PlayStation 3 Still Set For March in EU, Price Revealed

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  • March? (Score:5, Funny)

    by UbuntuDupe ( 970646 ) * on Wednesday January 17, 2007 @05:44PM (#17654698) Journal
    Heck, they could launch it in Europe this month -- just ship 'em all the unsold PS3's here.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by DownTownMT ( 649551 )
      Is this some kind of Slashdot joke like the "In Soviet Russia" or "Only old people use email"? Last time i checked (yesterday) there were NO PS3's avaliable at any Best Buy within a 100 mile radius of downstate NY.
      • I think that what you would find (if you could do the research) is that there are localized pockets where the PS3 is (absolutely) sold out, and localized pockets where the PS3 has a massive overstock, but in general the PS3 is available if you're ready to look for it. In fact you have been able to order a PS3 online [circuitcity.com] for a couple of weeks now (with free shipping) implies that the Quantity Supplied essentially matches the Quantity Demanded.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by djKing ( 1970 )
          in what zip codes? The page you linked only shows availability if you enter a zip code.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by KirkH ( 148427 )
            Choose 'Add to cart'. Choose 'Have it shipped'. They will ship to whatever zip code you desire. Their online store has them in stock, ready for shipping.

            But I also checked a few zip codes in my state out of curiosity (29466, 29302) and 5 out of 6 'brick and mortar' stores had them in stock.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by desenz ( 687520 )
        There are some at the levittown Bestbuy on long Island. Look harder! :P

      • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

        by Bremen24601 ( 235943 )
        I live within in Eastern PA (I'm pretty sure NYC is less than 100 miles) and the local Best Buy had 18 units sitting in a pile by the checkouts as of 2 hours ago.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by LWATCDR ( 28044 )
        PS3s are at my local Walmart and Target. Maybe you guys have a bad supplier
      • Around Washington DC they're stacked up. I was in Target in Columbia MD and they had a few in the case with a decided disinterest by consumers.

        The local Malls all have a few as well. A PS3 is not a big deal. At this point, I'm waiting for the inevitable price cuts that will have to come before the summer. The PS3 is getting hammered by XBox360 on the high end and the Wii on the low end. Wii's are tight, but if you keep a careful eye out, you can find them if you know when stores get their shipments.

        I e

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by chrish ( 4714 )
        The Future Shops around here (Toronto, Ontario) seem to be bare of PS3s (and Wiis), but I've already seen the PS3 in Costco [costco.ca]. Costco only buys things it can get in large batches at a good price... the Wii isn't there, and it took nearly six months for the DS Lite to show up there; XBox 360 took a while, too. Note that Costco's website (http://www.costco.ca/en-CA/Common/Category.aspx?c at=20561&eCat=BCCA|20428|20561&whse=BCCA&topnav=) lists Wii and PS3, but both are "sold out"... I should've che

        • Costco only buys things it can get in large batches at a good price... the Wii isn't there, and it took nearly six months for the DS Lite to show up there; XBox 360 took a while, too. Note that Costco's website (http://www.costco.ca/en-CA/Common/Category.aspx?c at=20561&eCat=BCCA|20428|20561&whse=BCCA&topnav=) lists Wii and PS3, but both are "sold out"... I should've checked the local one to see how many they had in stock.

          So, in Canada at least, Sony is already dumping PS3s onto wholesaler warehouse stores.

          It's usual to find overstocked or end-of-line stuff there.

          Costco's not driven by low-end stuff - it's not playing in the Walmart marketplace. It's demographics are weighted to the middle-earning-bracket. I'd say that Sony is delighted that Costco is stocking the PS3 - the people shopping in there are more likely to purchase something in this price bracket. Costco's marketplace is driven by cheap storage costs and bulk purchases of mid-range items. It does not deal in end-of-line stuff unless it getting a major price cut on it and I don't see the Costco price for

          • "Once the sales start to slow, look to Sony for price cuts to continue the selling. "

            Oh, I think the price cuts are inevitable (and soon), but the timing is tricky.

            If they cut the price within the next 90 days, it will possibly do a couple bad things:
            1) Punish the early adopters, the fanatics
            2) Give rise to the idea that the PS3 isn't selling all that well
            3) Convince the average consumer that more price cuts will be coming.

