GTA IV 40GB PlayStation 3 bundle surfaces in Europe

If you're still licking your lips while gazing at that limited edition GTA IV Xbox 360 Elite, you may have the opportunity to make your GTA-branded console ownership dreams come true in a slightly different manner. Out of seemingly nowhere, a Grand Theft Auto IV PlayStation 3 bundle has popped up on a Swedish retailer's website, offering a 40GB PS3, a copy of the game, a decorated box and little else (DualShock 3?). Judging by the package art, we're guessing there's no suave paint job waiting on either side, and Webhallen has the unit priced at 4,499 SEK (or about $755). Before you ask -- there's no telling whether this thing is headed stateside or not, but surely Sony / Rockstar Games wouldn't let such a moneymaker swim around the US of A, right?

[Via N4G, thanks John]

[Marc @ Apr 7th 2008 12:25PM]

YAY... GTA... YAY!!!!!!!!!!!

[NovaLand @ Apr 7th 2008 1:27PM]

$755 is perhaps correct, but since the swedish price is included tax and lots of other fee's, the price would be better compared to 4499/10 = $449.95 or something like that.

[Hashbrown Hunter @ Apr 7th 2008 1:34PM]

Which is about $50 more than the 40GB option, right? Yeah seems possible for it to come over stateside. Maybe later rather than sooner, but it probably will.

[Meltz @ Apr 7th 2008 2:14PM]

"Steal this PS3"

[GTAddict @ Apr 7th 2008 6:36PM]

Still limping along with a PS2... Had been holding off on a PS3 til GTA IV came out.

When the PS3 was released and there was no GTA IV on the radar, I often joked with my friends that I would buy a welded-shut steel box with a PS3 and the next GTA permanently installed for $X00 when it came out -- looks like I am not too far off the mark ;)

[Marc @ Apr 8th 2008 4:20AM]

Looks like this is the package for you then.

[LaughingMan @ Apr 7th 2008 12:30PM]

With DualShock 3?

[Flashpoint @ Apr 7th 2008 12:42PM]

I heard Nintendo was putting more Wii consoles in Europe so they could increase profits made per sale - rather than giving them to America with the weak Bush dollar.

Is that part of thee reason this package isn't coming to America right away?

When I buy GTA4 I'm getting the full pacakage so I get the bag and the safe deposit box.

[ben @ Apr 7th 2008 4:15PM]

@Flashpoint
North American and European systems are different hardware. PAL vs NTSC.

[Zak @ Apr 7th 2008 12:31PM]

There's a Gran Turismo 5 PS3 bundle in Europe too, and that doesn't appear to be coming stateside either.

[NHAnimator @ Apr 7th 2008 1:41PM]

Sonystyle.com has a "racing package" which includes GT5 and an extra controller:

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&categoryId=8198552921644551853

[Zak @ Apr 7th 2008 2:03PM]

Well that's cool, I hadn't seen any mention of that up till now. I would get that but I already bought a Costco PS3 bundle - 40GB PS3, Ratchet and Clank, Spider-Man 3 (movie) and two Sixaxis controllers for $517.

[Bookshelf @ Apr 7th 2008 12:36PM]

ohhh yeahh GTA for playstation all the way!!

[Overstandme @ Apr 7th 2008 12:37PM]

YESSS!!!!!!!!!!! finally got one up, if its DS3 standard, im finally ready to buy a PS3

[IkeTurner @ Apr 7th 2008 12:42PM]

Fake?

[LaughingMan @ Apr 7th 2008 12:43PM]

Man... too many bundles from Sony.

While I appreciate that Sony is firmly behind the idea of the pack-in game, it does make it harder to keep track of what exactly you're buying if every single playstation you buy at a given point in time is a limited edition.

[fistpittingnork @ Apr 7th 2008 12:53PM]

Too many?

Standard bundles are:
40GB - Spiderman 3 Blu-Ray
80GB - Motorstorm game

[Daza @ Apr 7th 2008 1:27PM]

Add GTA:IV bundle and GT5 to that list.

[Vidikron (FU) @ Apr 7th 2008 2:08PM]

Meh... please. You only really need to know 80 GB vs 40 GB. That's it. The others just have varying pack-in games/media and can hardly be put in the same category as SKUs that have actual hardware differences.

[LaughingMan @ Apr 8th 2008 11:16AM]

Here's my point. I walked into a Target a few days ago. On the shelf, they have a 40 GB PS3, and next to it an empty spot where the 80s used to be. They won't be getting any more of that particular SKU, according to the Target guy.

I suppose that's because the new 80 GB PS3 will be out for summer with MGS4 pack-in, but that leaves 3 months without an 80 GB PS3.

Now it looks like the situation is similar for the 40 GB as well. Why would anyone buy it with the Spider-Man 3 pack-in if it's just going to be discontinued for a GTA4 PS3. Or whatever?! Why should the game consoles go in and out of stock for huge swaths of the year like this?

I think Sony lost a sale with this. I would have picked up an 80 GB PS3 and bought a few games between now and MGS4 if it were available. Now I'll just wait until June.

[xValentine @ Apr 7th 2008 12:46PM]

"...offering a 40GB PS3, a copy of the game, a decorated box and little else."

It looks like a Console, A limited Edition copy of the game, and a DS3.

At $755, it's not worth it IMO.

I'll just go with the Metal Gear Edition. :)

[alexmueller @ Apr 7th 2008 12:47PM]

$755? wouldn't it be cheaper to buy each (game/console) separate?

