Sony set to adjust PlayStation Store prices for Canadians

Over the past years, the Canadian dollar has seen a steady rise in value to the point where it sits today, at almost equal to the United States Dollar. Despite that fact however, Canadians usually get ripped off with new technology especially in the video game industry.

This has been changing recently however, and now video games are launching at equal prices to that of the US, and consoles sell for almost the same price.

One area that has seen no evolution however, is the downloadable content market. Canadian pricing for the PlayStation Store is much higher than US pricing, but Sony says that is changing this week.

On May 1st the SCEA will completely adjust the pricing for downloadable content, making it almost equal to the US market.

�We are continually looking for ways to enhance the player experience on the PlayStation Network, and downloadable content through the PlayStation Store is just one of our areas of focus,� said Grace Chen, Senior Manager for the PlayStation Store. �We anticipate that this price adjustment will meet the expectations of our Canadian consumers and provide them with a better PlayStation Network experience.�

Sony added the adjustments will be executed �in a phased approach prior to the regularly scheduled PlayStation Store update, with prices adjusting during a window of time prior to the scheduled update on May 1st.�

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 1 May 2008 17:14

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15 comments

canuckerz

WOOT finally, I'm surprised Sony actually took it upon themselves to do it though.

1.5.2008 17:49 #1

viny1313

It's about time...

1.5.2008 19:57 #2

ZippyDSM

I bet live has not adjusted?

1.5.2008 23:18 #3

viny1313

Originally posted by ZippyDSM: I bet live has not adjusted?Nobody robs you like M$ does ;)

*cough* Vista *cough*

1.5.2008 23:37 #4

nobrainer

Now what about the UK and Australia who pay a higher cost than the US for psn content.

Or does sony blame the import tax on this "digitally distributed" content, the same as the lies surrounding the ps3 price difference to the USA?

UK ITV1 Rip-off Britain With Quentin Willson Originally posted by hyperlink: Published: Friday, 18 April 2008, 12:04PM

Tonight producer Bob Jefford reflects on the issues tackled in �Rip-off Britain�.

This is the 21st century� It�s the global consumer age. The internet is no more than a click away�. And we�ve shopped til we�ve dropped.
So, with all that savvy experience, why are we still paying way over the odds for so many things?

�Rip-Off Britain: Tonight� investigated high prices for clothes, electricals, cosmetics and medicine � click on the link if you missed it, or want to watch again.

The BPI Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.
The RIAA Soundexchange Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.
The IFPI Are: The same anti consumer lot as listed above!
The MPAA Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, DISNEY, PARAMOUNT, FOX.

2.5.2008 02:31 #5

pensfan12

Quote:Now what about the UK and Australia who pay a higher cost than the US for psn content.

Or does sony blame the import tax on this "digitally distributed" content, the same as the lies surrounding the ps3 price difference to the USA?

UK ITV1 Rip-off Britain With Quentin Willson Originally posted by hyperlink: Published: Friday, 18 April 2008, 12:04PM

Tonight producer Bob Jefford reflects on the issues tackled in “Rip-off Britain”.

This is the 21st century… It’s the global consumer age. The internet is no more than a click away…. And we’ve shopped til we’ve dropped.
So, with all that savvy experience, why are we still paying way over the odds for so many things?

“Rip-Off Britain: Tonight” investigated high prices for clothes, electricals, cosmetics and medicine – click on the link if you missed it, or want to watch again.
Ummm Sony arnt the only ones? itunes maybe?
Infact everything is more expensive in Australia so why are you accusing Sony of being the evil company here?

2.5.2008 10:06 #6

susieqbbb

But you also need to understand something about the canadian market first content made available to the canadian market is going to different from the u.s market do to the goverment look at harry potter in canada the harry potter name for the first book is harry potter and the philospers stone so in fact even if the content gets reduced in price the content will still be edited for that region.

And live doesn't rip you off i am sorry to say at 50.00 a year this is cheap compared to sony's home network that will cost you 9.95 a month 14.95 in canada and 5.99 for each piece of virtual furniture to place in your sim characters house worse once the home channel goes online have fun trying to get free demos those will all go to the home channel as exclusive content.

So have fun

2.5.2008 10:14 #7

nobrainer

Originally posted by pensfan12 :
Ummm Sony arnt the only ones? itunes maybe?
Infact everything is more expensive in Australia so why are you accusing Sony of being the evil company here?itunes pricing structure and global price fixing is orchestrated by the RIAA members apple wanted to make the prices uniform across the globe but big media wouldn't allow this so when they approached apple about selling packages and not just singles apple rightly said no, so big media's retort is to take their none DRM catalogue elsewhere.

http://www.macuser.co.uk/macuser/news/news/109448
Originally posted by link:
EU blames record labels, not Apple, for iTunes restrictions 9:14PM, Tuesday 3rd April 2007

The European Commission has said that it sees the record companies - not Apple - as being responsible for consumers' inability to buy tracks at the lowest prices by shopping across national borders.

The EU executive sent formal charges to Apple and the major record companies last week because consumers can only buy iTunes in their own countries and cannot shop around for cheaper prices and a broader catalogue in other states.

