Playstation 3 officially launched in India

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Deepak

B3D Yoddha
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Sony has officially released the PS3 in India. The official launch took place at the Inter Continental - The Grand hotel in Connaught Place, Delhi. Indian gamers can now get their hands on the 60 GB version of the PS3, which boasts of High Definition (1080p) next-generation gaming and movie experience as it includes the Blu-ray Disc (BD) drive, built in Wi-Fi adapter and multiple memory card slots.

As of now, around twelve games will be available for the PS3. They are:

Resistance: Fall of Man
MotorStorm
Genji, Days of the Blade
FORMULA ONE CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION
Ridge Racer 7
Def Jam: Icon
Fight Night Round 3
NBA Street 4 Homecourt 2007
Need for Speed Carbon
The Godfather: The Don’s Edition
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2007
Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom

Sony has put a price tag of Rs. 39,990 on the PS3 in India. If you are planning to buy an additional SIXAXIS wireless controller, you will have to shell out Rs. 2,990. Gamers can also purchase the Blu-ray Remote Control and HDMI Cable, both of which cost Rs. 1,990.
 
Sony has put a price tag of Rs. 39,990 on the PS3 in India.
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Yow... I knew it would be more expensive than the US due to importing costs and markup by the importers themselves, but damn... Pretty near $1000 (something like $980) was more than I expected -- I was expecting something like $800-850. For crying out loud, IIT Delhi costs only ~Rs. 28,000 per semester, last I saw.
 
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Actually how big of a market is there in countries like India? I know they have alot of people, but isnt the far majority very poor? and even those who arnt, isnt 1000dollars also a very big amount of money to them? alot of people cant even afford a 600 euro ps3.
 
I think of those with money, they have lots. Dunno how the class structure (financial class rather than casts) works out there, if you have gradations between the poorest and richest, or rather distinct bands. It may well be that the people rich enough to buy a $500 XB360 can just as readily afford a $1000 PS3, and those who can't afford that have far more pressing needs to spend money on than such luxuries.
 
The middle class is growing fast there and even a small percentage of 1,000,000,000 people is a lot of potential buyers.
 
tongue_of_colicab said:
Actually how big of a market is there in countries like India? I know they have alot of people, but isnt the far majority very poor? and even those who arnt, isnt 1000dollars also a very big amount of money to them? alot of people cant even afford a 600 euro ps3.
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So-so, yes, yes, and yes. Though what they say about a larger disparity between the wealthy and the poor is true, and the outsourcing and widening computing field has led to a growing middle class, but even the middle class doesn't have enough wealth to look upon Rs40,000 as a reasonable amount to spend on gaming. I don't know what it's like for sure, but my guess would be that the middle class household probably doesn't make much more 2 lakhs a year (I wouldn't be surprised if that was a gross overestimation).

Pretty much the target market is the younger generation who are trying to be more and more "American" at any cost, and that especially applies to luxury items like a game console (and having a BD player so that they can justify buying HDTVs and watch the Ashes Tour and Lord's Test in HD is a bonus). Otherwise, I don't think leisure and play would be a big focal point for people in India. It tends to be a very production-oriented culture, traditionally speaking. If that number is large enough, I guess people will buy.
 
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There are surely lots of people with large amount of money, kind of people who like to flaunt their wealth, buy expensive cars/gadgets etc. For them money is not a concern.
 
Deepak said:
Sony has put a price tag of Rs. 39,990 on the PS3 in India.
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They will later complain that no one buys PS3 in India. But for Rs. 40,000 you can make a trip to hong kong ( or Bangkok ) but PS3 and come back. Granted you will have to choose the cheapest flight but ... still you can take a small tour +ps3 for almost same amount of money.
 
Ant1Fanb0y1sm said:
Even though there are a lot of potential buyers in india isn't piracy popular there in comparison to Europe or US???
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Yep, it is rampant esp when it comes to games or softwares. Primarily bec'se original games/softwares cost a bomb here. For example I would probably pay Rs. 19990 for 360 Core but I would hate to pay Rs. 2-3k for a single game and same amount for extra controller. But I would not mind paying Rs. 500 for games.

That brings us to an interesting point, previous gen consoles (PS2/XB/GC) can be a success in Developing world if they are sold cheaper (along with the software and accessories).

@crystalcube: Yes, Rs. 40k is a huge amount (for a console) for even an middle income group person. My bike for example cost me Rs 60k. I personally think PC games have better future in India (but then piracy factor again comes up) as consoles are considered a luxury whereas a PC is seen as a necessity.
 
Link

"The company aims to sell 10,000 units of PlayStation3 and 50,000 units of PlayStation2 during this financial year."

"Sony has initially shipped 1,200 units of the console for sale in India."

"The premium version of Xbox is available in the country at Rs 27,990, while Nintendo is yet to be officially launched."

"The company has also slashed the prices of the earlier versions of its gaming consoles. It would now sell PS2 for Rs 7,990 while the portable PSP would be sold for Rs 9,990."

"The company is also developing India-specific gaming content which will hit the market later this year."

**************

Wow, I wouldn't mind paying that amount for PSP even if I never play games on it. As you know we Indias are crazy about movies/music, that alone could make many to buy it at that price. My friend bought an Ipod 2 GB for Rs. 10,000...I would have pounced on PSP.
 
Deepak said:
"The company is also developing India-specific gaming content which will hit the market later this year."
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What sort of games would you develop when know the market will be all of 10,000 (or 50,000) units? Knowing your game will sell no more than that, you'd invest nothing. I can only guess it'll be a Bollywood SingStar. That might do well enough, only needing content. But at these prices, it's a ridiculous market to pursue.
 
In the long term, price will fall and software will be needed to drive sales. Good software takes time. Developement resources in India is relatively inexpensive compared to the western world.
 
Shifty Geezer said:
What sort of games would you develop when know the market will be all of 10,000 (or 50,000) units? Knowing your game will sell no more than that, you'd invest nothing. I can only guess it'll be a Bollywood SingStar. That might do well enough, only needing content. But at these prices, it's a ridiculous market to pursue.
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Well, development itself will be cheaper in India because human resources are much cheaper. People can make the equivalent of $50k US and be able to afford live-in servants in both of their flats.

That's part of the reason game development outsourcing is growing in India at the moment, and having more platforms for them to work on is probably the biggest value that the PS3 and 360 appearances will have. The appearance of Cell and other multi-core development platforms in schools like IIT will probably be the really huge thing.
 
Deepak said:
Yep, it is rampant esp when it comes to games or softwares. Primarily bec'se original games/softwares cost a bomb here. For example I would probably pay Rs. 19990 for 360 Core but I would hate to pay Rs. 2-3k for a single game and same amount for extra controller. But I would not mind paying Rs. 500 for games.

That brings us to an interesting point, previous gen consoles (PS2/XB/GC) can be a success in Developing world if they are sold cheaper (along with the software and accessories).

@crystalcube: Yes, Rs. 40k is a huge amount (for a console) for even an middle income group person. My bike for example cost me Rs 60k. I personally think PC games have better future in India (but then piracy factor again comes up) as consoles are considered a luxury whereas a PC is seen as a necessity.
Click to expand...

isn't 30k for 199k console cheap??? in UK its 199 for core console, usually 37.99 for its games. india has better ratios ;)
 
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