Many territories are lacking PS3 online store
by Ross Miller 
{ Mar 27th 2007 at 5:48PM }
According to SCEE Director of Corporate Communications Nick Sharples, many of the over 102 territories in the region have no access to the PlayStation 3 Online Store. Different currencies and languages were cited as reasons for the delay. "Stores will reach some territories in due course," he told Games Industry.
No dates have been given for upcoming store launches. Sharples also said that some territories will not get a store at all due to other factors such as broadband penetration. "The PS Store may not be accessible in Azerbaijan, for example," he said. We don't have console sale data for each of these countries, so we would love to hear from PS3 owners gaming sans online store how much they care about it, if at all.
[Via PS3 Fanboy]
[Update 1: Fixed a misrepresentation of Sharples' quotes.]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Cee @ Mar 27th 2007 5:52PM
Those countries shouldn't worry. They aren't missing anything.
Intentless @ Mar 27th 2007 5:53PM
I don't have the online store and honestly I'm doing ok without... Oh wait... I don't have a PS3 either...
Sonyfanboyssuck (ROFL SUCH A CLEVER NAME!!!111oneone!!!1) @ Mar 27th 2007 5:58PM
Who the hell in a third-world country owns a PS3?
Jason @ Mar 27th 2007 5:59PM
And they can't complain because it's FREE!
hahahahaha, this is what free online gets you... We'll add "X" feature whenever we feel like it!
dave @ Mar 27th 2007 6:08PM
Is the Wii virtual console available in all territories it has been sold in?
It sucks that they don't have the store yet, but I assume they can still play online games like RFOM, right?
Intentless @ Mar 27th 2007 6:08PM
Its like when On Demand doesn't work. The access to the service is technicly free so if it doesn't work your not going to get credit on your cable bill for it....
Eric Iberri @ Mar 27th 2007 10:37PM
You mean "More than 102 territories..."
Just kidding. I love you guys.
Loopback @ Mar 27th 2007 6:13PM
How come you guys are so ANTI-PS3?
I'm a proud owner of Xbox 360, and XBL ins't enabled 'in here'
I live in Moscow, Russia (which is a third world country after all), and i don't really recall any of blogs/articles that was mentioning 'the disfunctionality' of Microsofts' online service in any of theese (or other) third world countries.
SomeGamerGuy @ Mar 28th 2007 2:59AM
@5
I got a nice refund on my cable bill when my On-Demand was messing up. They found the problem (connection length from the box on the house, around to the house, then to the TV was too long and degraded the signal strength for that frequency), supplied me with an amplifier that made it work great, and offered me a refund ($25) for the inconvinience.
Loopback @ Mar 27th 2007 6:15PM
@8 oh dude, you r tottaly right 'bout that one.
down wit anti ps3 joystiq hatin'
Intentless @ Mar 27th 2007 6:20PM
This article looks pretty straight forward it doesn't look like the author is being biased or anti-sony... The commenters on the other hand are...
AirIntake @ Mar 27th 2007 6:23PM
I live in Canada, pay the same per year as Americans, yet I don't get any of the HD TV and movie downloads.
Joost Schuur @ Mar 27th 2007 7:03PM
This news item is incorrect. The exact quote is:
"There are more than 102 territories in the region, and each Store has to be made unique for each territory due to different currencies and languages," he explained. "Stores will reach some territories in due course."
It doesn't say that 102 territories lack the online store.
Mr Khan @ Mar 27th 2007 6:26PM
the people of Azerbaijan grow enraged
soon they shall arise, crush Armenia, and then nuke the earth
all because they don't have the PSStore
For shame, Sony :P
copa @ Mar 27th 2007 6:33PM
"Who the hell in a third-world country owns a PS3?"
And to think I had no idea that Greece, Israel, and Saudia Arabia were third-world countries. I get smarter and smarter every day reading Joystiq comments.
AirIntake @ Mar 27th 2007 6:34PM
I guess I should specify I'm talking about Xbox Live
copa @ Mar 27th 2007 6:35PM
Joystiq, please stop reporting facts. They have an anti-PS3 bias.
I am leaving Joystiq to go to http://www.threespeech.com/ because it makes me sad and angry every time you report news that is not positive for the PS3.
Almadi @ Mar 27th 2007 6:42PM
The XBOX Live Marketplace and the Wii download services work fine here in Saudi Arabia, Although the online games suffer much lag.
I saw a whole lot of untouched PS3 inventory in a number of stores here a couple of days after launch. The PS3 retails for SR 2500 ($666, evil I know). There is a major Wii shortage even though it sells for $600.
Almadi @ Mar 27th 2007 6:45PM
I can't believe I said:
"There is a major Wii shortage"...
Ordeith @ Mar 27th 2007 8:52PM
each Store has to be made unique for each territory due to different currencies
POINTS FTW!
Matt B @ Mar 27th 2007 9:08PM
LMAO
the Wii sell for $66 less than the PS3 in SA!!
CJ @ Mar 28th 2007 12:09AM
Can someone tell me why not having the PS store is a bad thing? There is nothing there anyways. For Christ's sake, I am still buying PS2 games because the games for PS3 are embarassingly bad. Good thing they were able to get the backwards compatibility fixed. I am so furious about this garbage console that Sony put together. Doesn't anybody wonder why this scientific marvel seems incapable to produce anything better than 360 remakes/ports? If this console is so superior then where is the proof. Not even first party titles show a hint of superiority. It is embarassing that this thing was not even HD ready out of the box. I loved my PSX, I thoroughly enjoyed the PS2, but I absolutely hate everything about this console. Thanks for selling me a $600 paperweight Sony, greatly appreciated.
Dagur @ Mar 28th 2007 4:40AM
As far as i know we still don't have the virtual console in Iceland. We all have our country set as the UK instead (which is annoying if you want to use the weather channel for example).