102 European Territories Without Store Access

While the PS3 set new sales records in the UK, and most gamers walked away happy with a much better launch software lineup and far better availability, not everything is strawberries and cream. Unfortunately, access to the PlayStation Store remains limited in Europe for the time being.

So far, it's been reported that PS3 users in Greece, Croatia, Bulgaria, Israel, Ireland, and Saudi Arabia (among many others) can't log in to the Store at this time. SCEE Director of Corporate Communications Nick Sharples has said over a hundred different European territories are without access to the PS, and apparently, the reason for the delay centers on "different currencies and languages." But it's being worked on, even as we speak.

"Stores will reach some territories in due course," Sharples told Games Industry.But while most will eventually get the Store, a few territories won't ever have access to the Store, due to a variety of other factors. One of those factors is "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."

Well, we don't know how many consumers in those areas bought PS3s, either, but at least the Store seems to be available in the major European territories.

3/27/2007 Ben Dutka

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