Casino Royale, GT HD to come free with Aussie PS3s

Latest James Bond movie to come free for first 20,000 Aussie PlayStation 3 owners; PS3 accessories priced.

Keen Aussie PlayStation 3 purchasers will be receiving the same movie freebie as their UK counterparts come March, with confirmation today that the Blu-ray version of Casino Royale will be given free to the first 20,000 Australians who register on the PlayStation network.

The announcement was made today at Sony Computer Entertainment Australia's (SCEA) official media launch for the PS3 held in The Sydney Theatre, Sydney, which was attended by more than 350 journalists and game industry professionals. Casino Royale has earned more than US$560 million at the box office worldwide and will debut on a 50GB dual-layer Blu-ray Disc encoded in MPEG-4 AVC.

SCEA also confirmed that Gran Turismo HD Concept would be a free download for Australians from the PlayStation Network. The game will feature one full track and 10 playable cars.

Only the 60GB version of the PS3 will be made available in Australia when the console launches on 23 March. The console itself will cost A$999.95 ($791). SCEA also used today's event to unveil pricing for PS3 accessories. Additional Sixaxis wireless controllers will retail for A$79.95 ($63), the Blu-ray disc remote control will cost A$49.95 ($39), a PS3 component cable will cost A$39.95 ($31), and a PS3 S Video cable will set gamers back A$29.95 ($23). First-party PS3 games such as Resistance: Fall of Man, MotorStorm, Genji: Days of the Blade, Formula One Championship Edition, and Ridge Racer 7 will retail for A$99.95 ($79).

107 Comments

  • skillzdatkillz0

    Posted Mar 25, 2007 4:19 am PT

    Anyone know exactly how long it takes 007 to arrive? I wanna see how Blu-Ray looks .
    Resistance is wicked online as well, absolutely worth every dollar.

  • skillzdatkillz0

    Posted Mar 18, 2007 11:56 pm PT

    $80 per controller .
    I pick mine up this Friday xD.
    Resistance, Virtua Fighter 5 and Oblivion.
    And bihboy69, how do you know there isn't a pre-arranged deal with MGM?
    Exactly...

  • ashjohnson

    Posted Mar 18, 2007 5:40 pm PT

    "peterevansuk
    $791? Crickey mate!!"

    --STFU

  • Aragorn823

    Posted Mar 18, 2007 5:50 am PT

    Just 5 more days till launch! So exciting! The next generation will begin very soon...

  • bihboy69

    Posted Mar 18, 2007 1:11 am PT

    the Casino Royale BRDisc is not included with the PS3, because the Movie isnt released until the 11th of April.

  • meepers9

    Posted Mar 15, 2007 12:22 pm PT

    Mass Production of Blue, cost heaps, i know that around australia.
    There are a few Blue Ray disk players that tend to sell around the $1200 mark, so if your looking for an blue ray disk player your best to tend your self an PS3 to save your self $200, what tick me off about the $1000 dollars. Sony needs to make sure they won't lose any money if our dollar goes up or down.. which makes them give us an higher price -.-

  • bihboy69

    Posted Mar 14, 2007 2:43 am PT

    through the ps3. they mean first 20k people to egister to the PSN

  • ben_dover_aus_b

    Posted Mar 12, 2007 3:45 am PT

    by when they mean first 20 thousdand to register, do they mean register through here( the pc computer) or through the PS3??

  • litcarthoume

    Posted Mar 5, 2007 1:08 pm PT

    All I can say is... thank god... i've been waiting forever for this damn thing... and now that it's finally coming I can stop being so angry at Sony for delaying launch. Tho there is that cost thing... but I'm a firm believer of quality over quantity. Don't let me down, Sony.

  • her0carn

    Posted Feb 28, 2007 7:22 pm PT

    im gonna save and save and save for ps3 cant wait 2007 Spring is my goal for one.

  • para80la

    Posted Feb 28, 2007 2:43 pm PT

    Free movie? Ha! I'm still waiting for my copy of the Spiderman UMD I was supposed to get for buying my PSP on launch day. I've given up buying consoles at launch. I'll wait for the good games to arrive first, thank-you very much.

  • para80la

    Posted Feb 28, 2007 2:40 pm PT

    Free movie? Ha! I'm still waiting for my copy of the Spiderman UMD I was supposed to get for buying my PSP on launch day. I've given up buying consoles at launch. I'll wait for the good games to arrive first, thank-you very much.