            Incidentally, all these reports that son
          • Actually Sony has to cut the prise as soon as possible... Otherwise this thing is dead! The PS3 can and will sale, but it has to be lower than 400!
      • Best Buy in Fairless Hills, PA. 19030 Near the Oxford Valley Mall

        Last I checked (Thursday) we had 42 in stock. Most if not all 60GB. We hadn't recieved a shippment since Monday.

        They are not selling.

        If you'd like, I can check for stock of nearby stores to you when I go in tomorrow. Just give me a zip. Or a store #.

        We are not alone in this.
        • Hey i would apreciate that! Zip: 14607 (Rochester) or 12222 (Albany) The online store says they are sold out so i cannot add to the cart. Thanks!
          • This is as of yesterday, so it may be a bit outdated.

            LOC# Location 60GB 20GB
            1400 GREECE NY 65 0
            384 ITHACA NY 27 1
            428 ALBANY NY 16 0
            433 HENRIETTA NY 63 0
            459 AMHERST NY 39 1
            538 SYRACU

  • Will not lose as much per console at least (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Sciros ( 986030 ) on Wednesday January 17, 2007 @05:45PM (#17654718) Journal
    Well, with the price point set so high in Europe, I know that the exchange rate will help Sony and keep it from losing quite so much money per PS3. However, it may be way too high in general from a consumer's perspective (after all, average spending power in the EU is altogether lower than in the US due to salaries being lower). So I'm not too optimistic about the number of units they'll actually be able to *sell* at that price. Far fewer than Wii's, that much I'm certain about.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by lanceleader ( 1050398 )
      The PS3 60 GB costs EUR 629.99 which is about $815 USD and the 20GB is EUR 599.99 which is about $776 USD.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by DrXym ( 126579 )
      The Wii wasn't exactly cheap in Europe either. They sell for approx 250-270. And the XBox 360 sells for 299 or 399.

      Even if you consider that Europe includes tax in its prices and consider the ex VAT price, the cost of goods in Europe is far, far higher than the equivalent than in the US.

      • Re:Will not lose as much per console at least (Score:5, Insightful)

        by mollymoo ( 202721 ) on Wednesday January 17, 2007 @09:52PM (#17657990) Journal
        PS3s are expensive, heart surgery and higher education are cheap. What a fucked up place, eh?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by animaal ( 183055 )

          PS3s are expensive, heart surgery and higher education are cheap. What a fucked up place, eh?
          Which do you think is more fucked up?

          1. Being well educated and having your health cared for, but having to think hard about whether or not to buy an expensive games console.

          2. Stores having games consoles at cheaper prices, but many citizens being unable to afford either good education or health care

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by beady ( 710116 )
          Well, I got it. Apparently your humour is too subtle for some.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by elrous0 ( 869638 ) *
          What the Hell is wrong with your priorities?!?! How are you ever going to become 133t at videogames if you walk around all day being educated and healthy?!?!

          -Eric

  • 425 GBP is about $835 (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Holy crap... That better be one awesome game machine.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by yobjob ( 942868 )
      It clears the 1,000 mark in Australian dollars. In Australia we have a saying for things like this: 'Tell 'em they're dreaming'

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Gleng ( 537516 )
      Seriously. The Wii is less than half the price!

      At that price, you'll get a better Fun per £ ratio by buying a PS2 and the entire Platinum range.

      £425 for a games console? I believe we have a saying for this in the UK: "Fuck that!"

    • You think that is expensive? Here in Brazil, the XBox 360 is the only one that has been officialy released, and it costs R$3000, that's 1400 dollars. The PS3 price is almost hilarious, from R$4000(US$1869) to R$7000(US$3272).
    • Holy crap... That better be one awesome game machine.

      Sorry to disappoint you... but it's a PS3.

  • Eheh... (Score:5, Informative)

    by Odin_Tiger ( 585113 ) on Wednesday January 17, 2007 @05:51PM (#17654812) Journal
    Google marks the EU (not counting Ireland) price as about $770 and the UK price as $834. Like, damn. Am I the only one who thinks you'd have to be insane to spend that on a console? And I thought it was bad back when they announced the U.S. prices...

