I'd like to clarify a few things about the EU and taxes because many people here are describing them as much higher than they really are.
The import taxes on computers and consoles has been at 0% for a few years now (yes, there used to be a ~18% import fee on consoles but that has been set at 0% since 2004). Those import fees are EU wide, so all EU countries use the same value of 0%.
(See also http://forum.beyond3d.com/showthread.php?t=31540&page=2)
VAT still applies obviously, at ~16-25% depending on country.
Environmental taxes are less easy to estimate, each country has their own system. At any rate they are not in the 10%+ range.
So, for the sake of argument the EU could be said to have some 18-25% taxes on consoles in total. Naturally sales will be converted to the local currency of whoever makes the machines so that's dollars for Microsoft and yen for the others.
I'll assume a 25% flat rate to make this easier, even though that is the high end of things.
MS Xbox 360 Pro:
€279 with 25% tax => €223,20 pre tax.
In local currency that is $348
PS3:
€399 with 25% tax => €319,20 pre tax.
In local currency that is 53716 yen (And in dollars it's $497)
Hope this helps clear things up a bit.
