330°

Sony's Inconsistent PlayStation Network Prices

As the PlayStation Network is available in many countries with different currencies, it's natural that the prices of games and other content varies on the PlayStation Store. The games in North America are slightly cheaper than those in Europe and the UK, though this depends on the currency fluctuations. Earlier today, we came across a big discrepancy in Sony's pricing which has nothing to do with currency fluctuation.
XPH - contributor
Published: 69 days 9 hours ago | News | PlayStation 3
 
 

Showing: 1 - 37 of 37 Comments
Shut this user up Let user speak
Zedux - 69 days 14 hours ago
1 -
if you call sudden price drops and sales "Inconsistent" prices then I'm more than happy with it! ;)
Shut this user up Let user speak
skv007 - 69 days 13 hours ago
1.1 -
lol. exactly, cry me a rivier -.-
Shut this user up Let user speak
zlatko - 69 days 8 hours ago
1.2 -
I sorta wish you could make a global Playstation Network account, so that everything from across all the Playstation stores was in that single one. Having 3 different region PSN ID's to travel to get all the content I want kinda stinks.

Also, gibs me all the Japan store PS1 classics! I needs more Xenogears Sony!
Shut this user up Let user speak
Blaze929 - 69 days 8 hours ago
1.3 - lol
Wasnt this a similar problem with the Games on Demand service when it launched with different prices depending on the regions and everyone was quick to run in and call Microsoft greedy doing the usual rip-off tactics they always do? So is Sony ripping people off too? Nah, I dont think so ;-)
Shut this user up Let user speak
AridSpider - 69 days 8 hours ago
1.4 - @Blaze
Of course not, only Microsoft can be accused of bring greedy people who like to rip people off. Never mind the region pricing of games.

/sarcasm
Shut this user up Let user speak
heroicjanitor - 69 days 8 hours ago
1.5 - Sony doesn't set third party prices does it?
So how is this their fault? Ms are accused of greed if a developer wants to make dlc free but MS insists on a price(and rightly so)
Shut this user up Let user speak
RememberThe357 - 69 days 7 hours ago
1.6 - I'm pretty sure Sony doesn't set the price of third part content
They may be involved but I don't see them having a huge role in third party pricing. You might want to get EA a ring about this one.

A better example would have been to compare the games that Sony publishes themselves on the PSN.
Shut this user up Let user speak
Some_One_Plays - 69 days ago
1.7 - heroicjanitor
If you know anything about the mainstream public they'll say something like, "You get what you pay for because not everything that is free is worth it" or something like that to keep the fantasy going. I say the best things in life are free, lol.
Shut this user up Let user speak
IdleLeeSiuLung - 68 days 20 hours ago
1.8 - @heroicjanitor
Yeah, but isn't MS the one footing the bill for bandwidth for the FREE DLC? So after the DLC is created, MS is the one footing the bill for the recurring cost.

Sony charges a fee $0.16 per Gigabyte downloaded to publishers....

source: http://kotaku.com/5177036/p...
Shut this user up Let user speak
betrayed gamer - 69 days 12 hours ago
2 -
i still hate paying taxes on dlc
Shut this user up Let user speak
Biggunz - 69 days 12 hours ago
2.1 - Then move
PSN tax is determined by the State you live in not Sony.
Shut this user up Let user speak
El_Colombiano - 69 days 9 hours ago
2.2 -
I have no taxes on PSN.
Shut this user up Let user speak
betrayed gamer - 69 days 12 hours ago
3 -
and sony should unify their system like msft
Shut this user up Let user speak
Cajun Chicken - 69 days 12 hours ago
3.1 -
To buy MS points, there's still a different price point in the UK to everywhere else, so MS is no better. Everyone does something like this in some way or other, don't be thinking the points have a universal point value. Items can still be more expensive from XBL in some regions than other just because of the core price for the points, the actual MS point currency doesn't reflect the true price, the same for Nintendo on Wii.
Shut this user up Let user speak
Evocation - 69 days 5 hours ago
3.2 -
MS points come across however has much more unified, 800points worldwide, even if 800points is worth something different. and with the new PSN card £20PSN doesn't =£20irl anymore.