  • cenz_is

    Posted Feb 27, 2007 9:51 pm PT

    interesting deal i know my friend is bragging about the free casiono royale but i guess he hasnt realized he cant use it to full powe on his SDTV

  • ColdGen

    Posted Feb 27, 2007 8:14 pm PT

    Free movie my arse. 20,000 PS3's at a cost of $1000.00 each? How much does a mass produced BluRay disk cost. Probably no more than five bucks if from Sony's own studio. Sony will no longer be getting any more of my money (apart from their funky Sony-Ericsson mobiles).

  • metalisticpain

    Posted Feb 27, 2007 5:02 pm PT

    And even with your comparisin Almight Senor sony is still the highest. Oh and thats 166% of the american price for a lesser consoles then the americans. So if you factored the missing chip in....

  • almighty_senor

    Posted Feb 27, 2007 6:29 am PT

    Hate to upset some of these 'Evil Sony' conspiracy theories, but the ps3 is no more of a rip-off for the aussies as the xbox or wii. The x360 launch price in Australia was $650 compared to the US price of $400. That means the Australian price is 162.5% that of the American price.

    The wii launch price in Australia was $400 compared to the US price of $250. That means the Australian price is 160% that of the American price.

    The ps3 launch price in Australia is $1000 compared to the US price of $600. That means the Australian price is 166% that of the American price.

    Noticing a trend here? It sucks, but I'm guessing it is more to do with our taxes.

  • anamnawshad

    Posted Feb 23, 2007 10:27 am PT

    Nice deal but the higher price of PS-3 makes up for it.....

  • GrimBee

    Posted Feb 23, 2007 7:00 am PT

    Will casino royale be on hddvd? Its not fair if it isn't - I mean, is the movie industry going to be like the game industry now, what with having to play your fave movies on different players!?

    "Just import your games. They are multi region. "

    You forget - in the UK we have a thing called an import VAT tax - you can be paying up to £30 in customs tax if you buy a bunch of games at once! (trust me, I have done this many times...).

    I have no idea what the tax is like in Australia, maybe they should lose in cricket a bit more and people wont be so harsh on them just kiddin

    I reckon that the whole region free thing will be good for a while, but when it comes to updates and online play - I think that Sony will throw in a spanner and prevent PAL regions to link with NTSC games on a PAL machine... you know it can happen...

    Either way, next gen with sony is far too expensive. I think the wii has the right idea at the moment, current gen systems like the ps2 are just fine. The 360 has a good, varied price as well. But £425 - with a possibility of a free movie? It kind of sucks, it should be two free games or something, or a free pad -

    or... some free freaking HDMI cables!!! ever think about that one!?

  • lostn

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 9:12 pm PT

    oh_its_on,

    $100 AUD for a game is only for first party games like Resistance. Third party games will charge royalties, inflating it to $120 AUD.

    This is about $95 US dollars. Compare that to what the yanks pay, which is $60.

    Australia and Europe are getting ripped off. Although this is no different to how the scene is with the X360. To be fair though, they are charging the same money for a Blu Ray game as Microsoft charges for DVD games, and Blu Ray discs are far more expensive to produce at the moment. But it's still outrageous that we're paying over 50% more than yanks for the same product.

    Just import your games. They are multi region.

  • oh_its_on

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 7:42 pm PT

    100 buks for the games is GOOD! i mean we pay 110 to 120 dollars on 360 games
    100 buks is a good price for games
    i dnt think 1000 dollars is that bad for this sytemn i mean for most ppl theyll make that in a couple of weeks

  • Pete5506

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 7:38 pm PT

    what cjnwo4life said

  • cjnwo4life

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 7:03 pm PT

    Good for them for the movie but it should come included inside the box and not by registering.

  • chrislovesdana

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 5:10 pm PT

    I don't give a crap. I'M RICH BEYACH!!!!!

  • lostn

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 4:15 pm PT

    $79 USD for a first party game? vs $50 USD that the americans pay. That's $30 more. $791 for a PS3 when you guys are paying $600? And you thought you had it bad...

    Start importing.

    And the price on those sixaxis? Highway robbery.

    ------"Are you people idiots?! They are not bashing Sony and some Aussies are willing to pay $1000. They get paid different than we do. Their currency is different from ours. In the article it says $1000 (Australian) is about $791 (American). They paying more than us, but they are getting better stuff than we get here"------

    No. Australians get paid less than americans and pay more taxes. The contents are the same for the extra $191. The free movie is different (Talladega vs Casino Royale) but that only applies to the first 20,000 to sign up for PSN.

