Updated 26 May, 2012, 4:18 pm IST

PlayStation Move in India by September

10 Jul, 2010, 2:39 pm IST | by Avinash Bali

You asked the questions. We got them answered by the head of PlayStation India.

Why is the play station 3 priced higher in India than the West? If you break it down we are paying close to 100 dollars more than our international counterparts. Surely this can’t be a very good sales strategy right?� - Zain Merchant

While we are aggressively pursuing the Indian market, we need to be cognizant of our cost structure as well as the high tax structure ( ~ 35 % between import taxes & VAT ) for the category. The PS3 consoles have been price optimized for the market and have generated a good response from the market.

When will games be cheaper than Rs. 2500 and be in a reasonable price range such as 1500 or below? – Prashant Jain

There are no immediate plans for being able to bring down the Full Value new launch titles for PS3 below the current INR 2499 level. However, we are working closely with the other publishers so that they recognize the Indian market potential and follow the INR 2499 policy.

In terms of choice to the end consumers for good games at a more economic value, the Platinum range for PS3 is quite substantial with all the key titles from all Publishers present. The platinum titles are all available in the Indian market at INR 1499 and have a higher level of accessibility for the ‘new to gaming’ audience.

When are you people planning to have a good game development studio in India? Hopefully then we’ll have access to good localized games. – Vaibhav

We are working with a number of local Game Development companies who have already created full cycle games on PS2, PSP & PSN platforms. The experience has been good and indicates towards a bright future for the game development industry in India.

Even beyond the games that has already been launched with the Indian game developers, we are still working with a number of them on different Indian content titles that will be rolled out within the next 12 months.

What genre of games will playstation move support? – Swapnil

The biggest strength of the PS Move is its capability of supporting a very wide genre of games. While the initial launch games will focus on the family audience with fun games, PS Move will also have focus on the core gamers. Given the precision factors, there will be a number of core games from the action/adventure/shooting genre that will be coming in with Move functionality. This will not be restricted to SCE games but will cover many of the other publishers’ titles also.

With the launch of PS Move, the motion sensing gaming can truly get into the domain of core gamers while enchanting the family gamers with fun games of their choice.

I know PSN is not there in India. This is a very basic omission. It brings down tremendously the value that PS3 has to offer for Indians so I can’t understand the delay.

The biggest shortcomings had been the weak internet connectivity speed of India as well as a lower installed base for the market. But currently, we are in a pretty advanced stage of the roll out of the PS Store for India and the same should be available soon.

I hope that one day Indians can not only buy games but also rent / buy movies from PSN. I understand this will require some understanding with distributors of this region. But I am sure it can work out with Sony's willingness right? – Sameer Saksena

Like the PS Store, the other features also will be sequenced out depending on the infrastructural condition as well as the licensing arrangements for content distribution. We recognize the potential of India in terms of entertainment content ( as many of our Sony group of companies are actively participating in the same ) and the opportunity for PS3 as being able to aggregate such an effort.

If you are bringing Collector's Editions after you launch PSN in India, can we have God of War 3 Ultimate Edition and Heavy Rain Collector's Edition please? – Pushpraj Pradhan

With the PS Store in place for India, availability of the Collector’s Edition for various future titles will be a definite focus. However, it may be difficult to commit or plan any of the older Collector’s edition which are generally limited edition.

I think Sony should provide extended warranty on the PS3 as these are not repairable in India. I am a proud owner of the PS3 but I wouldn’t mind paying a bit extra for better warranty support. Your views on this?� - Sachin Mohan

Currently we have a specific PlayStation service policy of exchange with a new, equivalent model. This is done free of cost or at 50% of the current Retail Price depending on the warranty status. For obvious reason, the warranty covers only the official purchases made in India while the service facility is extended to all PAL territory products that may have come into India.

We have evaluated the extended warranty support being made available at a cost to the end consumers. We have doubt the same can be done at an economically affordable way given that the sets do not get repaired in India.