Sony Stings UK with PS3 Pricing

UK gamers will pay £20 more than our contintental cousins for its already overpriced PlayStation 3.

According to Sony Computer Entertainment UK Managing Director Ray Maguire the higher-spec version of PlayStation 3 will sell at £425 when launched in the UK. This is higher at the current rate of conversion than €599, which is just over £405. So UK gamers are getting shafted by a further £20.

"I don't think it's an expensive machine; I think actually, it's probably a cheap machine," Maguire said. "If you think a Blu-Ray player by itself might be GBP 600-700, and we're coming in at just GBP 425 - it's a bargain."

"GBP 425 is definitely not a mass-market price, no," Maguire conitnued. "But you think about the price, think about the price of just a Blu-Ray player. It will be cheaper than a Blu-Ray player just by itself. So fundamentally we're going to be great value just from that point of view without even looking at the games side."

Rumours suggest that the lower spec model of PS3 won't even be sold in the UK, which means that you'll most likely be able to pick up an Xbox 360 and HD-DVD add-on this Christmas for less than the cost of a PlayStation 3. Add that to the availability issue and Sony really does have a lot of PR work to do between now and Christmas.

Source: Gamesindustry.biz