    • Re:Eheh... (Score:5, Funny)

      by WarwickRyan ( 780794 ) on Wednesday January 17, 2007 @05:56PM (#17654956)
      We've got to pay extra because we get a superiour product. The hardware and all major games go through a vigorous testing process in the US before they're optimised with the addition of big black borders and released in Europe.
    • Using a combination of a calculator and the current exchange rate [yahoo.com] (as well as some very poor knowledge of VAT in other EU countries), the UK PS3 will come out at £402 using Irish prices and £399 using EU prices. So its about £25 ($49) overpriced in the UK either way. The VAT rate in the UK is 17.5%, so something approaching the £399 mark would have been nice, but hey, this is Britain...

    • My sister wanted to... She wants to move and go live alone and one of the first thing she wants to buy is the PS3. A bit like I did when I moved out: the first thing I bought was a PS2, but it was already a few years after release and about 200€ or so. (Don't remember exactly)

      I've talked it out of her head.... That kind of money she can spend on her music! Way better investment. I think I'm either going to give her my PS2 with all games (I'm married, I don't game much anymore) or buy her a spa

  • £425 in $ ....
    UK£ 425 = 834.19 US$ ..but will it at least make breakfast for you in the morning?

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by hattig ( 47930 )
      It's a massive markup over the US price even when you take VAT into account:

      425 / 1.175 = 361.70
      361.70 GBP = 712.444 USD

      Now some of that might be because the laws in the UK (and Europe as a whole) are more consumer friendly, so they have to tack on a bit more money to cover that. However most of that is simply yet again Rip Off Britain. Considering the amount of tax the government is extracting from us, and the stupid rises in the cost of living, I doubt that many people will have the money to spent £
    • ..but will it at least make breakfast for you in the morning?
      Sony being what it is, you are more likely to wake up sticky, broke and confused, than to the delightful smell of cooking. And you'll probably be shitting crooked for a month afterwards, too.
    • The UK is getting boned on this one, Google says:
      http://www.google.com/search?num=20&hl=en&lr=&safe =off&q=599+EUR+IN+GBP&btnG=Search [google.com]

      599 Euros (Mainland Europe price) = £394.77. They're adding another £30 because the UK is known for swallowing higher prices than everywhere else.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by nissu ( 823183 )

        599 Euros (Mainland Europe price) = £394.77. They're adding another £30 because the UK is known for swallowing higher prices than everywhere else.

        The current information is that PS3 will be 649 EUR in Finland - but I wouldn't be too surprised if they pumped it up to 699 EUR ($900!) before launch. The price includes 22% VAT. The difference in VAT doesn't explain the 50 EUR difference to the price in most other EU countries. It's just a blatant rip off attempt by the Finnish distributor.

        Microso

  • Does the US price include tax? I had the impression that US prices are usually quoted without VAT.

    Even if that's the case, then $600 + 22% VAT (in Finland) comes down to about 570 EUR. I wonder if shipping etc. could be a significant factor, given that the US also has to import their machines from overseas.

    • Re:Effect of taxes? (Score:4, Informative)

      by SoCalChris ( 573049 ) on Wednesday January 17, 2007 @06:08PM (#17655176) Journal
      The US prices are generally listed without tax. However, our sales tax rates are generally far less than 22%. I think the highest sales tax rates are usually 8-9%, and there are still several states that have no sales tax at all.
      • Yeah but his point was that comparing prices between the USA and Europe you had to remove the VAT, because VAT is much higher in european countries than in the USA indeed (16 to almost more than 20%)
    • In addition to what the first reply to your post said, even if a person lives in a high sales tax state, they can order the item over the internet and not pay any tax, just shipping.

      Of course, this all can change in the future (but I hope not).
      • Unless that distributor has an office or store in the state you're in.

        Which pretty much lets out all the big chain stores.

        Oh, and Amazon [amazon.com] for California residents, iirc.
      • In addition to what the first reply to your post said, even if a person lives in a high sales tax state, they can order the item over the internet and not pay any tax, just shipping.

        Unless the shipper has sales locations in the state the purchase is being made in. Like Dell has to charge sales tax cause of those mall kiosks.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Jthon ( 595383 )
        Actually with most states you're technically required by law to report such purchases on your income tax forms and pay a use tax, usually equal to the sales tax, for such items. Realistically most states don't bother trying to monitor this except for large business purchases.
  • So for the 80gig model: 425.00 GBP = 837.355 USD RRP in the US 499 USD That is: 338.355 USD more expensive in the UK. 171.768 GBP more expensive in the UK. So I can buy a Wii + game or an Xbox 360 with the price difference alone. So why buy a PS3 again?
    • With a peak power consumption of 380 watts as opposed to 19 watts for the Wii, its obviously so we can pay higher electricity bills as well!
    • You got the US price wrong, the 60 gig model is $600. Also, if the UK price includes tax, the equivalent US price is about $636 (given 6% sales tax). This would make the difference $200, not $338.

