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Forums - Sony Discussion - Sony Troubled by "Reverse Importing," (No More PS3's) for South Korea

 

 

Report: Sony troubled by 'reverse-importing,' no more PS3s for South Korea


Sony is halting shipments of PlayStation 3 to South Korea due to a "reverse-importing" issue, according to a Chosen Online report, as translated by Kotaku. Apparently (somewhat) creative gamers are taking advantage of the depreciated South Korean Won (₩) by purchasing their consoles for a reduced price in South Korea and hauling them back to Japan, where the Yen (¥) remains strong. The 80 GB PS3 launched in South Korea in June 2007 and sells for ₩480,000 ($321); versus ¥39,900 ($412) in Japan. A Sony representative said the company was "troubled" by the importing issue.

Sony isn't the only company going this route to save money on dwindling currencies. Nintendo recently increased the margin on Wiis sold to UK retailers, forcing stores to increase the price of the system. Also, Microsoft still charges you the life of your first born for a larger Xbox 360 hard drive. (Well, not outright but ... approximately.)


[Via Game Politics; image credit: Enterprise Ireland]



PS4 Preordered - 06/11/2013 @09:30am

XBox One Preordered - 06/19/2013 @07:57pm

"I don't trust #XboxOne & #Kinect 2.0, it's always connected" as you tweet from your smartphone - irony 0_o

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Hmm, it seems they should have region locked the PS3 , or done what Ninty did and raised the trade price due to currency changes.

Oh well, blacklisting an entire country because of the actions of citizens from another country is just as good



Yea region locked PS3 is what they should of done.



or they could adjust the price of the south korean ps3 to reflect its value versus the yen. just a thought



my pillars of gaming: kh, naughty dog, insomniac, ssb, gow, ff

i officially boycott boycotts.  crap.

How hard do you think it would be to lock the sucker?



PS4 Preordered - 06/11/2013 @09:30am

XBox One Preordered - 06/19/2013 @07:57pm

"I don't trust #XboxOne & #Kinect 2.0, it's always connected" as you tweet from your smartphone - irony 0_o

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a 100$ price cut in japan leads PS3 out of stock confirmed???!!!1111!!!!



 

 

 

Man, as much money as region locking might save...

I'd be hating that.

I've imported a game, and plan on importing more in the future. Love the fact that I can play PAL and NTSC-J games on my PS3 and future PSP.



Person 1: Does Valkyria Chronicles have trophies?
Person 2:  No.
Person 1: Forget it. I'm not buying it.
Person 2: Wait! It's amazing! Unique, charming, drop dead gorgeous... Hello?

Couldn't they temporarily raise the korean price of a ps3, thereby reducing the desirability of "reverse importing"?

Region-locking for games is an unnecessary anti-consumer measure that no reasonable gamer should want. Nobody should have to install homebrew channel or mod their console just to play games from another region.



Demon's Souls Official Thread  | Currently playing: Left 4 Dead 2, LittleBigPlanet 2, Magicka

I wish i thought of this :(



SONY Pres: Time to raise the price in South Korea??
Advisor: Are you mad?? Did you say "increase" the price???
SONY Pres: Well... would you rather us lower the price in Japan??? It's coming out of your paycheck... Remeber, I'm that guy that signs those little pieces of paper.
Advisor: I'll notify South Korea of the price hike within 24 hours, Sir.

This is what I expect to happen.



4 ≈ One