SCEE’s bossman, Ray Maguire, confirmed that the price of a 60GB PS3 is planned to be £425, speaking to trade mag MCV earlier this week. There is still no mention of the cheaper 20GB ‘tard’ pack hitting UK shores though, not that anyone wants one anyway.
Maguire told MCV: "The lower-end 20GB version of PlayStation 3 has no wi-fi, no HDMI and none of the other slots in it, so it's really a question of where we would position it. It's more likely that we will only launch the 60GB version."
SPOnG suggests that they might position it in major Wal-Mart outlets across the southern bible belt. We hear there is a high concentration of retards in this area, willing to part money for hugely overvalued sub-standard consumer electronic equipment. Perhaps offer free bibles with it or something.
SPOnG also smells a rat in this pricing policy. At current exchange rates, $599 is worth just under £320. So that’s over £100 more than what our yankie brethren are going to be paying for the PS3. This discrepancy is usually explained away by manufacturers due to the fact that US prices typically don't include sales tax whereas UK prices include VAT. However even the Euro conversion (599 Euros) comes to under £410 at the moment and the difference in VAT between most of Europe (typically 16-20%) and the UK (17.5%) doesn't make up the full difference there either.
SPOnG will be speaking to publishers and retailers over the coming weeks to guage reactions to this rather controversial pricing policy.
Maguire told MCV: "The lower-end 20GB version of PlayStation 3 has no wi-fi, no HDMI and none of the other slots in it, so it's really a question of where we would position it. It's more likely that we will only launch the 60GB version."
SPOnG suggests that they might position it in major Wal-Mart outlets across the southern bible belt. We hear there is a high concentration of retards in this area, willing to part money for hugely overvalued sub-standard consumer electronic equipment. Perhaps offer free bibles with it or something.
SPOnG also smells a rat in this pricing policy. At current exchange rates, $599 is worth just under £320. So that’s over £100 more than what our yankie brethren are going to be paying for the PS3. This discrepancy is usually explained away by manufacturers due to the fact that US prices typically don't include sales tax whereas UK prices include VAT. However even the Euro conversion (599 Euros) comes to under £410 at the moment and the difference in VAT between most of Europe (typically 16-20%) and the UK (17.5%) doesn't make up the full difference there either.
SPOnG will be speaking to publishers and retailers over the coming weeks to guage reactions to this rather controversial pricing policy.
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Comments
charming_fox 19 May 2006 17:29
1/10
£425! F*ckin' 'ell fire!
I'll Eat Your Soul 19 May 2006 17:56
2/10
That's a Wii with at least four games.
I know which I'd prefer.
I know which I'd prefer.
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Ditto 19 May 2006 18:50
3/10
(SPOnG's maths is wrong again.)
But anyway, £425 is absurd. And the fact they're not going to launch the cut-down version is absurd.
What is even more annyoing, and will loose Sony sales, is that we're being ripped off compared to the yanks and the Europeans. Nintendo lost a lot of sales because gamers felt the game delays were unacceptable - I'm sure people in the UK will give Sony the same treatment.
F**k it, Sony, there's no way you'll be leader this generation now.
But anyway, £425 is absurd. And the fact they're not going to launch the cut-down version is absurd.
What is even more annyoing, and will loose Sony sales, is that we're being ripped off compared to the yanks and the Europeans. Nintendo lost a lot of sales because gamers felt the game delays were unacceptable - I'm sure people in the UK will give Sony the same treatment.
F**k it, Sony, there's no way you'll be leader this generation now.
swampdog28 19 May 2006 21:27
4/10
LOL the PS3's price is hated worldwide. You guys think we (North America) are getting a deal? I think you ae just gettin screwed, but no big deal. The Wii will pwn, and 360 sales will prolly increase because everyone i know has decieded to stop waiting for the PS3
ohms 20 May 2006 00:12
5/10
Really, for PS3 launch, the price doesnt really matter, it will still sell out, and people will likely pay more than that for getting one from eBay (just look at the 360 launch), but unless there's a serious price drop by the end of 2007, Sony are gonna feel the pain.
soanso 20 May 2006 01:08
6/10
Four Hundred Quid is just STUPID.
That is anything but a mass market price. The PS2 was expensive when it came out and people did pay stupid prices for import models but ordinary middle of the road gamers won't. That is Sony's core audience. Those were the people who made the PS2 successful, not the hardcore ones who bought it on day one.
The PSP has a mass market price. It's a bit on the high side and having the cost of extras for it like memory cards pushes it up too high for me but it's not too overpriced.
PS3 @ £400. You're having a laugh!!
So imagine now what would happen if Nintendo released Wii at the same price as they launched Gamecube.
That is anything but a mass market price. The PS2 was expensive when it came out and people did pay stupid prices for import models but ordinary middle of the road gamers won't. That is Sony's core audience. Those were the people who made the PS2 successful, not the hardcore ones who bought it on day one.
The PSP has a mass market price. It's a bit on the high side and having the cost of extras for it like memory cards pushes it up too high for me but it's not too overpriced.
PS3 @ £400. You're having a laugh!!
So imagine now what would happen if Nintendo released Wii at the same price as they launched Gamecube.
tyrion 20 May 2006 10:18
7/10
Adam M wrote:
(SPOnG's maths is wrong again.)
I don't see where. All currency calculations in this piece were checked against XE.com - "the world's most popular currency and foreign exchange (fx, or forex) site" - and I've just re-checked them.
599 USD = 319.312 GBP or "just under £320"
599 EUR = 407.221 GBP or "under £410"
In addition, the only other bit of maths involves subtracting £320 from £425.
£425 - £320 = £105 or "over £100"
Where do you see the issue with the calculations?
DoctorDee 20 May 2006 12:57
8/10
Adam M wrote:
(SPOnG's maths is wrong again.)
That's a bold assertion. Do you care to explain, or to back it up with "correct" maths?
warbaby 20 May 2006 15:01
9/10
Just when I was thinking that I would get a Wii and a PS3...
Sony better hope they have some pretty devout fanboys... like a few million of them...
Sony better hope they have some pretty devout fanboys... like a few million of them...
The Hero of Time 22 May 2006 13:13
10/10
PS3 is region free so I'll just import the US one and save myself a bundle! Hurrah.
£425 is a good price for a Blu Ray player, but an absurd price for a games console.
I dont give a crap if my games console can surf the internet, connect to my ipod or wash my dishes, I just want to play games.
£425 is a good price for a Blu Ray player, but an absurd price for a games console.
I dont give a crap if my games console can surf the internet, connect to my ipod or wash my dishes, I just want to play games.