  • Prices higher than they appear (Score:5, Informative)

    by jandrese ( 485 ) <kensama@vt.edu> on Wednesday January 17, 2007 @06:04PM (#17655092) Homepage Journal
    The thing about the European prices compared to the US prices is that in the US we don't include tax in the stated price, in Europe the opposite is true. The price listed is what you actually pay at the register, as opposed to the US where you have to add on state tax (unless you're buying online, and even then you're supposed to pay your state for the purchase later (although nobody does this)).

    Factoring out the tax we see that the PS3 is right around 500 to 520 euros or so, which puts it around US$650, which is a fairly modest markup of about US$50 or about 8% or so.
    • I was actually aware that sales tax was included in the product price in Europe, but I was still surprised at the prices. What I did not realize was that sales tax (or VAT, as it is called) is so outrageously high. $600 + 7% sales tax for my state = $642, cheaper than the PS3 in Europe even without tax. $770 - $650 = $120: 18% sales tax!

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Shados ( 741919 )
        Its not so much that taxes are high in europe (though they are a bit), its that they're semi-proportional to the government's involvement, etc. In the US, the government (even state) doesn't get involved -too- much (as in social programs, etc are kept to a minimum, relatively speaking), so taxes are low. In, let say, Canada, they're much, much higher in many (most?) provinces, but Canadians get a lot more in return. Same with European countries.

        Now if thats a good thing or not is up to debate. But it mak
        • Actually the funny thing is, that many western european countries have a lots of debts out of various reasons so that most government taxed money currently goes to the bank. Without the debts many western european countries would make huge tax surpluses and probably could even lower the taxes significantly without sacrificing the social system. Also a funny thing is that many eastern european countries do not have this tax/debt burden and now suck away lower income jobs due to less taxation.

      • VAT rates are indeed high in europe (15% to more than 20%, varies with the country), but -- usually in europe -- the higher the taxes the higher the welfare and aid systems.

        Paying high VAT rates sucks, but being able not to go bankrupt and take on 50 years of loans to heal your cancer rocks.

    • In Switzerland the "rumored" (like in pre-order from someobscurereseller.com) price is 899 Swiss Francs:

      899 CHF = 899 * 0,8001 USD = 720 USD
      899 CHF = 899 * 0,6188 Euro = 556 Euro

      Swiss VAT is 7.6%, stripping that down we have a price of 665$ (720 * .924) or 514 Euro (556 * 924). That is the markup is more than 11%. Even more is the price difference for the Wii: 399 CHF = 320 USD without VAT: 369 CHF = 297 USD, that is a markup of 47 USD or almost 20%.

      I think that shipping and logistics don't reall
  • Nice price points... According to exchange rates of my Central Bank it is roughly $816 in Ireland, $837 in UK and $776 in the rest of Eurozone. Just watch for those lines in front of the stores gathering any minute now.

    For those that don't know, average European, from UK, IE or the rest of Europe still earns less than Americans.

    Robert
    • Average wages in Norway and the US are about the same, and here the locals will pay
      around $854 for the low-end model. But Norwegians are taxed halfway to death.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by ClamIAm ( 926466 )
      [Europeans] still earn less than Americans

      I assume you're talking about western/northern Europe. And you're right, but Americans don't have socialized healthcare, have less-funded schools, work more hours, get less vacation time, etc. I'd say the trade-offs are roughly even.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by elrous0 ( 869638 ) *
        Even so, $800 is a LOT to spend on a console. Hell, I didn't pay much more than that for my plasma TV.

