Playstation 3 released March 23rd in Europe - £425

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6295359.stm

I won't be buying one (can't afford or justify it!), but interesting news nonetheless.

Me either... ah well

Thanks for the linky Avon!

IPete2.

That number again is £425... for a games console. Good luck with that, Sony.

You can buy a pretty decent PC for that money! Ah well, that might be a good time to pickup a cheap PS2 and tons of their back catalogue of games.

I take it Sony haven't realised yet that they've lost the plot?

£425.... Christ.

and someone tell me, why none of the games look at all good?

I think it's cheap. I'm really looking forward to playing Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire, the high point of next gen gaming.

People WILL pay £425. Not only will they pay that price, but they'll queue up outside shops all night to get their hands on one. And at the end of it all they'll go "Thank you Sony!! :D :D :D"

Sony know this.

I'd want to move in, at that price.

Holy crap : 599.00 Euro = $777.189 USD. I think my old car was worth less than that.

And GFK is right. People will line up and pay for it....

And then what happens after that initial sales burst? It'll just decline heavily like it has been in both North America & Japan.
(hell, some stores in Japan are so desperate to sell them they've cut the price by 20%)

Anyways, I just sat there with my jaw open after doing the cash conversion of that to Canadian dollars, a whole friggen' $986, *excluding* taxes....

Actually -- in Europe sales tax is always included in any listed/advertised prices, so there wouldn't be an addition sales tax on top of it. (Sales tax is much higher than in North America though, typically around 19% on pretty much anything other than food (6 or 7%))

I do think it's ridiculous to spend that much on a game console, though... You can get a half-way decent PC *with* flatscreen monitor for the same amount, and use it for other things besides games as well.

(disclaimer: I'm not the kind of customer sony and the likes are aiming for anyway... the only game console I have in the house is a whopping 20 years old now. (Original 8-bit NES)

Well it's a lot cheaper in the US and cheaper still in Japan but it isn't selling. Some Japanese stores have reduced the price of the 20gig unit to 160GBP just to get rid.

Sony have some big problems.

I didn't pay $799 for the PlayStation when it came out. I waited (at least) a year until it became affordable, then I bought one.

I didn't pay $799 for the PlayStation 2 when it came out. I waited (at least) a year until it became affordable, and then I bought one of those.

I won't be paying $999 for a PlayStation 3 when it comes out. All I need do now is see if it lasts a year...