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News just in. Sony are having a row with our very own HM Customs and Excise department over the classification of what a PS2 really is. The Customs say it is a videogames player because it is 'not all that different from the Playstation which Sony launched in 1995'. (I am quoting directly here.) Sony, on the other hand, are slightly miffed by this to say the least. They say that with its 128-bit microprocessor and DVD capability it should be classed as a computer, not as a videogames player.
Now, as gamers, we all know exactly what the PS2 is. A games console, right? Then what are Sony playing at?
The truth has dawned. If the PS2 is classed as a videogames player, Sony will have to bear the brunt of an extra 2.2% tax to export it to the UK; if it is classed as a computer, they won't have to pay this extra money, which would add considerably to the losses that the Sony Corporation have already incurred over the launch of the PS2. This news, whichever way you look at it, is bad for gamers. Although Sony won't pass on the extra 2.2% to us gamers by hiking the price of the console, they will eventually find a way of clawing this lost revenue back. But, worst of all, all of us gamers know full well that there is a distinct difference between computers and game consoles, and the PS2 is definitely the latter variety of machine, so are Sony betraying us on the quiet by insisting it's a computer on the one hand and marketing it to us as a games machine on the other? Looks like it to me.
Now, as gamers, we all know exactly what the PS2 is. A games console, right? Then what are Sony playing at?
The truth has dawned. If the PS2 is classed as a videogames player, Sony will have to bear the brunt of an extra 2.2% tax to export it to the UK; if it is classed as a computer, they won't have to pay this extra money, which would add considerably to the losses that the Sony Corporation have already incurred over the launch of the PS2. This news, whichever way you look at it, is bad for gamers. Although Sony won't pass on the extra 2.2% to us gamers by hiking the price of the console, they will eventually find a way of clawing this lost revenue back. But, worst of all, all of us gamers know full well that there is a distinct difference between computers and game consoles, and the PS2 is definitely the latter variety of machine, so are Sony betraying us on the quiet by insisting it's a computer on the one hand and marketing it to us as a games machine on the other? Looks like it to me.
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That was much better!
Dan_uk wrote:
> Babylonian, you did it again.
> Try brief replies instead of quoting and explaining against every
> point overwise most people will just ignor the message (well I
> normally do anyway).
I do leave out as much as I can; I simply quote the relevant parts so that people don't have to go back in the thread to know what the hell I'm talking about.
If you don't like the way I do things, feel free to ignore my posts. I'm sure my feelings won't be *too* hurt.
> Babylonian, you did it again.
> Try brief replies instead of quoting and explaining against every
> point overwise most people will just ignor the message (well I
> normally do anyway).
I do leave out as much as I can; I simply quote the relevant parts so that people don't have to go back in the thread to know what the hell I'm talking about.
If you don't like the way I do things, feel free to ignore my posts. I'm sure my feelings won't be *too* hurt.
Multiply that by 2.5 million units shipped (I pulled that out of thin air as an estimate of how many PS2's will be shipped by the time Customs make up their mind about what the PS2 actually is) and you get 15 million quid, and that's about the annual payroll for 400 jobs in South Wales (including tax and National Insurance Contributions.) Didn't Sony just axe 400 jobs in South Wales? Is this a bizarre coincidence? Is there a conspiracy going on?
Actually, 2.2% is only about £6 in the PS2 case and £4 in the Gamecubes case so I think that they should just stop being so greedy!
If Sony DO get away with it then Nintendo and Sega should try it too. That way there'll be cheaper games for ALL of us!
The whole point of this, really, is to say that the PS2 is not a computer, and if Sony say it is, then it doesn't necessarily mean its true.
If Sony get away with it, I will be very suprised.
If Sony get away with it, I will be very suprised.
Babylonian, you did it again.
Try brief replies instead of quoting and explaining against every point overwise most people will just ignor the message (well I normally do anyway).
Try brief replies instead of quoting and explaining against every point overwise most people will just ignor the message (well I normally do anyway).
> If it's a computer (yes, I know it has a microprocessor,
> so does my watch), where is the keyboard, the VDU, the floppy disk
> drive, the AGP slots etc.? Not a very good computer is it?