    ------"Holy crap!! I hope Australians make good money because $80 for a game, and $800 for the system is crazy. I'd never buy a PS3 if it were that way in the US."-----

    They don't make good money. And $80 is only for first party games. Third party games will cost $100 USD. If Sony wonders why they will tank down here this generation, they only have to look at this article.

    ------"different economy,different taxes. diff price. so ny has nothing to do with it. so get over it."------

    You are an idiot, and I can tell you are ignorant of any country's economy outside of the US. For the same job, you'll be getting paid LESS in Aust than you will in the US, and you'll be taxed MORE. That means you have less disposable income than in the US, but you're paying more. So we as a whole, are poorer. But I doubt you'd ever grasp that concept. The game prices are no different to 360's.

    Some of you are so ignorant that you'd ignore this pricing attrocity and see it as a GOOD deal! You'd complain that we have it better and you have it worse because we get Casino Royale free isntead of Talladega. I'd rather take that $191 and buy about 6 movies, including CR.

  • Gamer443

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 2:18 pm PT

    damn and i thought we had it worse

  • jknight5422

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 1:25 pm PT

    "funny how gamespot haven't mentioned that the preorders for the ps3 are 6 times higher than the 360s. Gamespots Sony bashing continues.."
    ---SonyPSP

    What do you mean exactly? The entire point of the article is how
    expensive the PS3 is on release. The 360 isn't that costly there. Just
    more reasons not to buy a PS3, if you ask me. Sony should go ahead
    & sink $2 billion into it. It's one lousy business model they have: a
    big console & no games to speak of.

  • choasgod

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 12:40 pm PT

    Wow :-) First Party games are going for Last-gen games prices :-) and Casino Royal for free ... :-) and Component cables are cheaper than i expected ... :-) So i guess all i can realli complain aobut is the price of PS3 itself ... $1000 still is over the top ( tho im going to get a launch anyway )

  • ticalmc2k2

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 12:35 pm PT

    "They paying more than us, but they are getting better stuff than we get here. Casino Royale and GT HD! You can't lose!"

    Yeah I'd rather save $200 and then spend $30 for the Blu-ray and download GTHD for free.

  • ticalmc2k2

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 12:30 pm PT

    Holy crap!! I hope Australians make good money because $80 for a game, and $800 for the system is crazy. I'd never buy a PS3 if it were that way in the US.

  • ObiKKa

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 11:06 am PT

    Despite the Australia's GST tax Sony still has outrightly ripped us off here in Australia, as well as in every other country outside of Japan & NA. The Xbox 360 has very fair prices ROUND THE WORLD, unlike the PS3! Sony did so just so they can hope to make up for the huge losses that they're making by selling them at prices way below its own production cost in America & Japan! They're so scared, & I'm so pissed off & offended at their attitude of trying to "pamper" the audiences in NA & Japan just so they can hope to sell even more, while shafting the rest of the world (us)! They're not as brave as Chow Yun-Fat in John Woo-style actioners!

    vtss120204 Anyone know if the pal playstation 3's will run at full speed without any black borders,it is just that i remember the older pal machines were allways about 15 percent slower than the ntsc machines and the games had these horrible black borders top and bottom,maybe seen as how there running in hi def these days they don't get that problem,but if they do have that problem i will deffently be importing.

    No, fortunately, the high definition resolutions are now UNIVERSAL STANDARD 1111PWNONEFORONE!!! F@ck the extremely worse-than-alien-poop-Berlin-Wall-style-division-people-getting-hurt-angry-depressed-mad-furious-berzerked-wanna-kill-electronics-companies-including-Sony-stupid-decision-making-exec-dweebs-Good-Riddance-4-ALL that is the PAL & NTSC region coding. Oh! Absolutely horrible! It has absolutely ruined many old games forever, but there are some, erm, "software" that can run them at the right 60Hz. Far, far worse than the 6 DVD region codings (At least there is an Aussie company called Zensonic that makes high-quality & featured region-free DVD players, that also plays movie files! Now let's see them make the same players for the BDs & HD-DVDs!). The region coding for the BDs is very good looking at the areas, coz it's only 3 regions (one of them is exclusively a bit like only for China, it seems, so = higher barrier measures 2 da naughty home Chinese people). HD-DVDs has probably none at all! In the future I only wanna see 2 regions or NONE on newer physical formats.

    So in conclusion: thank god for the universal resolution standards. Phew! They (electronics companies) seems to have finally realised that it really, really has hurt & is more costly 2 the game developers trying to convert them in either PAL & NTSC formats, plus the visuals screen size looks wrong in some places.

