AfterDawn: News

PS3 costs more in UK and Ireland

The €599 price for the 60GB version of the PS3 console in Europe does not apply to both the UK and Ireland. In the UK, retailer sources have confirmed that the 60GB version of the console (20GB version is not expected to be available at launch) will cost about £425 (about €647 / US$838). Sony UK boss Ray Maguire previously stated that the UK price was a "bargain".

A retail source suggested to GamesIndustry.biz that the higher price point has not been driven by Sony at all, but by the major retailers. Not too far away, in Ireland, the price is also higher than in the rest of Europe. The 60GB version of the console will cost Irish gamers €629.99, a difference that Sony blames on VAT rates in the country.



Sony is expected to confirm the UK price along with the speculated March 23rd European launch date in an official announcement next week.

Source:
GamesIndustry.biz

Written by: James Delahunty @ 17 Jan 2007 18:26

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• Thoatih12

  that sucks for europe..ps3 to much $$$$

  17.1.2007 18:34 #1

• kabledog

  So much for the PS3 World Domination. I feel sorry for the US gamers for the prices of these systems, and I can't imagine how the UK and Ireland gamers are going to afford to play games.

  17.1.2007 18:56 #2

• chubbyInc

  Hey don't worry Ray Maguire says thats a bargain.

  17.1.2007 20:58 #3

• dCBb

  Keep in mind that a Xbox360 Premium Pack goes for £279 (about US$550) a 37% increase over the US price. The PS3's UK price of £425 (about US$838) is an increase of about 40% from the US price.
  
  In the US the PS3 is 150% the price of the Xbox360.
  In the UK the PS3 is 152% the price of the Xbox360.
  
  Stuff must just be more expensive in the UK, because both Microsoft and Sony are doing similar price increases.
  
  Also the cheapest Blu-ray player goes for about £700 (about US$1381), so the PS3 still is a deal (about US$543 savings) if your buy it for the Blu-ray player.

  17.1.2007 21:06 #4

• chickenR

  I know the price increases will probably have something to do with VAT in the UK, but for a console that cost far more than the other next-gen consoles (360 and Wii) its no surprise Sony hasn't sold as many PS3s as the 360 and Wii.
  
  Yet again the UK gets ripped off. Delayed launch then a price increase. Score. :|

  18.1.2007 00:03 #5

• AIM2Shame

  Its not just the UK, The PS3 will cost over $1000 in Australia I dont see many people whipping out over a grand at the start of the year after christmas for a console.

  18.1.2007 01:49 #6

• advent

  Welcome to rip-off UK!!!!!!!!!

  18.1.2007 03:58 #7

• hughjars

  Wow, brains at work.
  
  .....cos it was just flying off of the shelves at a (slightly) lower price elsewhere, right?
  
  What a bunch of greedy morons.
  
  Watch out for a repeat showing in the UK & Ireland, after the initial idiot fanboy rush
  (they could glaze s**t with honey and those fools would buy no matter what price)
  the shops will have plenty of stock firmly bolted to the shelves.
  
  "Bargain", ffs.

  18.1.2007 04:14 #8

• tabletpc

  this is what sony is known for lets take tons of consoles and in other countrys lets jack the price up you wonder why in china people use illegal copys of windows xp because if windows xp costs us here in the u.s.a 199.99 in china you looking at 600.00 to 300.00 u.s.a for a copy in china and it's the same for the ps3 gamers from the u.k and from ireland will purchase the console then go online and download all the illegal versions of the ps3 games transfer them to the hard drive and run them off the hard drive using the hacks that have appeared on the internet
  
  not only do i find sony replusive right now i think sony is high on crank if they think any gamer will fork out that much cash for a console
  its kinda sad really
  
  

  18.1.2007 04:42 #9

• ZippyDSM

  I am so tired of corperations regioning off parts of the world and then double diping so that part of the world has the "pleasure" of doing buisness with them...
  
  Sorry....Sony....you fail.....

  18.1.2007 05:44 #10

• hade

  Quote:Keep in mind that a Xbox360 Premium Pack goes for £279 (about US$550) a 37% increase over the US price. The PS3's UK price of £425 (about US$838) is an increase of about 40% from the US price.
  
  In the US the PS3 is 150% the price of the Xbox360.
  In the UK the PS3 is 152% the price of the Xbox360.
  
  Stuff must just be more expensive in the UK, because both Microsoft and Sony are doing similar price increases.
  
  Also the cheapest Blu-ray player goes for about £700 (about US$1381), so the PS3 still is a deal (about US$543 savings) if your buy it for the Blu-ray player.anyone from the uk verify this? amazing that six posts have have gone by and no one brought this up or questioned it. im not from the uk so i really can't say too much but i'd still be interested to know...

