Not exactly. Yes, the price was always higher in Germany at the first look. But American prices don't include the VAT, if you calculate that out, and calculate out currency insurance (they tend to fluctuate) its about 2-5% more expensive here. But these 2-5% go mainly to the retailer. These need to have a higher margin in Europe, because of the higher taxes and social standards. And at the moment, it's time for a price correction (if the $ stays where it is, or drops further).
@Just_Ben, But wasn't this always the case with technology manufactured in asia and yet always sold at a higher rate in eu? It's generally said that that's because of the higher tax rates in EU but after studying some sales numbers my opinion was that it's because it was a considered a less relevant market than Japan/US so companies didn't compete in terms of prices in EU just like they were satisfied with late launches... wondering if this will change in the future. Will for example MS ever consider EU as a place to conquer like it did in Japan with lower pricing/high advertising/specialized products?
The exchange rate of the Chinese currency is not "free". It is set by the Chinese government, and pretty much constant to the $ (put in simple terms). So if the $ falls, the Chinese currency falls. Thus it makes it cheaper for Europe to buy things in China-> gaming should get cheaper.
@Bleezy, In terms of personal preferences I find myself torn between the 360 focus on shooters and the one big game for me the competition doesn't have, mass effect, a western/choice oriented rpg and the ps3 which I see more vision in. I see more vision on Sony's part for the future, their internal studios and daring to go for less popular concepts that I think could open up new experiences. For example one of my most anticipated games ever is 'heavy rain' from the team that made fahrenheit/indigo prophecy, because it's the only game i can think of that *might* result in a game which isn't all about killing everything in sight but about cinematics/acting... which I htink could be a revolution in gaming. I've spoken with non gamer people and they're turned off by the fact that in games you either have to shoot/kill everything or jump platforms/do mechanics, these are people that would consider gaming if it was a more cinematic/book like experience... For me personally online of any type doesn't mean absolutelly anything, i might even consider it a minus sometimes ... but in that I'm a freak I guess, only other person i saw thinking along those lines is 'Zero Punctuation's Yahtzee.
@Just_Ben, Please explain a little more on the china $ gaming market subject as i didn't understand that part, but for the rest I see similarly. This is one of the reasons I think ps2 is relevant (I wish we tracked it) and a very strong ace in the hole for sony: it's so cheap relatively to all other consoles (even the wii) that I suspect it's pretty much the only one easily affordable in eastern europe growing countries, and that's a stepping stone for Sony to prepare a future for ps3.
@ixaarii, You're comment on the WW Console sales caught my attention because i was thinking (as an american) that i would at this point almost rather buy a PS3 now. I don't know why exactly. Partially the price cut, but i think the game lineup is also more appealing for PS3 than the Xbox during this season. Sure Call of Duty, Mass Effect, Halo 3. But on PS3 it's Assasins Creed, Need For Speed, Drake's Fortune, Metal Gear, Grand Turismo, Burnout Paradise. The games just sound different. And with the price drop + blu-ray. What i am very interested in, and i wonder how much of a difference this makes in console purchasing over there, is the online. In europe, 10MBit connections are as common as Cable and DSL over here. It's like most of Europe lives in a college dorm or something; at least this is what I've heard (and know is true in Sweden at least).
I am really wondering how the online performance compares between Xbox Live and PS3's Online over in Europe! Does anyone know? My guess is that PS3 Online in Europe is amazing, while Xbox Live is just okay. And this is what I have begun to fear recently here in the states. Is that Xbox Live is going to just be synonymous with another crappy, bloated, rushed Microsoft product! I have a feeling Microsoft is just going to concentrate so much on making money on Xbox Live, that they forget about the actual gaming experience that we pay for. I have a feeling Microsoft is just more and more going to start thinking we want to pay for this subscription service so that we can give them more money and spend more points at the Live Market!! What do you guys think? This is just the feeling I've been getting recently this season. Feels like a paradigm change, definatly an up turn for PS3.
That signs of a even faster growing market than US. EU>US in terms of people and earning. The new market (easter Europe, southern Europe) are growing fast. UK and France are already big Console Market, but still growing. Germany start to follow the trend through the Wii to a console market (the DS is already doing outstanding). The southern market (The Sony stranglehold) are growing. The EU is doing fine at the moment in matter of economy growth. The Wii as casual device hits Europe hard.
The dollar is dropping and since the Consoles are manufactured in China which currency is more or less bundled to the $ gaming should get cheaper in Europe on the way.
All signs seems to be showing up for the European Console market at the moment.
I was looking at VGC hardware sales for nov 8 and I was surprised to see two things: all hardware sales except 360 sold more in "others" than in "america"... I thought America was traditionally THE big market targeted for, shown both through investments and sales & release dates... and the second thing was PS3 more world wide sales than 360 (granted, by very little)... how much of this do you think is the nearness of the price drop and could this be a sign of ps3 comeback?
GameCube never sold 200K in January. Xbox only did once, two months after Halo 3's release. PS3 is performing worse than those systems; why expect that to change in January?
PS3 did sell 244K last January, but that was thanks to a combination of December shortages and NPD January being five weeks instead of its regular four. This year the tracking period won't even include the days closest to December, so it's losing the heaviest part of last year's period.
Even if we say it will behave similarly to PS2, except in cases of December shortages PS2 would always drop more than 80% from December to January. That would mean a December of over 1 million to get a January of over 200K.
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Not exactly. Yes, the price was always higher in Germany at the first look. But American prices don't include the VAT, if you calculate that out, and calculate out currency insurance (they tend to fluctuate) its about 2-5% more expensive here. But these 2-5% go mainly to the retailer. These need to have a higher margin in Europe, because of the higher taxes and social standards. And at the moment, it's time for a price correction (if the $ stays where it is, or drops further).