Sony exec pegs PS3 at about 500 euros (AU$845)?

While Sony unveiled a number of its upcoming plans for the PlayStation 3 last month at the PlayStation Business Briefing and in its Game Developers Conference keynote address (including a planned November 2006 launch for Australia), a few details are still conspicuously unannounced, most notably the price of the machine. It's been an increasingly hot topic of discussion since a February Merrill Lynch report pegged the manufacturing cost of the system at a whopping US$900, but now Sony Computer Entertainment Europe vice president Georges Fornay has addressed the issue.

In an interview with Europe 1 radio program Générations Europe 1 yesterday, Fornay was asked about speculation that the PS3 would retail for 500 euros.

"If we take into account Blu-ray, HD video with drives priced at around 1,000 euros and above, [the PS3] will be a bargain," Fornay told Europe 1. "If we only look at the game function, it's true that consoles were usually priced under 500 euros. We will be at this price point ["nous serons dans cette fourchette," or price fork]. It will be expensive if we only look at the game aspect of the machine, but it will be very cheap if we account for the set of technologies that it will integrate."

Even if the PS3 does hit shelves for 500 euros, that doesn't necessarily mean Australian gamers will be paying upwards of AU$800 for the PS3 when it comes out. Price points usually vary between territories.