RSSNo Low-End PS3 for European Launch
By Ed Oswald | Published January 25, 2007, 12:38 PM
Sony solidified March 23 for the launch of its PlayStation 3 console in Europe and Australia/New Zealand, but will only sell the high-end model and at a price that puts it at a significant premium to its competitors.
The console would simultaneously launch in both regions. Approximately one million units of the 60GB version would be made available for the launch, which could alleviate some of the supply concerns that plagued the PS3's North American launch.
Sony said the 20GB model would be made available later in the year, dependent on demand.
However, those wanting to get their hands on the PS3 should be prepared to pay a hefty price. In European countries, the console will retail for 599 euros ($776 USD), and in Britain, 425 pounds ($836 USD). The console would be equally pricey in Australia and New Zealand, retailing for $999.95 ($781 USD) and $1,199.95 ($834 USD) respectively.
Compare this with the premium Xbox 360, which retails for the equivalent of $500 to $550 USD across those same territories.
Launch titles for the console would include Sony-produced games Resistance: Fall of Man, MotorStorm, and Ridge Racer 7. Additional titles would be supplied by the company's partners.
The company also plans to release a system update with the launch of the console across Europe, although it did not specify what changes the update would contain.
"To be able to launch with over 30 titles across every genre shows that this is our strongest launch line-up in the history of PlayStation, and is what PlayStation fans in Europe have been crying out for," Sony Computer Entertainment Europe president David Reeves said.
Several accessories would also be made available in Europe at that time, including a SixAxis Wireless Controller for 49.99 euros, and a Blu-ray Disc remote control for 24.99 euros, along with four types of video cables.
The prices being charged in the UK and Europe are outrageous.
The only good thing about them is they guarantee a very short 'fanboy rush' and then the UK and Europe will join everywhere else in having stacks of the things bolted to the store shelves and not selling.
They are going to be trying to charge double what they charge in Japan.
......and if they aren't s***ing there at that price what makes them think they'll move here at twice the price?
Idiots.
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|It's official now: Sony is dying. And no stupid mother %$&%#@&%@ can do a damn thing about it.
I just don't give a #%&$ about Sony anymore. They're the ones @#$%ing themselves up. They used to be good for the price, but now you buy Sony and all you get is RIPPED OFF!
#%& DAMN IDIOTS! Kaz Hirai can KISS MY ASS!!!! And it's all their faults! Every single one of those #$%*$% at Sony! And #$%* you, Ken Kutaragi!!!
Give me a $*&%ing break, jackass!
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|No, this launch will be different then the US launch. As the PS3 goes down the toilet in Austrailia it will spin the other way.
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|FOCLMFAOROFLOL
Aye to that.
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|Man, that price could suck a golf ball through a garden hose.
I'm in Australia and for the same money somebody could get a high-spec PC with similar if not better capabilities. The PC-Authority crew have released 1600x1200pix screenshots of sub $1000 pcs running FarCry HDR at 60-80fps easily and they would blow MotorStorm off this planet running at only 30fps at 720p.
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|"Sony said the 20GB model would be made available later in the year, dependent on demand."
How can there be demand if there not selling it?!? ;)
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|they're.
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|I was never good at knowing what 'there' to put. :) So I've always just put there.
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|I'm sick of you guys bashing the PS3, it's the best gaming system in the world and always will be. The European launch will single handedly save Blu-Ray.
Even though Sony claimed victory in the next gen DVD war, but it wasn't true, I believe it anyways.
I'm such a tool.
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|A shadow DaveBG?
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|LMAO
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|And why would anyone want Blu-Ray to win the next gen DVD war?
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|"The European launch will single handedly save Blu-Ray."
o really? i know how much europeans hate americans and therfor anything "american" they wont like. but i dought their hatered will blind them into blindly picking the oposite format. any consumer, european or not will hopefully be smart enough to see through it.
will all the die hard fanboys here in america who own a ps2 and are loyal to sony. yet the ps3 in going down like the titanic right now. im sure europeans wont care about the label as much as the product. europe wont save the ps3, or your over hyped bluray.
sorry
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|"i know how much europeans hate americans and therfor anything "american" they wont like".
- You really ought to try and separate our dislike for the current US Gov and Americans generally.
Many if not most of us Europeans have American relatives; we don't "hate" our own, actually.
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|Because it's a vastly better format?
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|"Low-End" and "PS3" used in the same sentence? Almost brought a tear to my eye.
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|haha. they belong in the same sentence.
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|Funny thing is, the "low end" PS3 is HIGHER spec than the premium 360
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|Another funny thing is, the 360 has a 'HIGHER' amount of games and costs $200 lower.
