Sony Denies UK PS3 Rip-Off

The UK remains as one of the only major regions with solid release details and now Sony is playing defense against new reports.

Almost everyone was shocked by Sony's price revelations for the PlayStation 3 last week, but the Brits watching were confused.

While the company revealed that it would be selling two models of the PlayStation 3 across North America and Europe and laid out the prices there too, it was quiet on its plans for the UK. Now Sony has come out to refute talk that has sprung up that it will only be bringing the more expensive, fully featured model to the UK.

The brouhaha stems from comments made by Sony's Ray McGuire, who told trade paper MCV that it was looking like the system would ship in the UK in one configuration.

"The lower-end 20 GB version of PlayStation 3 has no WiFi, no HDMI and none of the other slots in it, so it's really a question of where we would position it," McGuire told MCV. "It's more likely that we will only launch the 60 GB version."

"We have time to watch the yen and be flexible, but that 60 GB version looks like £425 in the UK at the moment. High trade margins in the UK are likely to see it come in with that kind of street price, though it's ultimately up to retailers."

In the US the 60 GB model will sell for $599, while in Europe the tax-inclusive price has been set at €599 ($765). The rumoured price of £425 in the UK amounts to $800, or $680 before tax - an $80 premium.

Many publications reported on this as confirmation that Sony would ship only the dearer of the two models and at a wallet-busting price to boot.

But when confronted with these statements, a Sony spokesperson told Kikizo that these publications were jumping to conclusions, with the source calling the price "speculative".

Sony is currently "favouring" the 60 GB model, but the company insists that it hasn't ruled out the possibility of bringing both over.

Time is on Sony's side in this matter. That people are having this conversation at all so far from launch is a rarity, as hardware makers usually hang back until the last minute to nail down their component and manufacturing parts before setting a final hardware price, just as Microsoft did last year when it waited until nearly two months before launch to reveal the price of the Xbox 360.

Sony said that there's still "lots of discussion" to be had with retailers and other parties before the final details are revealed.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games