        -Eric

  • Price Point (Score:5, Interesting)

    by alexgieg ( 948359 ) <alexgieg@gmail.com> on Wednesday January 17, 2007 @06:42PM (#17655712) Homepage

    You guys are complaining about nothing. Here're the official Brazilian price points for current generation consoles, in US dollars, if you want to avoid smugglers and prefer sticking to the letter of the law:

    • PS3 60GB: $2,300.00
    • PS3 20GB: $2,050.00
    • XBox360: $1,250.00
    • XBox360 Core: $700.00
    • Wii: $1,000.00
    • PSP: $400.00
    • DS: $300.00

    Sadly, none of the above are typos. And it's even more maddening when you consider most Brazilians earn half USA's minimum wage... :(

    • Excuse me for asking, but how the fuck does it get that fucked up? I mean seriously, how? Four times the price is ridiculous, what happens? How's it like with other computer systems?

      • Re:Price Point (Score:5, Interesting)

        by alexgieg ( 948359 ) <alexgieg@gmail.com> on Wednesday January 17, 2007 @08:49PM (#17657310) Homepage

        Well, many factors cause this. The main reason are Brazilian taxes themselves. We have taxes almost as high as Sweden, but 10% of the public services Swedes enjoy. Most of this money is lost somewhere in the corruption machine and no one manages to solve the problem, no matter how much they attempt.

        The 2nd reason, I guess, is that since there's a lot of game piracy here, console manufactures who do sell here want to get, with the hardware, at least part of the profit they would get in the games themselves if people actually purchased those.

        And the 3rd reason, also a guess of mine, is that manufactures and sellers, knowing that most people who actually buy official hardware is rich (the poor can't afford the taxes and go with smugglers anyway), don't mind asking outrageously high prices on them, for the rich guys will pay it anyway.

        Computers are a relatively different matter because they're far more necessary than game consoles, thus the competition becomes very big and the prices competitive. In any case however, a "good" computer by Brazilian standards is what Americans and Europeans would see as the lowest end of the "budget" category. Our "budget" category comprises computers that are so low end that you in the 1st world wouldn't probably be able to purchase them locally even if you wanted to. No American computer shop would sells such parts. :)

        Anyway, a good price comparison can be made with Apple computers, who also sell here (way lower market share than USA though). Here're current model prices available in an online shop I just checked. Compare them to the same models available at Amazon:

        • Mac Pro MA356LL/A: $4,800.00 (Amazon: $2,500.00)
        • Mac Mini MA607LL/A: $1,080.00 (Amazon: $600.00)
        • MacBook Pro MA092LL/A: $4,900.00 (Amazon: $2,500.00)
        • MacBook MA254LL/A: $2,000.00 (Amazon: $970.00)

        I've heard that once Steve Jobs found these prices outrageous, and asked Apple Brazil to explain what was going on. Apple Brazil answered by sending him a groups of Brazilian accountants to explain him how messed the Brazilian tax system was. I don't know if he understood the explanation, but I guess not. So, don't even try. It's not worth the effort. Just know it sucks big time. :(

        • This guy is suggesting that piracy actually hurts content producers and copyright owners. Hey, mods! Why aren't you modding him troll?

          • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

            by alexgieg ( 948359 )

            This guy is suggesting that piracy actually hurts content producers and copyright owners.

            No, actually I am not. What I'm saying is that content producers and copyright owners, at least in the console gaming industry (the PC games one is way more rational, although not much more) work in a very wrong way in Brazil, and the incredible high level of piracy we end up having here comes as a result of this mismanagement.

            For example, if content producers sold the top and newest games for $20 here, not the $100 the

        • Dude, your map needs an update. Sweden hasn't had those services you mention for about 10 years now. There are some private company shells acting as place holders, but those will be sold off soon, too. It's not the sociological, economic, or technological powerhouse it was in the 70's. All that stopped when they stumbled (or hopped) from the "middle path": somethings work best private, others public. That's how it is and trying to shoehorn everything into one extreme ideology or another doesn't work an

          • Dude, your map needs an update. Sweden hasn't had those services you mention for about 10 years now. There are some private company shells acting as place holders, but those will be sold off soon, too. It's not the sociological, economic, or technological powerhouse it was in the 70's. All that stopped when they stumbled (or hopped) from the "middle path": somethings work best private, others public. That's how it is and trying to shoehorn everything into one extreme ideology or another doesn't work and dri

            • Not that I'm for public services. I think private ones are better.

              Like I said, some things work better public. Some things work better private. IF you try to shoehorn everything into one model or the other you end up with a fucked up situation like you have had in the USSR, or nowadays the USSA or Sweden.

