Europe in Line for First PS3s

Sony's makes clear its commitment to treating Europe as an equal - at last.

The announcement of Sony's plans to release the PlayStation 3 around the world within the space of a fortnight were a cause for great joy, especially in Europe, which has traditionally had to suffer through seemingly endless delays for Sony hardware.

But the company commitment is there, as demonstrated this week by the news that the first batch of PlayStation 3s off the assembly line will be destined for Europe and other PAL territories.

"I hope we will be day and date with US and I hope that we'll get the same quantities as US as well," Sony's European boss, David Reeves, told trade paper MCV. "I don't think we'll be disadvantaged. In fact I believe the first PS3s being manufactured are being made for Europe - which is a first."

"Between November 17th and December 31st we'll hope to put them in as many European territories as we can, even if we have to place small seed quantities on day one."

Small seed quantities are a reality that some countries will need to live with, as Sony will have only so many systems to go around. The company aims to have 2 million systems ready by early November, which is about 650,000 units each for North America, Japan and Europe - far less than demand will likely be.

But unlike Microsoft, which was unable to get a steady flow of consoles coming after launch for months on end, Sony is promising another 2 million PlayStation 3 by the end of the year and a further 2 million, bringing the total to 6 million shipped, by the end of March.

Sony has yet to reveal the British price of the PlayStation 3, but on the continent, it'll sell the lower-specced version for €499, with the fully featured model going for €599. And according to Reeves, we should be happy for the windfall:

"When Blu-Ray players come out in Europe they are probably going to be between €900 and €1,000. So €599 for a Blu-Ray player - which is what a PS3 is - and a games machines with lots of good titles coming out as well is actually a steal. And the €499 unit, because that will also play Blu-Ray, is even better value."

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games