  • mad_tyger

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 10:31 am PT

    Wow, and I thought the games were expensive in the States.

  • ObiKKa

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 10:28 am PT

    Casino Royale! Wha..?! But then when I read that it's just 4 da 1st 20,000 registered gamers, well, I thought "Bummer, not a good deal (coz it's not continuous)".

    Look, darthhoush, it's just for the first 20,000 gamers who've registered onto the PSN after having bought the PS3. Zing!

  • darthhoush

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 10:21 am PT

    Are you people idiots?! They are not bashing Sony and some Aussies are willing to pay $1000. They get paid different than we do. Their currency is different from ours. In the article it says $1000 (Australian) is about $791 (American). They paying more than us, but they are getting better stuff than we get here. Casino Royale and GT HD! You can't lose! I'm even a Nintendo Fanboy and that's a steal compared to here. All you get is a crappy Talledega Nights Blu-Ray. WTF! Stop Complaining!

  • Uzburacuz9

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 10:14 am PT

    different economy,different taxes. diff price. so ny has nothing to do with it. so get over it.

  • SonyPSP

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 10:13 am PT

    funny how gamespot haven't mentioned that the preorders for the ps3 are 6 times higher than the 360s.

    Gamespots Sony bashing continues..

  • Uzburacuz9

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 10:11 am PT

    hey. whatever floats your boat kickinit ;-)

  • KickinIt_ftw

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 9:37 am PT

    @dwarlf :

    Uzburacuz9
    for US it would be expensive. not for them"

    no, for us osssssies love paying $1000 for a console. We had to pay $100US more for the 360 so why not pay $200US more for the PS3. We practically have money coming out our ears from all the crocodile hunting we do afterall.

    ...don't forget all that prize money from boxing kangaroos!

  • Ryusuken

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 8:35 am PT

    My only coment about prices are: there are taxes to be paid, not only the monetary convertion. I dont know about them in Australia, or Uk or even the rest of Europe, and the fact that so many fanboys forget such things exist and that Sony has no control whatsoever on them its just astounding (just wanted to use the word....hehehe). Here in Brazil, imports that have prices above 500 USD got a tax that makes us pay another 60% on that price....and PS3 is selling quite a lot here (and that info comes from the stores I have friends working on, they are not that many (gaming Stores), but that its selling at such a high price, sometimes 1300 USD is simply amazing IMO).

    As for the Info on Aussie launch. Be happy and enjoy.

  • Commando47

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 8:25 am PT

    Holy Crap...the Aussies sure are lucky...

    Fact= Blue Ray is kick ass and looks great (I am no fan boy as i dont own and HD player or a PS3)

    FACT= Casino Royale is a kick ass movie

    FACT: Put those two together...you may as well stay at home and pull up a seat and get a BIG bowl of popcorn....

  • bozco-mkd

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 8:00 am PT

    man why cant we have that too...............im getting ps3 with god of war 2...lol

  • Sanguis_Malus

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 7:59 am PT

    Sony are cheeky and thats putting it mildly so that this post does not get deleted !

  • dwarlf

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 7:53 am PT

    "Uzburacuz9
    for US it would be expensive. not for them"
    no, for us osssssies love paying $1000 for a console. We had to pay $100US more for the 360 so why not pay $200US more for the PS3. We practically have money coming out our ears from all the crocodile hunting we do afterall.

  • rijnie

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 7:52 am PT

    i dont care about the price like everyone and eerybody here and there! Iam rich ! well... my dad, but still

  • frogman666

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 7:52 am PT

    I think its expensive no matter where you live thats why people are already not buying them or waiting on their tax return to get them poor sony they sure shot themselves in the foot lol

  • noodles12345678

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 7:45 am PT

    jelopek
    Yep ! Not expensive for us...
    So stop stop complaining...

    wow can everybody stop talking about price differences. if it bothers you so much move to the country where its "cheapest". and i put that in " because there is NO DIRECT like whats it called..like translation of money or whatever, just because when they say like $999 AU ($791 US) that isn't an accurate representation of the price difference. economies are different in each country and money is worth more or less and easier to obtain or harder to obtain through working, depending on where you live at. so the ps3 could very well be more expensive for the average american than it is for the average australian. although i'm sure it is more expensive in australia because of how they have to ship the system and stuff like that but its not an outrageous amount more than what it is in other places like so many kids on this website like to think.

  • fonzieahmed

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 7:43 am PT

    awesome.

  • purplemonkey87

    Posted Feb 22, 2007 7:32 am PT

    $791? Crickey mate!!

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