EU has to pay more tax on games anyway which doesn't help with prices.
Shut this user up Let user speak
betrayed gamer - 69 days 11 hours ago
4 -
yea but there is no tax added. so i look at it this way. 20 points i can spend exactly that on xbl, but if i buy a psn card i have to buy 2 if i want to get something worth 19.99. thats stupid
Shut this user up Let user speak
thereapersson - 69 days 9 hours ago
4.1 -
There used to not be tax on things purchased from the PSN, but now it's a state-by-state thing.

Here in WA, I get taxed on PSN purchases.
Shut this user up Let user speak
sunil - 69 days 8 hours ago
4.2 -
Are we taxed when we buy PSN cards? Or is it only when you from the PSN?

If its both, then it is not fair !
Shut this user up Let user speak
baseballkid721 - 69 days 6 hours ago
4.3 -
no you do not pay tax when you buy PSN cards. its $20 flat...
Shut this user up Let user speak
raidenCPT - 68 days 20 hours ago
4.4 -
The tax is put into the price of the purchase it's self not when you load money, just like for MS. Stop being dumb please. For those saying it's not fair move out of your countries tax is used so you fools have things like streets, medical services and if you're a Brit of American to make sure your banks don't loose everything along with your plushy lives and retirements and 401k's (or what ever it's called if you live in the US)
Shut this user up Let user speak
Baba1906 - 69 days 9 hours ago
5 -
buuuuh cry.... thats the best they could come up with? the pricing of the psn store? *snif*
6 loren537 | 69 days 8 hours ago - deleted by mod -
Shut this user up Let user speak
Biggunz - 69 days 8 hours ago
6.1 - Go away
and take your spam elsewhere.
Shut this user up Let user speak
LinuxGuru - 69 days 8 hours ago
7 -
Boo hoo
Shut this user up Let user speak
jleack - 69 days 8 hours ago
8 -
What a bad article. The prices in the UK are always a lot higher. Heck, the subscription fee for MMORPGs is double. There's a certain tax which I forget the name of that is applied to sales in Britain. This is hardly something to write about...
Shut this user up Let user speak
resistance100 - 69 days 8 hours ago
8.1 -
It's called VAT and is currently at 15% (compared with the 6% average in the states) however it is going back to 17.5% later this year
Shut this user up Let user speak
Ummm Da Dum - 69 days 8 hours ago
9 -
we british/ europeans our use to being screwed over by games companies.

high prices or late release dates.

atleast we got playtv and iplayer on ps3 now.
doesnt make up for gettin a video store atleast 1 year later than the yanks
Shut this user up Let user speak
Sarcasm - 69 days 7 hours ago
9.1 -
*sigh*

In the U.S, they release games with "English" and that about sums it up.

For EU, they release games with English, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, etc. etc. and you expect it to come out the same time?
Shut this user up Let user speak
kwicksandz - 69 days 1 hour ago
9.2 -
that is such a BS arguement. IF you live in england and speak english why the hell cant you get the ENGLISH LANGUAGE version day and date?

Its like withholding the US version for mexico, canada and portugal localisation. dont speak portugese? too bad you still have to wait
Shut this user up Let user speak
BWS1982 - 69 days ago
9.3 - Yes, but my understanding is
that there is a "North American" version, sometimes called NTSC/region 1/NA depending on media, and then there's "European" or sometimes called PAL or "International" or "EU"...the version intended for North American is plain US English, and the "International" is complicated with many/several language options...

