I was wondering about the console war perspectives of regions that we normally don't talk about. Places like China, India and the Middle East. India and China both have huge populations with less capital per person when compared to the Big 3. The Middle East is on the opposite end of the spectrum with countries like the United Arab Emirates (Where I currently reside) and Saudi Arabia having a relatively small population with large amounts of disposable income.
Some people may find it interesting to read what things are like over here, so I'll go into a little detail.
Console Prices at launch
Europeans, you guys think you have it bad
? Well maybe you do, but heres what some consoles cost in the U.A.E at launch.
PS2: 3,500 Dirhams(AED) which equates to around $850 US
XBOX360: 5,500 AED which equates to around $1350 US
Expected PS3 retail price: 6,500 AED which equates to around $1650 US
$1 = 3.77 AED (I just divided by 4 in my head, so the conversions aren't exact, but close)
Ouch, eh? It should be mentioned that these aren't official releases by Sony. The retailers here (all small stores without much capital) import them and sell them at a premium. They can afford to do this as many of the people here have plenty of cash and, for some reason I don't understand, ever import consoles themselves.
I'm actually trying to get my grubby little hands on as many PS3s as I can to sell them myself over here (don't hate me )
Games
In one word? Piracy. I am not exaggerating in the slightest when I say that it is next to impossible to find ANY non-pirated game.
If you were to walk into a game store to buy a PS2 today, you would walk out with the console and 15 (no that '1' in the front isn't a mistake) free games with it for 400 AED (Just over $100).
Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft?
No doubt about it. Sony rules here (not that it really matters seeing as software sales are non-existant). I honestly only know two people with an Gamecube, and 1 with an Xbox. Whereas I can't even begin to count the number of people I know with a PS2.
Anyway, just wanted to throw this out there, hopefully some people will find it interesting. I'm very curious about China and India, as I would expect that they could very well be huge markets in the future.
Some people may find it interesting to read what things are like over here, so I'll go into a little detail.
Console Prices at launch
Europeans, you guys think you have it bad
? Well maybe you do, but heres what some consoles cost in the U.A.E at launch.PS2: 3,500 Dirhams(AED) which equates to around $850 US
XBOX360: 5,500 AED which equates to around $1350 US
Expected PS3 retail price: 6,500 AED which equates to around $1650 US
$1 = 3.77 AED (I just divided by 4 in my head, so the conversions aren't exact, but close)
Ouch, eh? It should be mentioned that these aren't official releases by Sony. The retailers here (all small stores without much capital) import them and sell them at a premium. They can afford to do this as many of the people here have plenty of cash and, for some reason I don't understand, ever import consoles themselves.
I'm actually trying to get my grubby little hands on as many PS3s as I can to sell them myself over here (don't hate me
)Games
In one word? Piracy. I am not exaggerating in the slightest when I say that it is next to impossible to find ANY non-pirated game.
If you were to walk into a game store to buy a PS2 today, you would walk out with the console and 15 (no that '1' in the front isn't a mistake) free games with it for 400 AED (Just over $100).
Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft?
No doubt about it. Sony rules here (not that it really matters seeing as software sales are non-existant). I honestly only know two people with an Gamecube, and 1 with an Xbox. Whereas I can't even begin to count the number of people I know with a PS2.
Anyway, just wanted to throw this out there, hopefully some people will find it interesting. I'm very curious about China and India, as I would expect that they could very well be huge markets in the future.