[Diogo @ Apr 7th 2008 12:54PM]

I doubt it, Europe gets pretty screwed on prices

[tom @ Apr 7th 2008 1:05PM]

The price has VAT tact on (up to 25%)

[Nick @ Apr 7th 2008 4:42PM]

@ rawd

PWNED! :D

[Victor Shamanovsky @ Apr 7th 2008 12:48PM]

Why would you buy PS3 version when XBOX has special content made exclusively for it by Microsoft

[nxtiak @ Apr 7th 2008 12:49PM]

Exactly. And some Sony guy is downplaying that fact too!
Get the 360 version it's better.

[Jevanzz @ Apr 7th 2008 12:51PM]

If you don't have/want an xbox but instead do have/want a PS3...

[rawd @ Apr 7th 2008 12:51PM]

What good is the content when the console is out being repaired

[Jamesology @ Apr 7th 2008 2:47PM]

LMAO @ rawd FTW

That's hilarious! I love my 360 and have had no problems with it; just to add, it also matches my PS3 (Elite).

I would still get this game for PS3.

[matjet @ Apr 8th 2008 12:39AM]

probably because there isn't special content made by MICROSOFT for gta4....

[nxtiak @ Apr 7th 2008 12:50PM]

$755 dang. So, how much is a regular 40gig PS3 package cost in Europe? $700?

[Aythamie @ Apr 7th 2008 12:53PM]

No, it costs €399.
No dollars in EU, don't get currencies mixed up

[Aythamie @ Apr 7th 2008 1:01PM]

yea, I was referring to Engadget :D
But yes, it's extremely expensive for Americans. Again because of the weak dollar.
And the PS3 costs €254 in the states :)

[Whaleman @ Apr 7th 2008 1:06PM]

That $755 is the standard price for a 40GB SKU without any game in Sweden... so basically that bundle would get us GTAIV for free.... and yes, it truly is that expensive here. Compared to the Xbox and Wii prices in the rest of Europe, Sony adds 12% more to the price than the other two once you cross a scandinavian border. I could get one Xbox core and one Xbox Arcade for the same money as the standard PS3 bundle.


Also, I unfortunately doubt this bundle will have DS3 bundled... Sony hasn't said a word about it here yet, and actually seem to be denying its eistance in the rest of the world.

[Aythamie @ Apr 7th 2008 1:11PM]

the SIXAXIS is discontinued so I assume it will be packing the DualShock3
I hope so...
anyway I've got my DS3 for months and my PS3 for 1 year so it wont hurt me in any way :D

[Whaleman @ Apr 7th 2008 1:15PM]

The Sixaxis is discontinued in the US at least, no word about Europe yet ;) Since it's not even released here yet, it would be highly foolish to have it discontinued.

[NovaLand @ Apr 7th 2008 1:38PM]

The regular 40GB in the same store is 4189 SEK, which is $703 with the same rate.

[Steve Blowjobs @ Apr 16th 2008 12:44AM]

Ummm...Bush dollar or no, the prices in North America are vastly cheaper than in Sweden. I don't care about the outrageous taxes in Sweden (25%, as posters have said), it is still a hell of a lot more than Canada or the US. I moved to Sweden from Canada a year ago and I import/smuggle in all of my electronics. I could by a base system in Canada for US 460 (Canadian dollar equivalent to the US dollar). I ain't gonna fork over all those Kronor for a PS3 when I can bring one back when I visit the Far North!

[Aythamie @ Apr 7th 2008 12:51PM]

IT IS NOT $755 !!!!!!
IT'S 4,499 SEK !!!!!!

Don't get the concurrences f*cked-up please

You can't compare prices with the weak Bush Dollar, please don't. You'll only get a headache.

If it'd be released in the states it will cost $399 or less.

[nxtiak @ Apr 7th 2008 12:57PM]

Aythamie: I didn't mix up currencies. Read the article. It was converted to $755 USD.
So I'm curious what a regular 40gb PS3 in Europe costs in USD.

[rawd @ Apr 7th 2008 12:57PM]

You have to remember that you are dealing with Yankees. There is no other country outside of Amurrrika.

[Flashpoint @ Apr 7th 2008 12:59PM]

I may have to sue you for plagiarism because "weak bush dollar" belongs to me.

LOL @ the stimulus checks.

[Aythamie @ Apr 7th 2008 1:01PM]

yea, I was referring to Engadget :D
But yes, it's extremely expensive for Americans. Again because of the weak dollar.
And the PS3 costs €254 in the states :)

[LiqwidZero @ Apr 7th 2008 1:06PM]

Why is it the Bush dollar when neither of the Bush Presidents have their faces on a coin or dollar bill?

[rawd @ Apr 7th 2008 1:08PM]

Steve Ballmer for President!

[Aythamie @ Apr 7th 2008 1:08PM]

don't go offtopic

[Whaleman @ Apr 7th 2008 1:12PM]

It's not only the weak dollar though... the price in the US is about the same as in Japan, once you convert the Yens to dollars.

But the price in the scandinavian countries are 10-17% higher than the rest of Europe... (17% in Sweden with the current exchange rates) which is unique to Sony (the Xbox and Wii have a difference in price of about 6%).

[cduran01 @ Apr 7th 2008 1:29PM]

EU countries add VAT to the price, the price you see here in the US never includes tax, we have to calculate it on a per state basis. This is another reason why a direct dollar conversion doesn't give an accurate picture.

For example, I live in Florida would it be right for me to say that Sony is screwing New York because the PS3 costs more in NY when you add NY's higher sales tax? Of course not, its not Sony's fault that the sales tax is higher in some states than others and Sony is a business not a charity their not going to start adjusting prices around the US just to adjust for the different sales tax.

[Walt @ Apr 7th 2008 1:34PM]

We've been having some bad Bush weather here in North Carolina. I had to get a painful Bush dental cavity filled this morning. I wish this slow Bush internet was cranked up to Cern Grid speed.