Well, with most PC's you have to pay extra for a VDU, a keyboard is no doubt forthcoming (as internet use is difficult without one), and so is a HD. My old Amiga A500 came with no screen and no HD, but that wasn't a console.
> I think Sony are being a bit cheap by
> trying to save 2.2% export duty.
Maybe so; all I'm saying is that I can see their point - the machine has the capability and connections of a PC - just because it doesn't come with them out of the box shouldn't matter.
>I felt a little betrayed by Sony, after all, I've been using their
>product for 5 years now, and feel a bit peeved when they try to call
> it a computer and not a games console
I don't understand why you feel 'betrayed' though. Apart from Sony paying more tax, what does it matter what classification it falls under? It's still the same product, doing the same things.
The product you've been using for the last 5 years is a games console, as - apart from audio CD's - that's all it does. PS2 - though primarily for games - is capable of so much more that it can't be classed as 'simply' a games machine, IMHO.
> so does my watch), where is the keyboard, the VDU, the floppy disk
> drive, the AGP slots etc.? Not a very good computer is it?
Well, with most PC's you have to pay extra for a VDU, a keyboard is no doubt forthcoming (as internet use is difficult without one), and so is a HD. My old Amiga A500 came with no screen and no HD, but that wasn't a console.
> I think Sony are being a bit cheap by
> trying to save 2.2% export duty.
Maybe so; all I'm saying is that I can see their point - the machine has the capability and connections of a PC - just because it doesn't come with them out of the box shouldn't matter.
>I felt a little betrayed by Sony, after all, I've been using their
>product for 5 years now, and feel a bit peeved when they try to call
> it a computer and not a games console
I don't understand why you feel 'betrayed' though. Apart from Sony paying more tax, what does it matter what classification it falls under? It's still the same product, doing the same things.
The product you've been using for the last 5 years is a games console, as - apart from audio CD's - that's all it does. PS2 - though primarily for games - is capable of so much more that it can't be classed as 'simply' a games machine, IMHO.
To: Babylonian
Re: > (I am quoting directly here)
Hi, sorry I wasn't able to reply quickly but I've had a terrible toothache and have been laid up for a day or two. The article originally broke on Reuters early on the morning of 1/11/00, and was reported on the FT.com site the next day. I posted the details here because I felt a little betrayed by Sony, after all, I've been using their product for 5 years now, and feel a bit peeved when they try to call it a computer and not a games console. If it's a computer (yes, I know it has a microprocessor, so does my watch), where is the keyboard, the VDU, the floppy disk drive, the AGP slots etc.? Not a very good computer is it? As a games console it is undoubtedly very good at its job, so should be classified as such, and I think Sony are being a bit cheap by trying to save 2.2% export duty. Still, business is business, and if they can save a bit of money then fair dinkum. But to try and do it in such an underhand way, i.e. trying to deny that the PS2 is a games console, is just too much.
Re: > (I am quoting directly here)
Hi, sorry I wasn't able to reply quickly but I've had a terrible toothache and have been laid up for a day or two. The article originally broke on Reuters early on the morning of 1/11/00, and was reported on the FT.com site the next day. I posted the details here because I felt a little betrayed by Sony, after all, I've been using their product for 5 years now, and feel a bit peeved when they try to call it a computer and not a games console. If it's a computer (yes, I know it has a microprocessor, so does my watch), where is the keyboard, the VDU, the floppy disk drive, the AGP slots etc.? Not a very good computer is it? As a games console it is undoubtedly very good at its job, so should be classified as such, and I think Sony are being a bit cheap by trying to save 2.2% export duty. Still, business is business, and if they can save a bit of money then fair dinkum. But to try and do it in such an underhand way, i.e. trying to deny that the PS2 is a games console, is just too much.
.
> Was the NES ever made for cooking an egg? NO, it was specially for games ONLY.
I take it you've never felt how hot these things used to get ;)
> Was the NES ever made for cooking an egg? NO, it was specially for games ONLY.
I take it you've never felt how hot these things used to get ;)
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