Again, this is my understanding, and where I think Sarcasm is coming from above, but I may or may not have this exactly understood. I'm just trying to sort out this by stating that NA releases are American/US English (1 language, simple enough, the international language at that) and then releases in Europe are often multilingual, and hence a possible delay in it. If this is true, sure it's not fair, but there is a vast expectation for residents here in NA/US that if you don't speak US English you're out of luck here with media (but will have Spanish subtitles/dubbing for both Mexico and US Latinos, perhaps French for Canadian) and either have to learn it or import it from your native origin (again, regarding most media and entertainment). English is VERY pervasive in NA (mostly Spanish in Mexico though)...Sure Canada has French also, and I've seen Canadian releases have 2 languages (French and English) but beyond that, "North American" releases are more or less "English" because of the huge majority of English speakers, whereas Europe is very divided and it'd be kind of unfair to expect a dev team to come out with 10-20 different major versions of the game and release them all (a Spanish, German, Polish, Swedish, Dutch, etc...) and instead I think they just focus on one giant compilation and call it "European release" with multiple languages to choose from/printed in the manual, etc... Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
Shut this user up Let user speak
raidenCPT - 68 days 20 hours ago
9.4 - @ kwicksandz
Now use your head and think for one second the European block combined wealth is more than the US in term of purchasing power which is not only the UK so they want to please everyone in the Europe and not just one market so there is a reason they release it at the time so they don't alienate the other 60% of where their profit comes from. US does not equal world and the UK does not equal Europe
Shut this user up Let user speak
Arnon - 69 days 7 hours ago
10 -
I'm taxed here in Texas.

The only thing about the prices that I'm upset about is how expensive they are. Worms on XBL is about $5, while the one on PSN is like $12.99.
Shut this user up Let user speak
stryx - 69 days 6 hours ago
10.1 -
Worms is also given away free if you buy a 512 MB memory card for the 360. They also have Worms 2 and Worms Armageddon. They have reasons for the game being cheaper.

And as Valve stated this past week...I don't think that the development companies set the values for the games. I think they help in the process, but Sony and Microsoft have the ultimate say in how much we pay for everything on XBLA and PSN.
Shut this user up Let user speak
stryx - 69 days 6 hours ago
11 -
PSN cards should be non-taxed at the store, but you should see a tax on the store when you purchase...

As to the difference in pricing...no one really has the room to complain as Sony doesn't set the prices globally. Each individual division of Sony set the prices for that area, just as each division falls under different Ratings boards. SCEA, SCEE, & SCEJ all fall under Sony, but they are all consider individual divisions of the company, thus the reason why when someone in the US has a complaint, they call SCEA and not SCEJ.
Shut this user up Let user speak
baseballkid721 - 69 days 6 hours ago
11.1 -
we dont get taxed when buying PSN cards...
Shut this user up Let user speak
gumgum99 - 69 days ago
12 -
I get taxed as well. About $.37 reduction on my latest purchase.
Shut this user up Let user speak
JustV - 68 days 17 hours ago
13 - mm..
Sony is not being Inconsistent with the price. It goes by the economy in different countries. You guys also make more money than people in US. Everywhere in England is way more expensive than US. Sony has to aim for how the economy is over there compared to here. For example : games in Norway cost wayyy more than US. it cost 500 Krones for a game. which is equal to nearly 90 dollars.While new games over here cost 59.99 with tax its gonna be like 64 dollars. So if I was to sell games on PSN, I would also put up a price that is higher than US. They take any chance to make profit. I mean, it is a company right? lol
Add Comment (Gamer Zone)
Gamer Zone Posting Guidelines
The Gamer Zone is for members who want a more friendly and civilized discussion. This section is heavily moderated by the N4G staff, so leave your fanboyism at the door please. Members who are unable to behave in a mature and respectful manner will be temporarily or permanently restricted from posting in the Gamer Zone. Using words such as Xbots and Sony droids, or other words from the console war vocabulary, is strictly prohibited in this Zone.
Read More...
 
 
You must log in to post comments.
Username:  
Password:  
 
 
About N4G
N4G is a social game news site that covers the game industry 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
More Info... | Submit News