  18.1.2007 07:52 #11

• thecraigc

  thats f*ckin sh*t!!
  
  i can't even be f*cked to type my opinion...
  
  its lookin like the 360 will win over here then...
  
  its sh*t how ireland only get an extra €30, but in the Uk we gae an extra £125... its f*ckin bullsh*t!!

  18.1.2007 09:07 #12

• chickenR

  @hade: yep, those numbers are correct.
  
  the cheapest HD-DVD player in the UK I could find current retails for £350 (US$690).
  
  Again, I'm pretty sure the higher prices are due to VAT (17.5% Value Added Tax on most products) and greed from the companies.

  18.1.2007 09:09 #13

• Xcom

  Here is a list of European VAT rates of countries using the Euro.It has nothing to do with VAT Sony are just charging the UK and Ireland more.
  
  Austria 20%
  Belgium 21%
  Finland 22%
  France 19.6%
  Germany 16%
  Greece 18%
  Ireland 21%
  Italy 20%
  Luxembourg 15%
  Netherlands 19%
  Portugal 19%
  Spain 16%
  
  The UK does not use the Euro and they have a low VAT rate.
  United Kingdom 17.5%
  
  

  18.1.2007 13:41 #14

• hade

  this part of the article says otherwise...
  Quote:A retail source suggested to GamesIndustry.biz that the higher price point has not been driven by Sony at all, but by the major retailers...The 60GB version of the console will cost Irish gamers €629.99, a difference that Sony blames on VAT rates in the country. "Keep in mind that a Xbox360 Premium Pack goes for £279 (about US$550) a 37% increase over the US price. The PS3's UK price of £425 (about US$838) is an increase of about 40% from the US price."
  well seeing these figures, it would seem there must be some reason that both companies are practically doing the same thing...
  
  
  

  18.1.2007 15:10 #15

• ZippyDSM

  hade
  to me it seems like they are punishing the UK market for not buying enough and for the PAL setup and other small annoying things shipping it to the UK market is not part of it...since these companies are world wide and then some....it seems to be a status quo no one talks about or questions...
  
  altho theres a 15-20% tax on electronics thats already added to price?
  
  thats and the 20-50$ markup they do makes the 600$ ps3 almsot 800.....

  18.1.2007 22:17 #16

• gibney85

  no real shock here when I read the title. We're always being ripped off in Ireland - never mind the VAT @ 21%. Suppose the UK's the same being so close. They know people have the money to buy it so thats the price they'll put it at. I'll just wait a while, 6 - 12 months. guaranteed to go down in price.
  
  

  19.1.2007 03:37 #17

• BobbyBlu

  WoW that one post went from Anti-Sony to Anti-country...lol
  

  
  
  
  
  Microsoft: Ps3 cant do 60fps on 1080p. Guess what they were WRONG!!!!!
  (11/19/05 - 9/19/06) Microsoft: Sony's 1080p support on PS3 is all Hype and Not Needed.
  (9/20/06) Microsoft: Xbox 360 to add 1080p support.
  
  

  19.1.2007 04:30 #18

• hughjars

  Why are the mods here tolerating this obvious infantile troll?
  
  What kind of juvenile fanboy-ism is it that tries to say a widely held complaint about a high price in our market is "anti-sony"?
  
  Or that tries to say a complaint about VAT levels is "anti-country"?
  
  It's pathetic.

  19.1.2007 05:45 #19

• solarf

  Anyway you look at it its mighty expensive. Or really cheap for a BluRay player i guess its all about how you look at it.

  19.1.2007 09:15 #20

• ddp

  BobbyBlu, WTF??

  19.1.2007 12:30 #21

• solarf

  The price is outrages but as long as we continue to buy the products they feel like they can charge anything and we as cosumers will pay for it.

  19.1.2007 12:38 #22

• thecraigc

  i thiught the 17.5% VAT is a minimum... coz at this cost its away up at around 40%...
  
  so due to this sh*t, i am now anti-sony and now i am planning in buying an xbox 360...
  
  the worst part is, the government say that games "rot the mind" yet they are making so much f*cking money off it. why don't they say, "games improve brain power and sh*t"? then they can steal even more money.

  19.1.2007 13:43 #23

• sammorris

  Well, I hear the PS3 will be £425, which is 647 euros...

  19.1.2007 15:25 #24

• Andrew691

  Its not Sony's fault. it could be loads of things but the fact is that those numbers given by that guy earlier about the price increase compared to the 360 are correct. Where I live the 360 was released at $800 the PS3 will be $1200, double the US prices. Thats 200% of the US prices and with the currency rates how it is it should only be around 150%.

