When the PLAYSTATION 3 launch details were announced for the European territories, our 'PAL's across the Atlantic didn't have kind things to say about the pricing. A retail price of 425 is pretty hard to swallow, especially when you figure that the currency conversion equates to about $830 in the US or 101,000 in Japan. The 60GB model retails for $599 US and 59,980 in those territories, respectively, for the record.

That huge price gap left many Europeans, quite used to getting it in the wallet, a little steamed.

So PS3 blog ThreeSpeech went right to the source, Sony Computer Entertainment's UK managing director Ray Maguire, to ask the obvious: "Why is the PlayStation 3 425 in the UK when it is the equivalent of 300 in the US and 250 in Japan?"

His answer?

Here's a snippet:

If you just take the pound against the Euro over the last few months, you'll see that the swing between 0.68 and 0.66 would make a difference of 12 on a straight conversion. We don't deal with consumers using a varying RRP - we don't say to them: "Today, you're RRP is 500, but tomorrow, by the way, you'll have to redo all your POS because it's 600." We have to take a reasonable guess. When it comes to looking at the total infrastructure, we have to build it down from the RRP. The UK, in particular, is quite expensive to deal with. Transport costs a lot of money. There's taxation which is obviously government-controlled, so is more onerous. The cost of living is high, therefore people need to be paid more money at retail and in our own operations than some of our European counterparts.

That's a sampling of paragraph four of his six paragraph explanation as to how the pricing it set. You can read on, and look for comfort, but you aren't likely to find it. You will however find very in depth details on how Sony determines pricing throughout the PAL territories. And you might just walk away with a bit of a headache. Michael McWhertor

RAY MAGUIRE INTERVIEW [ThreeSpeech]

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