PS3 UK launch on 23 March 2007 at £425

[BGonaSTICK]

Sony's PlayStation 3 finally has a release date for Europe and PAL territories. Originally meant to have a worldwide launch in November 2006, the PS3 saw its European launch delayed because of production issues with blue-laser diodes. Now, according to Sony, the PS3 will debut in Europe and Australasia on 23 March.

The other PS3 detail up in the air was the console's final price in some of the regions. Sony is forgoing the dual-model approach it took in the US and Japan and only releasing the 60GB model, at least initially. As previously revealed at E3 2006, the console will retail for £425 in the UK, €599 (£395) in Europe, AU$999 (£395) in Australia, and NZ$1199 (£425) in New Zealand. The same model retails for $599 (£305) in the US.

The 20GB model will be available later according to Sony, but hasn't yet been priced. "Responding to retail and consumer demand, SCEE confirmed that initially only the 60GB model would be available, with the 20GB model to follow later in the year dependent on demand."

There will be 28 retail games available for the console's "launch period", as well as eight games for download on the PlayStation Network. Among the games are familiar titles from other regional launches (Resistance: Fall of Man, Ridge Racer 7, Call of Duty 3) as well as anticipated games yet to be released in the US (The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Virtua Fighter 5, Def Jam: Icon). This doesn't necessarily mean that all games will be available on 23 March -- Sony does not define how long its "launch period" lasts.

This announcement comes after uncertainty and speculation that the March date would be pushed back again, fuelled by Sony CEO Howard Stringer himself, who recently said that the "European launch in April... is very important to us." Both Sony Europe and America later issued statements reaffirming that the March date was still on, and that Stringer had simply made a mistake when he mentioned the April date. Towards the end of January, however, there were still no firm date or pricing details.

The PlayStation 3 launched last year in Japan on 11 November and in the US on 17 November. High demand and low supply left many who had camped out for the systems empty-handed in the US. As a result, the US launch was plagued by a series of crimes, including muggings, robberies and shootings.

That may not be the case in Europe in Australasia, however, as Sony promises 1 million units will be available for the launches in those regions. Sony only recently announced it had shipped 1 million units to both North America and Japan.

[Unknown user #1]

I've got very strange feeling that I am going to be the only person on the island who is not going to buy PS3
After that Lik-Sang story Sony is not going to see even 1p from me.

[BGonaSTICK]

I did recoil sharply when I heard the price. The XBOX 360 suddenly looks a whole lot more attractive

[Mship]

I'm not tight (honest :) but I'd rather eat my own foot than pay that much for a games console

Kev

[jontydog]

I certainly won't bother. Quite happy with my xbox thank you very much. Thats a ridiculous price you could get a half decent pc for that.

[arden]

dont think im going to bother was happy with my dreamcast when ps2 came out which is still getting new games long after sega canned it next one due feb

bought the first xbox not long afer that can out cause, of its hacking scene and the fact you can run linux on it and xbox media player makes it one of the best stand alone players ive seen

If I were to buy another console think it would be the wii right now or will wait for halo3 then get a 360