So at E3, there was a bunch of shenanigans about the price of the Playstation 3. The US got a nice $100US price cut on the 60Gb, and the introduction of an 80Gb unit at the original price. Then Sony Europe announced European territories were not getting a price cut but instead were getting a bundle for the same price - but that's OK because the US were being lied to: their price drop was really just a clearance sale on the 60Gb units. Eventually, Sony confirmed this was true, but reminded people that they might drop the price of the 80Gb unit in the future, and everyone eventually settled down and was happy with the fact that only a completely clueless company would increase the going price of their console, and right now US PS3's were $100 cheaper.
Meanwhile, Australia being a part of Europe as we are, got the "bundle for the same price" setup, where $999 no longer just got you a console and one controller, but instead got you the console, 2 controllers and 2 of the launch games. The increased value of this is not really debatable, but it's still a lot of money for most people.
Anyway - now to the interesting bit. If you follow the link from the post title, you'll see that Sony are canceling the bundle in Australia from the end of August. Now, one way to really make people unhappy is to charge them the same price for less product, so I find it hard to believe that they're reverting to selling non-bundled PS3s for the same price as always. There are only really two options here - Sony will be releasing the 80Gb PS3 unit here, and charging $999 for it, or they'll be dropping the price. And personally, I think the price drop will be where it's at. Sony are doing fairly well here, and cementing Australia as a predominantly PS3 territory would be well worth their while as far as making shareholders a little less concerned.
Anyway - just was interested and thought I'd blog. If anyone was considering buying a PS3, right now might *not* be the time to do it. Leipzig Gaming Conference is at the end of this month, and there's a suggestion that price cuts for the "European" territories will be announced there. There's also a suggestion that the rumoured rumbling controller will be confirmed/shown/release date announced. And that in itself is worth waiting for.
OK - all done. Have a great day all.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
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1 comment:
Surely with the cancellation of a bundle pack, and then keeping the price the same could end in nothing else BUT a price drop.
Though IMHO the price at the moment is one that really restricts the system to hardcore fans or spoiled rich kids - both of which will continue to purchase said product regardless of the price, though the fans may take longer to come back with their loyalty after being burned...
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