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|Funny thing is, the Wii is "low end" compared to both the PS3 and the 360, yet it's doing so much better than the PS3 ever will. Specs don't mean anything if the console is over priced and doesn't have any good games. I'm sure Google could release a console named GoogleStation720, with three times the "performance" of the PS3 at only twice the price! What a bargain that would be, right? Nobody would buy it of course. Which is exactly what's happening with the PS3. Even the Xbox360 was walking that fine line which marks the limit of how much people are willing to pay for a console. They just got lucky by the fact that there was no other "next gen" console to compete with the 360 at the time of release. Now MS has established a big user base and Sony is basically screwed. The only thing Nintendo has going for them is the lower price and higher "fun factor", which is good. It allows even low income families to buy a "next gen" console. Not that anyone considers the Wii "next gen" by any stretch of the imagination. It's more like Gamecube 2.0 anyway.
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|HIGHER amount, sure.
1/ It's got a year head start
2/ Aside from Gears Of War, few of those Xbox360 games are any good...
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|im predicted the north america/japan launch all over again. the die hard fanboys with the cash will get one but after those people buy them they will just be sitting on the shelves like they are here in america.
like has been said many times. whatever the ps3 "claims" to do its just not worth $600++++ dollars. especially pitted against the 360 who is half the price for eurpeans and has a far superior line up as far as games go. simple truth is people arnt gonna get a ps3 to play fall of man. almost ever launch title they brag about is for 360 also. till they fix that ps3 is gonna fly about as well as a brick does.
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|How fortunate for the Kiwis. It's the price of a small used car...
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|That's says nothing I'm afraid.
A small used car can be picked up for under £100 in the UK. A reliable one for £200. So that's the Xbox 360 and Wii stuck under the same banner.
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|£200 will get you a car wash and a tank or two of petrol. A car? With four wheels? Methinks not.
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|this whole new console thing is just way overhyped. First the xbox 360, then the ps3 and wii. all of the main games are on both the ps2 and xbox. WTF Mate!?! I admit, I bought the 360 and am really disapointed by the lack of HDMI. yeah theres a hd dvd drive for it, but that is not the format for the games. yes the ps3 has the blue ray player with an hdmi, but the format war is still to be decided. Is it worth the extra money if the format doesn't work out?
Sony has to be gritting its teeth to push this down our throats so that they will win the hd war and hoping that it the format will work. I know the ps2 sold 50 million times, and i have one, but I am referring to the other formats they supported that didn't work out. I hope the Europeans don't mind paying more, and I hate it for them. Sony is sticking it to you guys so don't buy one. Put pressure on them to lower the price like the Japanese did.
Aussies and Kiwis too, didn't mean to forget you guys!
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|What do you need an HDMI port for except Hollywood controlled HD? Are you aching to spend 50 dollars on a Monster HDMI cable you can get on eBay for 3 bucks?
It's useless. The component outputs can pass 1080i/p without all the DRM capability. HDMI is just a way for Hollywood to control what you can and cant copy.
A lot of devices disable the digital audio out when you plug in the HDMI. It sucks.
Don't be stupid. The 120GB HD is the only real plus on the next gen 360 which will never come.
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|Dave, component is ok now, but my whole point is that the new consoles are overrated. If you can have component on a ps2 and xbox, with the same games that are coming out on the 360 and ps3 (except for some new games), it is not in our best interest to upgrade. Not until they stop making games for the older consoles at least.
HDMI for me is one or 2 less cables behind my tv. Who is to say I wouldn't buy it on Ebay? Don't judge bro, just comment and make your point.
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|""To be able to launch with over 30 titles across every genre shows that this is our strongest launch line-up in the history of PlayStation"
He forgot to mention those 30 titles include DOWNLOADABLE content...
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|Uhh... You've misunderstood. He meant "30 OLD titles." Keep in mind that the PS3 can play all old games. =T
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|LOL, ""30 OLD titles." "
If only they really made that their selling point :-D
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|$500 is 385 Euros or £253
With the price of the Xbox360 and Wii the PS3 looks like a dead duck until the price drops.
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|Hey, I doubt there's a big problem with that--at the >$500 USD price tag (whatever that is in euros), most people with a tight budget aren't even interested in the "low end" unit. Having said that, I know of nobody who has the XBox 360 standard--everyone with a 360 has the premium one. I wouldn't expect anything different in sony's case.
Reason I used Xbox 360 for example is because nobody I know has yet purchased either PS3 unit so I can't speak regarding that...but I'm sure that 90% of the ps3 sales were likely the 60GB hdd version anyway.
EDIT: Noticed price will actually be steeper in Europe than here in the states, so again there's not enough demand for the cheaper 20GB PS3 in Europe--you are either rich enough to afford the big one, or too poor to afford either one of them. Sony isn't making a stupid decision here--all those who are reading this who planned to get the 20GB version please correct me if I'm wrong?
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|"Sony isn't making a stupid decision here"
Sony make a stupid decision?! That's crazy talk!
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