Sony’s Maguire knows where the “massive land of cheap people” is
Here’s the thing: online site Games Industry recently had a chat with Sony Computer Entertainment UK (SCE UK) Managing Director Ray Maguire. He talked about the usual stuff – how Sony is going to beat the competition, how the PlayStation 3 (PS3) PAL launch was a success, you know, the usual stuff. Until he was asked on pricing.
It is no secret that the console is priced higher in UK than most of Europe, and most especially than the rest of the world. When asked about this, he amusingly answered by comparing the state of things between U.S. and UK,
If you take what’s considered to be the most expensive and the least expensive – consider the U.S. with its massive land and cheap people. Then you look at the UK – a little island where rent and rates are at an absolute premium, and the cost of people is a lot more. The cost of retail is vastly more in the UK than it is in the U.S.
And then the official continued and mentioned that this is no different than selling a cup of Starbucks coffee or a McDonald’s hamburger. According to Maguire, the cost of living is just high in UK. Factor in 17.5% VAT at the maximum and he pities the people of Sweden and Ireland.
Maguire knows well that these comments will spread across the Internet like a wild fire. And he added that Sony being on a bad light is due to today’s gaming journalistic standards and the U.S. being a country of cynic people. He said, and we quote,
You also have to remember that we’re one of the most cynical nations on the planet and even if you’re telling people the absolute truth they doubt whether that information is real or not. This is the world that we sit in and we have to accept it and make the best of it.
We don’t know how you guys would react to this but we’re just telling you what Maguire said in his interview. If you want to read about the “usual stuff,” the Read link below should take you to the full interview.
Update: In an effort to clear up these statements, Sony confirmed with gaming site 1UP that his controversial statement does not refer to Americans being cheap. We all know that wasn’t what he meant. Maguire was actually referring to the cheaper labor and cost of living in the U.S. As compared to the US$ 10/hour minimum wage of workers in UK, the Americans’ US$ 5.15/hour does seem, we don’t know, cheaper.
Here’s the thing: online site Games Industry recently had a chat with Sony Computer Entertainment UK (SCE UK) Managing Director Ray Maguire. He talked about the usual stuff – how Sony is going to beat the competition, how the PlayStation 3 (PS3) PAL launch was a success, you know, the usual stuff. Until he was asked on pricing.
It is no secret that the console is priced higher in UK than most of Europe, and most especially than the rest of the world. When asked about this, he amusingly answered by comparing the state of things between U.S. and UK,
If you take what’s considered to be the most expensive and the least expensive – consider the U.S. with its massive land and cheap people. Then you look at the UK – a little island where rent and rates are at an absolute premium, and the cost of people is a lot more. The cost of retail is vastly more in the UK than it is in the U.S.
And then the official continued and mentioned that this is no different than selling a cup of Starbucks coffee or a McDonald’s hamburger. According to Maguire, the cost of living is just high in UK. Factor in 17.5% VAT at the maximum and he pities the people of Sweden and Ireland.
Maguire knows well that these comments will spread across the Internet like a wild fire. And he added that Sony being on a bad light is due to today’s gaming journalistic standards and the U.S. being a country of cynic people. He said, and we quote,
You also have to remember that we’re one of the most cynical nations on the planet and even if you’re telling people the absolute truth they doubt whether that information is real or not. This is the world that we sit in and we have to accept it and make the best of it.
We don’t know how you guys would react to this but we’re just telling you what Maguire said in his interview. If you want to read about the “usual stuff,” the Read link below should take you to the full interview.
Update: In an effort to clear up these statements, Sony confirmed with gaming site 1UP that his controversial statement does not refer to Americans being cheap. We all know that wasn’t what he meant. Maguire was actually referring to the cheaper labor and cost of living in the U.S. As compared to the US$ 10/hour minimum wage of workers in UK, the Americans’ US$ 5.15/hour does seem, we don’t know, cheaper.
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