PS3 News
220,000 PS3 consoles for the UK market
01/02/2007
Sony UK boss Ray Maguire has stated that he expects the UK to get around
22% of the one million PS3 PAL consoles headed for Europe, Russia and
Asia. He also said that this will be the biggest launch the games industry
has ever seen. There's no change on that console price though. The PS3
will retail for £425 at launch, you can thank exchange rates for
that one apparently.
PS3 UK Launch date confirmed - 23rd March
25/01/2007
Sony have confirmed the launch date for the PAL version of the PS3 in
Europe as the 23rd of March. Sony said they would have one million PS3
consoles available for the launch period. Sony have shipped more than
2 million consoles in the US and Japan since launch and is aiming for
a total shipment of 6 million consoles by the end of March.
Sony cuts the price of the PS3 by 20%!
22/09/2006
Don't get too excited though. This price cut is only being made in Japan
and only applies to the 20GB console, not the 60GB console. This is an
attempt by Sony to bring the price of the 20GB model inline with the Xbox
360 + HD DVD. They also announced that the 20GB model would have an HDMI
connection.
PS3 Console in black only?
29/08/2006
According to a German games site, at a recent games convention Sony told
them that the PS3 would be available in black only at launch. It is still
unclear when the PS3 will be available in either black or silver.
Sony set to lose $200 per console!
03/08/2006
Merrill Lynch have estimated that Sony will lose $2 billion dollars on
the sale of 10 million PS3 consoles. iSuppli estimated that it would cost
Sony between $700 and $880 to produce each console, losing an average
of $200 per console. In the games console business making a loss on the
console has always been the norm, but making a $2 billion loss has to
be an industry record.
£150 deposit per console!
20/07/2006
In an attempt to avoid the ebay phenomenon, Sony are rumoured to be introducing
a pre order scheme whereby all retailers will request a £150 deposit.
By forcing up the deposit they hope to prevent people from hording pre
orders and selling them on ebay. It may stop some people, but some still
have deep pockets or large credit limits.
20GB Console for the UK???
10/07/2006
The 20GB
PS3 Console just appeared on Amazon's UK site. This is a very interesting
development as a few weeks earlier Ray Macguire, Sony UK Managing Director
stated that there would be no 20GB PS3 for the UK market. Do Amazon know
something we don't, or is this just an editorial mistake??
150,000 PS3's for the UK Market
04/07/2006
Out of the 2 Million consoles Sony has promised for the global launch,
on the launch day 150,000 will be available for the UK. If you look at
how many countries they're covering it seems the UK has done very well.
You have to remember though that back in November 2005 when Microsoft launched the Xbox 360 they sold 75,000 units in the first month, but they could have sold 5 times as many given the huge demand. Things should be better for the PS3 launch, but with just 150,000 consoles to go around at launch, don't expect to find one sat on a shelf in Woolworths any time soon.
Play.com are taking PS3 pre orders
07/06/2006
Play.com have started the ball rolling with PS3 pre orders. They're offering
a slightly discounted 3
game bundle, which includes a PS3 60GB console, Formula One 06, Warhawk
and Singstar.
No 20 GB PS3 for the UK
23/05/2006
UK console buyers may only be offered the 60 GB version of the PS3, according
to a Sony insider.
In an interview with the games site MCV, Ray Macguire, Sony UK Managing Director stated that "The lower-end, 20GB version of the PS3 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."
We have to agree, the 20GB version would struggle in the UK market. The Xbox 360 Core was a flop with it's lack of storage, wireless controllers and HD cable, but at least it was upgreadable. The 20GB PS3 doesn't even have a HDMI output at all. The lack of HDMI output will also cripple the BluRay player as a high definition source.
Sony PS3 is a bargain!
22/05/2006
At well over £400 Sony are still claiming that the PS3 is a bargain.
You can see their point here; the fact is if you're looking at buying
a Blu-ray player at the end of the year it could set you back £600
- £700, if you go down the PS3 route you could save yourself a few
hundred quid and get a pretty good HD games machine to boot! You also
have to consider the loss Sony will make on these PS3 consoles, as the
true cost of the console is much more
than £400.
More on that launch date and price
21/05/2006
According to Sony the high end 60 GB model will be priced at around £425
and will be released in the UK on November 17th. Sony also stated that
the final price will ultimately be dependant on the strength of the Yen
at launch. Lets just hope the Yen takes a nose dive before release day.