1000's cancel their preorder and turn so grey imports...

[Raptor]

Been on radio today saying sony are warning people it is illegal to import a console and they can take legal action against you WTF!? Why dont they drop the european price to the same as you can buy an import ripping gets!

this is just fucking criminal

a law unto themselves......

[drunkn_munky]

They also had another legal guy and he said he didn't think it has illegal, since the JAP ones have additional functionality.

I can't see how importing is illegal if you pay the import tax. But then again the fuckers got Lik Sang closed down for it. They claimed the PSPs were unsafe since they used EU regulated voltages and not UK or something.

[Goldberg]

I've just had my 3rd email in as many Weeks from Play and also Choices which 'guarantee' I will get one on Launch day if I pre order today........

Good job I cancelled mine as it looks like I would have been stuck with it!

[Scandy]

No PS3 will play my old PS2 games - nearly all "backups"

[Mario87]

the seller might be able to get sued, but I think it's almost impossible for them to sue individual gamers for importing them!

[ruggie_uk]

I really really can't see why in this so called global economy that they (and others) can't just start making a global console. With the advent of HDTV and Scart, PAL/NTSC isn't the problem is once was.
110/240V power supplies are common and indeed present in PS3 if I'm not mistaken.
Get off you bloody high horses and let us buy what we want from who we want without issue.
Dagnammit!

[drunkn_munky]

I really really can't see why in this so called global economy that they (and others) can't just start making a global console. With the advent of HDTV and Scart, PAL/NTSC isn't the problem is once was.
110/240V power supplies are common and indeed present in PS3 if I'm not mistaken.
Get off you bloody high horses and let us buy what we want from who we want without issue.
Dagnammit!

Sony have done that, all PS3 games are region free.

[noz_stoke]

i'm just another, just cancelled my pre-order..

already got a us ps3 and get my games from the US.... alot cheaper...

BP

Did you get away with import duty and Tax, as I calcualted cheap PS3 + shipping and import Tax would equally around the same as UK PS3, plus if they remain region free I can still buy cheap US games all though they dont loook much cheaper from most US sites. like dvdboxoffice.com

[Gunnzie]

Agreed - BUT people won't cancel a PS3 PAL preorder because of the backwards situation, if you have PAL PS2 games they won't work on an import machine regardless of chip or emulation.

Plus if you have PS2 games you odds on you have a PS2 if you are that desperate - it's down to cost differences between the regions that people are pulling out

I totally disagree simply because people knew the price difference when they preordered. They knew the price they were going to pay for their preordered console and they knew the price of importing it. And they still decided to preorder one.

What has changed?

It is simply the greedy people ordering as many PS3s as they could thinking they would make a killing on Ebay and now realising it isn't going to be worth the hassle/risk as shops are still guaranteeing consoles on launch day. I am 99% certain of this because last week I cancelled 3 of my 4 pre-orders for just that reason In my defense, at the time it was the only way I could afford to buy one, by hoping to make a few quid from the others. Since then, I have made a few quid elsewhere so decided I wasn't bothered about the extra PS3s and thought I'd let someone else have them at the normal price.

[1 REP MAX]

Sony have done that, all PS3 games are region free.

yes, all PS3 games are region free but you cant play the games you get in usa, asia e.t.c online in the uk.

[drunkn_munky]

I totally disagree simply because people knew the price difference when they preordered. They knew the price they were going to pay for their preordered console and they knew the price of importing it. And they still decided to preorder one.

What has changed?

It is simply the greedy people ordering as many PS3s as they could thinking they would make a killing on Ebay and now realising it isn't going to be worth the hassle/risk as shops are still guaranteeing consoles on launch day. I am 99% certain of this because last week I cancelled 3 of my 4 pre-orders for just that reason In my defense, at the time it was the only way I could afford to buy one, by hoping to make a few quid from the others. Since then, I have made a few quid elsewhere so decided I wasn't bothered about the extra PS3s and thought I'd let someone else have them at the normal price.

Because people are under the impression they're getting less but it's costing more. I guess most people have decided that it's not worth it anymore. But I agree it's having a knock-on affect with the eBayers.

[Chubbs]

So then, we all have different reasons then!

No resale profit due to overstocking,
Imports are cheaper,
Too chuffing expensive,
Emulation issue,

The 360 was a world of hype over this messy mess! Stock shortages mixed with better pricing and a universal world wide launch (within a month) helps!

[ghostman78]

You are sooooo going to get stung for the VAT my friend!!

dont fink so my friend,had it marked down has competition winner..

[ruggie_uk]

Sony have done that, all PS3 games are region free.

Yes but I was referring to the consoles and the general idea of letting us trade worldwide.

And for how long?

Once they start getting funny, they will probably start adding region coding to games as well to make it awkward for people.

[drunkn_munky]

Well I don't think they can because of different standards, taxes and regulations.

[Goldberg]

yes, all PS3 games are region free but you cant play the games you get in usa, asia e.t.c online in the uk.

I'm sure Datel will come up with a Solution or at least someone will have a mod for it soon.

[steve10574]

i have had emails from three diff companys today stating i can still get a ps3 for launch day (8 days time) not looking good for sony is it!!!

[ultra238a]

Yeah right and if C&E see lots of PS3's coming in to the UK from a single Canadian address all as competition winners they won't at all get suspicious will they.

Good luck!

dont fink so my friend,had it marked down has competition winner..

[keyamon]

dont fink so my friend,had it marked down has competition winner..

is that from VGP? i was looking at their PS3 prices today.. thought it sounded good but doesn't it work out about £70 in import tax if you get charged.

[Gel]

With the emulation issue it's true that the UK ones hardly play anything but from what I understand it the UK PS3 will be shipped with a 1.6 firmware which enables 1200 PS2 games.

I'm torn between buying a US one now on the cheap that has an earlier firmware for this so called tiff exploit.

I don't think the availability of pre orders has much to do with th ebayers dropping suport either...out of 3 million units prepared for release in Europe, 1 million are coming to blighty...that's an awful lot considering there are 60 million people here in the uk in total.

Rule out the OAP's and the under 18's who can't afford them, then take into account families with 2 kids and that changes the demographics substantially, out of 60 million people I would guess there are 35 million households.

Scale the numbers down a little to 1 PS3 per 35 households.....and that's a huge supply considering wii , pc and xbox 360 owners. Not to mention households with no interest in consoles and those that think it is way overpriced.

Game has 60 consoles per store...less than a week to release date and latest figures suggest that only 2 thirds of pre orders have been taken.

Plus there is the aftermarket scenario to consider.

Billy bovver boy buys his PS3, thinks it's wank, and sells it a week later increasing supply once more, I know I did, great piece of technology but vastly underused.

If the hack comes out and works properly I'll be there buying one though.