At $50 less than the Microsoft Xbox One, Sony has sure lit a fire underneath its competitor, but we can’t help feel a little ripped, and in a move that’s hardly surprising, Australians and New Zealanders are being passed a higher price tag after conversion than their American friends.
Across the Pacific, the news is pretty much all about video games this week, as game publishers, developers, and independents are showcasing their wares at the Electronic Entertainment Expo.
Already this morning, we’ve heard from Microsoft, which told us all about its next console, the Xbox One. Priced from $599, this 500GB Blu-ray playing video game experience will come with the Kinect and should hit stores some time in November.
While the $599 price is better than the $999 price local retailers expected from the initial launch announcement, it’s actually close to the $499 USD price being provided to Americans.
Sony too has a price for its follow-up to the PlayStation 3, the predictably named PlayStation 4, which was announced in late February.
The fourth iteration of Sony’s long running fight to take the video game industry certainly comes with some impressive technology, packing in 8GB RAM, Blu-ray, a new Radeon graphics chip, and the ability to playback your old games through the Gakai streaming service, something you won’t be seeing on the Xbox One.
You also won’t have much room for used games on the Xbox One, but these will apparently work on the PS4, giving it another positive over its competitor.
Sony has also made a new controller, calling it the DualShock 4 and packing in the six-axis sensor, a touchpad on the top, wireless connectivity, and a share button to easily show off what you’re doing with friends out there.
The look of the console is pretty minimalist, slanted, and feels more industrial, and closer to that of the PlayStation 2.
It’s also interesting to see that Sony has kept with only two USB ports, a decision we’re not sure we agree with, although there are more wireless devices now than when Sony first decided on the two USB ports in the subsequent revisions of the PlayStation 3.
A whole heap of games are obviously coming, and we’re pretty impressed by the quality of graphics on offer from the next “Gran Turismo” title, among others, but we’re a little fazed by the price of the console.
Over in America, the PS4 has been announced for a $399 price, beating the $499 tag in the States for the Xbox One.
In Australia, Sony has given the PS4 a recommended retail price of $549, lower than the $599 price for the Microsoft Xbox One, but at least fifty bucks higher than what everyone expected.
Sure, the Australian dollar is sliding, but we’re probably not the only ones who think it should be that much higher, especially since after sales tax and price conversion, $499 seems like it should be the expected tag.
If you’re in New Zealand, that price rockets to $650, higher than the expected $580-599 most people across the pond would have expected.
That said, the price is still better than that of the Xbox, but we’ll just have to see which is better when they all make their way to stores later this year.
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Order off Amazon, ships to Aus, will only cost about $420 US. Still cheaper than buying local.