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Buy a 1080p BRAVIA and Sony Australia will toss in a PS3 for free
It looks like we're going to have to postpone our move to South Korea momentarily as we jet over to Australia and clean 'em out of PS3s. Sony Australia is giving away a free 40GB PS3 with every 1080p TV purchase in the XBR, X or W BRAVIA series of LCDs. The 40-inch W series starts at AU$2,999, while the 40GB PS3 retails for $699 kangaroo bucks, so it really is a hefty discount. Who's to say if this is a desperate move by Sony to sell more TVs, PS3s, PS3 games or Blu-ray discs, but whatever the reason we're not complaining. The offer lasts until January 28th.[Via CNET; thanks Toby]
Sony Australia says nice things about Wii
In an article discussing the repercussions of the Playstation 3's March release date in PAL territories, the Sydney Morning Herald obtains a few interesting quotes from Sony's general manager for Australia and Middle-Earth. Though portraying the PS3 in a positive light is to be expected, the kind words aimed at a competitor's product are somewhat surprising -- especially when they make it sound better than Sony's own product to the uninformed reader. "The Wii-type functionality is more just a sub-element of what the PlayStation 3 offers," says Nic Foster, clearly referring to motion sensitivity. "Wii is a core gaming device. It's a more fun, intuitive sort of product to pick up, where the PS3 is a broader entertainment solution; so you can have your fun, enjoyable gaming ... but then you have a whole suite of other applications ... such as Blu-ray media playback, the ability to access your music, access your photos and the interoperability with the PlayStation Portable." Clearly, the objective was to express the PS3 as a device that encompasses everything the Wii has and more (and there are shades of truth in that), but instead of simply labeling it as such, the Sony man rattles off a bunch of features you're bound to read about on the box. For some, "more fun" might be all that matters in a gaming console and indeed, it's easy to see how straying off that path has made things more difficult for the PS3. Then again, the fact that we had to start that sentence out with "for some" implies that there's some balance to be found between pure gaming and valuable features. Wouldn't you know it, but Foster has a pretty good statement regarding that issue too. "Gamers are extremely aware of what they're after and what they want. So gamers will already have a very good understanding of what PlayStation 3 offers versus what Wii offers and many of them will probably have both devices." Well, it seems like we can all get along after all.[Via NeoGAF]