              Private services can work when you're building up from nothing, but with many things you reach a point where it becomes more efficient to nationalize in someway. The service becomes like a utility of sorts. However, taking a well-running service, whether public

      • How's it like with other computer systems?
        The iMac that I want costs U$ 1199 in the USA... and U$ 2725 down here. -_-'
    • Same deal here in Argentina. The import tax system is severly fucked up, IMHO.

  • Finally Europe catches up with us (Score:5, Funny)

    by freeweed ( 309734 ) on Wednesday January 17, 2007 @07:57PM (#17656742)
    Now the Europeans can watch the console sit unsold on store shelves too!
  • Here in the UK, we often get screwed, as much as i adore my Wii, it costs $80 a Pop for games here

    £425 for a console is obscene, people here just wont buy it (the average household income is 18K here- before Tax)

    many people refuse to buy the X360 here because of the price (300 for the decent package)

    while we can get gamecubes, PS2's, Xboxs and Wii's for 100200 here, the 360 and PS3 dont have a chance

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Xest ( 935314 ) *
      Not sure where you're buying Wii games from for the equivalent of $80, most shops don't charge more than around (£29.99) $59 and I picked up Super Monkey Ball at shopto.net the other week for £26.99 ($53). We do get ripped off, but it's not _quite_ that bad ;) $80 US is just a little over £40, the RRP of Wii games is no higher than £39.99 and it's a bit daft to buy at RRP when there's so many places willing to sell for £5 - £15 less!
      • Most places I've seen are £40, with maybe the odd game at £35 (and that was possibly just Amazon..). I read on /. that SMB sucks compared to Rayman, and Rayman isn't that special, so.. no wonder it's so cheap! I've not actually bought any games yet, I got Rayman (completed), Red Steel (not great) and Zelda (better than I expected, this is my first 'full' Nintendo console, I'm used to Nintendo games being very short and having no depth, but Zelda has been nice so far, maybe I should try the Metro
  • Troll. Mod me as troll please.
      End of conversation.
  • What could be still an issue for Europe is the problems with graphics of some PS2 games (see http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board / message?board.id=ps3&thread.id=808212 [playstation.com] for instance).

    This could be more of a problem in the EU, as PAL versions of games generally don't have progressive scan support (which is a work-around).

    I called Playstation support in the UK yesterday about this, and they claimed that this would be fixed in a firmware update before the EU launch. I'm not sue I believe them
  • £425 is $830.

    Fortunately, many people who have that kind of cash to throw at a game console either know people in the US, or might be going over there some time soon, whether through business or holidays.

    $830 will get you a 20Gb PS3 (the extras in the 60Gb we're forced to get in the US don't terribly interest most people), and leave you enough cash left over to buy a Wii and still have $80 left over to cover sales taxes. Or, if you don't want a Wii, put the money toward your airfare...

    Wow, that's a ma
  • I came back from Japan recently. The 20Gb model is about £220 and the 60Gb model under £300 at current exchange rates.
  • The VAT rate there is 21 per cent, whereas it can be as low as 16 per cent in other EU countries.

    It's 21% in Belgium as well, but we could just hop across the border if they charged more here. So that extra 30 euro is just an island tax.
  • Despite being a long-time PC gamer (with no plans to change that), I am considering finally getting a console.

    I appreciate that I'm a lone person and so largely irrelevant, but Sony can forget about getting my money. Even if I had forgotten about the rootkit fiasco (and I haven't), that's out of my price range given there are cheaper alternatives.

    Just my two penn'orth.

  • Whatever... (Score:1, Offtopic)

    by AceJohnny ( 253840 )
    I think it's not entirely offtopic to state:

    I want a Wii.

    Here in France, the Wii was released on the 8th of December. I resisted the temptation to preorder, naively confident that Nintendo's production would quickly catch up to demand.
    Today still (Jan 18th), stocks are empty everywhere I search, with shops depending on Nintendo's trickling supplies to honor preorders.
    In a prominent consumer electronics shop (FNAC), I was tersely answered "No dates" when I asked for an ETA. Another chain tells me "End of Feb
  • Watch a line of three people gathering in front of the stores the day before selling it. Message to sony, people do not have money to spend on junk, it is neither close to the summer vacation nor close to christmas! Btw. we also earn less than the average US or japanese household!

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