  19.1.2007 20:15 #25

• borhan9

  Quote:In the UK, retailer sources have confirmed that the 60GB version of the console (20GB version is not expected to be available at launch) will cost about £425 (about €647 / US$838). Sony UK boss Ray Maguire previously stated that the UK price was a "bargain".You gotta be kidding me that is no way a bargain. If that's the price in Europe, just imagine what its going to be for Australia and New Zealand.

  19.1.2007 20:16 #26

• Andrew691

  This is for New Zealand, Australia would no doubt be slightly cheaper.

  19.1.2007 20:19 #27

• Andrew691

  But its not the currency or price that the post is meant for, its about the comparison between PS3 and xbox360 release prices.

  19.1.2007 20:21 #28

• ZippyDSM

  this is why all UK gamers should give up and import your systems and games it might cost 30-50% more but in the end you get more games and send a message to to the corperations to get their head out of their arse...

  19.1.2007 22:57 #29

• DEXxYBOY

  the usual marketing ploy with companies such as sony is to start at an over inflated price (£425) then when it seems that all the consumers that can afford that price have bought it, then the price falls. personally i will not buy a ps3 as, 1) the prices in the uk are a rip off and i`m sick of it. 2) neither the product nor the technology have been tested to the extreme. and 3) the next generation console is probably already in the pipeline and a year or 2 down the line we will be being offered the next, next big thing.

  20.1.2007 05:17 #30

• ZippyDSM

  I dunno the 360 will envolve lil by lil in 3-5 years it wil be complete with HDVD,60-120GB HDD,HDMI standard while the PS3 will always lose money for sony no matter what they do because they made the system whole and not in a upgradeable format its 500+ off the bat...it might drop 100$ in 3 years but thats not goign to help it...

  20.1.2007 05:25 #31

• Sudds

  Am from Ireland and wont be buying it here.
  A couple of Polish mates are heading home in April, hence to say that my cash will be going with them to purchase a PS3 from Poland.

  20.1.2007 08:03 #32

• ZippyDSM

  Sudds
  gotta to what you can to save a dime god knows the corperations will charge you double for it wif they can,
  if you imported a 500$ USA system what would the import fees be?
  
  I have acoupel friends think abotu getting em to get them things here in the states and mail it to them.
  
  we are unsure of the tax's and fees and crap ><

  20.1.2007 08:22 #33

• Sudds

  Am not sure what the fees would be mate... But if you do gotta make sure your TV displays NTSC and is 60Hz or higher, plus you would have to buy a transformer 110v -> 240v. Would it be worth all that in the end?
  

  20.1.2007 08:42 #34

• thecraigc

  dude, its harder to find a tv that doesnt do NTSC and 60Hz >
  

  
  

  20.1.2007 08:48 #35

• ZippyDSM

  Sudds
  for a PS3 mabye not,since it has some form of multi region play plus any TV with HDMI,coponant/scart would handle it.
  
  the main trouble with the UK region is waiting on a game to come I swear they could nip the while pal/ntsc thing in the bud if they would just add the switch to each system or make a cable/adapter for it but no they want to play games with consumer,I say if you can get off EU games altogether and just import it all because they are doing more harm than good for us all.

  20.1.2007 08:52 #36

• peterkayy

  The rants about people saying that people are paying sooo much more in the UK is rubbish.
  We have a thriving economy with alot of companies and business competing for our business.
  Go to Tesco and see the product lines and cut prices! totally cheaper than alot of Europe not to mention the choice!
  You can buy a colour TV for 30 quid for god sake.
  My point is the UK has cut price products and business that will come into line with the States and Japan and our prices for especially electrical products is alot cheaper than the rest of Europe.
  
  And another thing if you can't afford the PS3 slap it on your credit card!
  
  Thats what you will do anyway! buy now pay later suckers!

  20.1.2007 13:25 #37

• ZippyDSM

  peterkayy
  and thats why it took 10 years for a mainstream game company to TRY and do something about the stupid regional system and even then its locked for PAL movies only,sad....very....

  20.1.2007 13:46 #38

• peterkayy

  What are you talking about Zippy????
  
  PAL is a much better system than NTSC and SECAM are power supply/voltage is the best in the world.
  
  Stop harping on about PAL conversion twaddle.
  
  We have our own ideas in this country! and that is why we have alot of highly educated people coming up with great ideas. This is what makes us strong for such a small island.
  
  We want the PS3 so we will have to wait and pay a bit extra as our country has adapted a different system. The Japanese will obviously adapt their system for America before us as theres alot more money in it.
  
  Get a life and think about the big picture.

  20.1.2007 14:05 #39

• ZippyDSM

  peterkayy
  you seem to fail to realize games are made for NTSC and a hardware switch is cheap and simple yet they went the /region/ route in order to mark up and limit distribution to that market.
  
  the PS3 tries to change this but is limited.

  20.1.2007 14:16 #40

• Andrew691

  NTSC is way better than PAL, not only does it have more lines on screen but it also has 60hz which is faster than PAL's framerate refresh of 50hz.

