Australia not getting a PlayStation 3 price cut either

PS3 News | A new bundle to be offered instead.

A few days ago Sony cut the price of the PlayStation 3 to $499 US ($576 AUD) in the US and Canada. Many were expecting that Sony UK and Sony Australia would follow suit, though it has since been revealed that Europe will instead be receiving a PlayStation 3 bundle. And, according to Screenplay, the same is true for Australia.

According to the blog, gamers will get a 60GB console packaged with MotorStorm, Resistance: Fall of Man, and a bonus second controller. The console will still retail for $999. The blog also comments that "the 80GB version of the console will not be released in Australia in the immediate future".

PAL gamers not only received the PlayStation 3 late, but also one that didn't include the emotion engine, a chipset that enabled the PlayStation 3 to play back all PlayStation 2 titles natively rather than through software emulation. Now PAL gamers are paying more than the US and Canada and being forced into purchasing a bundle to boot, a very disappointing outcome for gamers looking to buy the system they wanted at a reasonable price.

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37 Comments

jemann

4 years ago

Mojo wrote

And it's a pretty good bundle anyway, with 2 of the better games on the system. If you don't like the price, just wait, I'm sure it'll be below $799 sometime next year.

Exactly. They've made the deal a little more enticing to attract the next round of buyers. I'm happy to wait for a few more rounds, or until the PS3 has more exclusives that I actually want.

diogenes92

4 years ago

"no 80GB in Aus in the immediate future"
next year, then....

Anyhow, I think the bundle is better then price cut, 2 controllers, 2 games (both [resistance and motorstorm] were my first games to get)

Sony have messed things up and hopefully 2008 will be the year when things start to all come together.........and beat 360....

Capoeira

4 years ago

While I never planned on picking one up at the rumoured reduced price, I still find this news very disappointing.

I guess it's going to take even longer before we get any kind of decent price reduction. We'll probably get one before the year is out, probably around Christmas, but I highly doubt it'll be anywhere near the $800 mark. Next year it is then

Passa

4 years ago

Quote

According to the blog, gamers will get a 60GB console packaged with MotorStorm, Resistance: Fall of Man, and a bonus second controller. The console will still retail for $999. The blog also comments that "the 80GB version of the console will not be released in Australia in the immediate future".

I'm pretty sure such a bundle is already being offered..

Meh, anyway, as usual the PAL regions (annoyingly referred to as Europe by **** game sites) get screwed over. We're already paying way more than the United States, but I suppose Sony knows this region was won from day one. Its no contest here.. *sigh*

Anonymous

4 years ago

If I get a PS3, it will definitely be from the USA. The lack of a price cut means that a cheap flight on Jetstar or similar will cover the difference (almost).

Bloody Tears

4 years ago

Mojo wrote

LeonJ wrote

I don't think Sony need to drop the price in Europe and Aus because it is selling OK here. That and it's only been out for 4 months.

Exactly, the console is only a few months old here and in Europe and is selling well for the price.

Dropping the price this early would both piss off early adapters as well as cause Sony to lose money they don't need to since it's still doing good in PAL regions.

And it's a pretty good bundle anyway, with 2 of the better games on the system. If you don't like the price, just wait, I'm sure it'll be below $799 sometime next year.

It sold well initially just like the other 2 next-gen consoles on the market did.

Just because there was a huge delay for the PAL region doesn’t mean we should have to pay more (or would that be more++ then?) for the same thing. That would be stupid, and another huge kick in the face. Those who picked one up on release should be happy with the exclusive time they’ve had with the console and should have known this was inevitable.

And yes, many will wait; I’m just trying to tell you why this move won’t make a difference here. Places like JB already had deals like a PS3 + Resistance or Motorstorm for $997. The majority of people who bought a PS3 were not casual gamers. This new bundle will not have a huge impact.

All in all, quite disappointing.

Timmaaah

4 years ago

well considering i have no interest in neither of those games the PS3 is still looking exactly the same to me... way to expensive. As much as i want to get the PS3 i just can't afford $1000.

There's also the fact that i would rather choose what games i get with a console and not get told what i want.

Hopefully by the time rock band comes out the 360 would have had a price drop and make my decision even easier

diogenes92

4 years ago

1000$, I remember when I had that much money, I had been savin since about July last year and I had 1000$ by March...

genxevo

4 years ago

Mojo wrote

..Dropping the price this early would both piss off early adapters...

LIKE ME!!!!!

Crestfallen

4 years ago

no wonder we're not getting a price drop, because the US isn't really get one either!

The 60GB has been discontinued so no real price drop has occured.Source.

4 years ago

Passa wrote

Quote

I'm pretty sure such a bundle is already being offered..

Meh, anyway, as usual the PAL regions (annoyingly referred to as Europe by s*** game sites) get screwed over. We're already paying way more than the United States, but I suppose Sony knows this region was won from day one. Its no contest here.. *sigh*

Has this region been won? I know few others with PS3 but lots of people with XBox 360's (unfortunately which I dont have) I also hear much more interest in Wii than PS3 - No I dont see it.

Also - many of my AV freak mates dont have a PS3 to play Bluray. Most are staying with DVD upscaling & buying better TV's - A surprising number are taking 100's if not 1000+ DVD movie collections and copying them across to these $900 "Thecus" NAS box things & loading them up with 5 x 1TB or smaller 750GB hard drives in them and then streaming to their media centers across 4 x teamed Gigabit connection. This stuff is insane - but are getting bigger faster cheaper by the month! Those who are going high-def have got together and are importing a few professional looking Toshy HD-DVD's which if you jump into a group order they are about $412 landed in Sydney and come with a half dozen HD movies thrown in. No - this region is far from won - I reckon Sony are far from making any real impact on either game/movie fronts.

I do believe things will change but only when the PS3 is US$399 (AU$450 - $550) with rumble etc... and some solid exclusives are out.

For Bluray to really impact on DVD - there needs to be a big selection of films, documentaries, anime, & music video all retailing for no more than $29.95 and Full seasons of TV shows like Lost sold on single disk for $39.95 - $49.95. IE: The premium cant be more than 25% to full branded/packaged DVD otherwise the average punter wont buy them.

Crestfallen

4 years ago

^Anecdotal evidence only goes so far.

As for having all episodes of Lost on one Bluray disc... well they won't do that because they'd want to have each episode in 'Full' HD and that won't fit on one disc.

The cost of Bluray movies is still too high though. Rocky Balboa was released recently on DVD for $29.72 at work and on Bluray for $44.99. That's a 51% premium for Bluray. Old release movies are even worse.