There have been numerous things that have upset gamers here in the States regarding Microsoft’s Xbox One, leading many to at least say that they will be instead purchasing Sony’s PlayStation 4, one of which is the price. Upon their launch next month, the Xbox One will cost $499, while the PS4 will cost $399. Sony is familiar with how crucial prices are; their $600 launch price at the launch of the PS3 put them in a bad position from the start of current generation of consoles, and they ultimately never recovered against the booming Xbox 360.
But this is not the story in other countries. Elsewhere, unbelievably high fees and taxes are tacked on to the price making new consoles a difficult acquisition. In Brazil, for example, import fees and taxes mean that the PlayStation 4 will cost 3,999 Brazilian real, which equals out to around $1,857 in U.S. dollars.
The Xbox One, on the other hand, will only cost 2,200 Brazilian real, which comes to about $1,021 USD.
A Sony Brazil representative explained that this price is largely consisting of the import fees and taxes—around 60% to 70%—which equals about $1,292 USD in fees. This leaves $554 for the cost of the actual console, which is still $155 more than it costs here.
If you do find a way to drop this extreme amount of coin on a shiny new console and want to start building your game collection, Sony says each game will cost R$179, or around $82 USD.
This isn’t happening only in Brazil, either. In Argentina, the PS4 will cost around 6,435 Argentine pesos, which comes to around $1,100 USD, and in Chile, it will cost 329,999 Chilean pesos, which is about $670.
So next time you think the Xbox One’s $499 price tag is outrageous, think of your friends in other parts of the world who apparently need to take out a loan for these new toys.
[Source: Kotaku Brazil, G1 via Kotaku]
FYI: Xbone here: USD 900,00. PS4: USD 1.850,00. Same taxes (total is 72% over “Cost, Insurance, Freight” price).
Comment by SacaSoh — October 17, 2013 @ 10:46 pm