  20.1.2007 22:18 #41

• peterkayy

  Get it right PAL has more lines than NTSC also most new TV's run at 100hz now anyway.
  
  Stop moaning and move to Japan or the States.

  20.1.2007 23:23 #42

• ZippyDSM

  peterkayy
  Pal is a format of the past,being left for more world wide formats like ntcs and the new digital formats,my grip about PAL is they can could do something better than play divide and conquer by region....the PS3 is something that really could have changed things but it still ahve region codes and the UK version of it will only play UK movies while the USA/Jp one can play jp/usa movies,this about as anti consumer as you can get.

  20.1.2007 23:31 #43

• peterkayy

  Zippy it's NTSC! and it's an older format than PAL.
  When PAL was introduced in the 60's people didn't realise that the PS3 in 2007 would have regional problems with their product.
  What do you want the world to be? Communist?
  What next! the UK drives on the left but most of the world drives on the right. So we should change it to be more in line with the world.
  
  Like I said move to Japan they drive on the left!

  20.1.2007 23:43 #44

• ZippyDSM

  peterkayy
  then why my dear is PAL not support by the world why is it a fading format?
  
  oy vay focus already I don't care if its NTSC or PAL my point is the paint by region scheme the corporations are using is lame and needs to be done away with ALTOGETHER.....

  21.1.2007 00:07 #45

• peterkayy

  Fading format?
  Where did you get that from?
  The problem is when you have a "standard" in a country you cannot just change it overnight as in the UK's case you have around 60,000,000 people to deal with.
  Take digital TV the government has given around 5 years before the terestrial signal will be scrapped.
  You need to keep everybody happy, the government is not going to say why not change to NTSC because Zippy and Bungle want a PS3 quicker than Joe Bloggs.
  Standards don't get changed overnight they take years!

  21.1.2007 11:40 #46

• sammorris

  I actually prefer the PAL method over NTSC (and there's a famous mockery of the system, Never The Same Colour).
  You may get an extra 10 frames a second, but here it's 576i rather than 480i and as that line shows, better colour differentiation. But with the advent of HD this is all starting to have less relevance.

  21.1.2007 11:53 #47

• ZippyDSM

  peterkayy
  I am in the US and the PS3 can go the hell with sony,but my point is the console makers could easily fix the whole region thing with a simple software/hardware switch but to save a tiny bit of money and to frustrate the world with the region gimmick so they blame money losses on failed regional sales.
  
  I don't blame PAL for not being fully supported I blame the corporations for not supporting them!
  
  My only compliant agisnt PAL is that the game devs decided they didn't have to release game in the EU region because they didn't put a NTSC to PAL converter into the software/hardware because they are cheap bastards.
  
  Again pal/ntsc I don't give a rip thats besides the point the corporations not releasing games to the 3rd largest market is something to be miffed about.

  21.1.2007 11:53 #48

• BUDDD

  This is all bullsh*t.
  
  We all get royally screwed in the UK (prices for cd,dvd , ps3 you name it).
  
  The reason anything is done i.e UK machines locked to PAL , region encoding etc is to make as much money out of us as possible. Otherwise we'd be buying ps3's from the US for $400.
  
  The Sony UK boss is obviously a complete jerk to suggest $800 is a bargain. What an assh*le!
  
  Well Sony , you can shove your ps3's where the sun dont shine , you wont be getting any of my money.And thats how easy it is to torpedo multinational moneygrabbers, just dont give them your money......Maybe a few have washed ashore along the Devon coast from that sinking container ship , You know what?? I'm still not interested ;)

  22.1.2007 16:45 #49

• hughjars

  When they look to charge us in the UK, Republic of Ireland and continental Europe £425/€647/€599/$840
  
  It's worth bearing in mind they're charging
  $329 in Japan (£166/€253 at todays rates).
  
  Even the 'regular' Japanese price looks like a great bargain compared to what we are supposed to be looking at for one (49,980 yen = US $412 = £208 = €316).
  
  Suckers.
  
  Quote:PS3 sales in Japan haven't cooled off, they've frozen. Consoles sit on shelves as gamers wait it out: Waiting for actual games to appear or prices to drop.
  
  Retailers, on the other hand, are an impatient lot. Retailers are also buying "used" PS3s at much lower prices than previously, paying well under the original sticker price.
  
  Just look at how the Don Quijote in Akihabara is slicing 20 percent off the 20GB PLAYSTATION 3.
  Nice 20-20 irony.
  
  The 20GB version originally books at 49,980 yen (US $412), but is being offered for 39,980 yen ($329) in a sale ending February.http://kotaku.com/gaming/top/japanese-st...ices-230297.php

  24.1.2007 02:13 #50