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PlayStation Store provides no support in several countries
- March 26, 2007 15:05 PM PST
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Frustrated PS3 owners unearth the lack of PlayStation Store support in numerous PAL territories across the world.
By Frederick Cannon
The PS3 landed in stores across the PAL region just a few days ago, and consumers in the region's 102 territories are quickly picking up the console and bringing it home. Many connected PS3 owners have already begun to explore Sony's PlayStation Network for the first time, eager to download exclusive content from the PlayStation Store, including such titles as Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection and Gram Turismo HD.
Unfortunately, many of those gamers were dismayed to discover that the PlayStation Store was inaccessible in their respective countries, and that content could not be downloaded under normal circumstances. According to a forum thread on the official European PlayStation forums, Greece, Iceland, Bulgaria, and several other minor European countries have been affected by the lockout. A number of other countries outside the European Union, such as Saudi Arabia and Israel, also find themselves under similar circumstances.
Although Sony has not yet issued an official press release in relation to the matter, Nick Sharples, director of corporate communications for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, has told GamesIndustry.biz that the delay in allowing certain territories access to the PlayStation Store stems from complications in translation.
"[E]ach Store has to be made unique for each territory due to different currencies and languages," he states.
Although he explains that a majority of the territories will eventually gain access to the PlayStation Store at a later date, he regrets that a small number of them won't ever gain access at all due to certain factors. For instance, he states that Azerbaijan will not be able to access the PlayStation Store due to a lack of broadband penetration.
As of now, Sony has not yet produced a timetable revealing when each of the locked-out territories will be able to access the service.
