Sony Australia slashes PS2 price

The price of the PlayStation 2 games console will be cut from AU$499.95 to AU$399.95 from June 15, bringing Australian consoles in line with the American price of US$199.95.

"We have now sold over 395,000 PlayStation 2 consoles in Australia and this move is set to expand our current installed base," Michael Ephraim, managing director, Sony Computer Entertainment Australia, said in a statement. -At the new purchase price of AU$399.95, the PlayStation 2 is the best value games console available with DVD movie playback straight out of the box."

The industry has speculated on a price cut for the PlayStation 2 ever since the Xbox was reduced to AU$399, and the Gamecube slashed to AU$329 in April.

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Please, that's complete BS tha ...Anonymous -- 14/06/02

Please, that's complete BS that it will be the best value console when it drops to $399. The Xbox will still maintain its better value tag even at the same price as the PS2.
You don't have to buy memory cards for the xbox, you don't have to buy a multi-tap for 4 player games, you don't have to buy an ethernet port for system-link games and broad band gaming.

The xbox, easily the best console at the moment.

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however, you do need to buy a ...Anonymous -- 14/06/02

however, you do need to buy a DVD add-on to enjoy watching DVDs on the Xbox whereas the PS2 has it all built in (the quality is surprisingly good...I am not a DVD fanatic but it was over my expectations of video quality)

It is well known throughout console history that games sell the console, not the other way around. The XBox has this history against it when up against the PS2 (and even the GameCube). I bought a PS2 to play mainly Metal Gear Solid 2, Grand Theft Auto 3, Grand Turisimo series, Final Fantasy series and also to play PS1 games which I can find widely and cheap. I liked the XBox and GameCube when I was out to buy a new console but the thought of paying $80+ for every game put me off big time whereas I can get PS2 Platinum series games for $49.95 and even pick up a used PS2 game here and there for

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That's IF you want to watch dv ...Anonymous -- 14/06/02

That's IF you want to watch dvds (a lot of people already have dvd players, like myself).
But the must haves for any system (4 controller ports, memory cards) come with the xbox standard. You need to fork out around $100 to get this with the ps2. Then there's the broadband adapter and 40gig harddrive on the horizon. That would be another $100 at least.

Its true the PS2 is a leap ahead with its gaming library, but the xbox will get there. Its still new remember. There will be an equivalent platinum range within a few months.

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... and add to that the xbox's ...Anonymous -- 14/06/02

... and add to that the xbox's ability to store your music library on the hard disk and even play it during games, and you have an unbeatable value machine. With billions of dollards behind this machine, the xbox is here to stay. You have to pay for a memory card for the ps2 to even save games! DVD playing is not compulsary, so I don't think the DVD argument holds any water... if you want the feature, you pay for it. Besides, everyone I know who has a ps2 went out and bought the remote control for DVDs...

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By the end of this year, the X ...Anonymous -- 14/06/02

By the end of this year, the Xbox will be "the" console to own. Although one has to wonder when Microsoft will set up the Xbox Live network in Australia. Last I heard, Telstra (shudder) were going to handle it.

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You *DO* need a memory card to ...Anonymous -- 16/06/02

You *DO* need a memory card to save your game on the X-Box like you do on the PS2. The Hard drive in the X-Box is used for buffering data, it has no real purpose besides that.

If you dont believe me
http://www.xbox.com/au/hardware/xboxmemoryunit.htm?cs_catalog=cat%2dau

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The memory card is only needed ...Anonymous -- 16/06/02

The memory card is only needed if you want to swap the info on them between Xboxes. The hardrive is used for saiving games, caching memory, and copying music to.

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Saying the Play Station is sup ...Anonymous -- 17/06/02

Saying the Play Station is superior to the XBox because of the extra games would have been like saying play station 1 was superior to PS2 when PS2 first came out....

at the same price and triple the performance for the xbox... my god... buying the PS2 would not be a smart move...

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Ben, I've been saving my games ...Mike -- 18/06/02

Ben,

I've been saving my games on my XBOX hard drive since November...

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"Saying the Play Station ...Anonymous -- 18/06/02

"Saying the Play Station is superior to the XBox because of the extra games would have been like saying play station 1 was superior to PS2 when PS2 first came out...."

No...the point is that the PS2 is superior in one way to the Xbox because of the backward compatibility with the vast PS1 and now the very large PS2 libraries. I never said that the PS2 is technologically superior to either the Xbox or GameCube. I want games that aren't a 80 to 100 bucks a pop for every available game. With both the XBox and GameCube you have to spend that much for EVERY game unless you happen to get lucky and stumble on a rare sale or a used game. Granted in a year, it will be a slightly different picture but the PS1 and PS2 libraries will always be bigger than either one put together. If you got kids who want games and more games, a PS2 makes a great compromise between the old and cutting edge.

Also, Sony's promise that the PS3 will be backward compatible with the PS2 and PS1 sweetens the deal even further.

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my aunty in america sent my so ...Anonymous -- 19/01/03

my aunty in america sent my son 3 ps2 games. l have the pal version and it has been chipped but the ntsc games will not play, it states please load a formatted ps2 disc in. lf there is no way around this can l buy an american ps2 console in australia and where from?

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