'Our current view is that this is an arrangement which is imposed on Apple by the major record companies and we do not see a justification for it,' Commission spokesman Jonathan Todd told reporters.

The world's major record companies are Vivendi's Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, EMI Group and Warner Music Group.Its price fixing all the way with this bunch, what do you think that DRM and regional coding is actually about, piracy?

2.5.2008 11:11 #8

polegirl

Rip off britain strikes again - why is everything more expensive, here than the rest of europe even let alone the world, i blame the UK Govt myself... funding wars we dont want, funding third world countries we have no idea who or where they are, so the Govt increases taxes in the UK to cover the costs, you dont see the yanks/french/germans/ etc.. doing that why here???? what is petrol here �1.15 a lite �5 quid a gallon what is it in USA??? about half that!!! God i wish i could leave this crap country!!! ps3 here �300 USA about $300 again nearly half, i could buy PS3's in bulk from China for 115 Euros each, but no doubt Brown and his cronies will hit me for 17.5% VAT plus import duty etc.... I hate the UK now!!

2.5.2008 14:51 #9

IM1

2.5.2008 14:57 #10

wetsparks

Originally posted by susieqbbb: But you also need to understand something about the canadian market first content made available to the canadian market is going to different from the u.s market do to the goverment look at harry potter in canada the harry potter name for the first book is harry potter and the philospers stone so in fact even if the content gets reduced in price the content will still be edited for that region.

And live doesn't rip you off i am sorry to say at 50.00 a year this is cheap compared to sony's home network that will cost you 9.95 a month 14.95 in canada and 5.99 for each piece of virtual furniture to place in your sim characters house worse once the home channel goes online have fun trying to get free demos those will all go to the home channel as exclusive content.

So have funhome will be free, that has been stated several times. I would really like to know where you get this from since you keep posting it. the only things that you will be charged for in home is if you don't want generic item 1,2, or 3.

2.5.2008 16:04 #11

FreqNasty

The AUS$ is nearly equal to the US$ at around 94cents so i think Sony and MS should make the prices in Australia for games and consoles reflect that. The people who set the prices outside of the US and Canada should be shot, they are keeping all the money to themselves and not giving anything back the consumer!

I will continue to buy from eBay and other overseas sources until this stupid pricing structure changes.

Maybe the Canadian decision is a sign of things to come for Australia and the UK. Lets hope!

3.5.2008 01:22 #12

nobrainer

Originally posted by polegirl: Rip off britain strikes again - why is everything more expensive, here than the rest of europe even let alone the world, i blame the UK Govt myself... funding wars we dont want, funding third world countries we have no idea who or where they are, so the Govt increases taxes in the UK to cover the costs, you dont see the yanks/french/germans/ etc.. doing that why here???? what is petrol here �1.15 a lite �5 quid a gallon what is it in USA??? about half that!!! God i wish i could leave this crap country!!! ps3 here �300 USA about $300 again nearly half, i could buy PS3's in bulk from China for 115 Euros each, but no doubt Brown and his cronies will hit me for 17.5% VAT plus import duty etc.... I hate the UK now!!its not the tax as the television programme shows, this is a common misconception that is constantly used by the corporations and their bloggers to deceive and pass the blame for the extortionate pricing structure in the UK. you cannot blame the gov for what the courps do but you can blame the government for allowing the corporations lobby to block all imported goods from outside the EU, global price fixing.

we are paying higher prices upto 60% more than in many parts of the world, the only way to get this to stop is to boycott anti consumer companies and spread the word.

It takes just one consumer friendly company to reduce prices in the UK and competition will bring the other prices down, but they all want to rip us off, a company that states "they do it too" are the most anti consumer of the lot.

3.5.2008 03:30 #13

shaffaaf

does one realise that for every litre the uk tax �0.65 on petrol, so w.o tax the american and usa prices are the same.

infact for a lot of products, w.o the VAT, the price are the same for the USA

3.5.2008 09:54 #14

nobrainer

Originally posted by shaffaaf: does one realise that for every litre the uk tax �0.65 on petrol, so w.o tax the american and usa prices are the same.

infact for a lot of products, w.o the VAT, the price are the same for the USAThe Fuel duty and then, VAT on top, which works out at about 80% with fuel, other than red diesel, is completely different to consumer goods and imports, the tax on fuel pays for our health service, schooling, social security, ect.

Goods in the UK are inflated to prices upto 60% more than other parts of the world by the manufacturers not the Gov and this is why its a rip off!

It is exactly the same with DVD's and now Blu-Ray films, regional coding DRM allows global price fixing, the DRM was bypassed on dvd's very easily, so with Blu-Ray the player now shuts down if it detects a work around (hack) and then, if its connected to the net reports this information back home of the attempted hack, unique serial number and your IP address.

and then you have the iTunes EU lawsuit, because the RIAA forced apple to fix prices globally, again this is not governments this is large corporations.

and its not limited to electronics, clothing brands are just to blame.

It takes many anti-consumer companies, to keep this in place and just one pro-consumer company to destroy this stranglehold and to lower their prices but profit margins and bonuses are more important than fair deals for consumers.

3.5.2008 13:27 #15

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