PlayStation TV – SA pricing and launch date

The PlayStation TV will launch in South Africa on 14 November 2014 at an estimated price of R1,500, Ster-Kinekor Entertainment has revealed.

During an interview with MyBroadband at rAge 2014, the CEO of Ster-Kinekor Entertainment, Mario Dos Santos, said that they are going to be positioning it as a “remote console”.

“There’s a dual message with the PSTV,” Dos Santos said.

In more developed markets, the ability to stream games from a PlayStation 4 via a PSTV to play them elsewhere in your home is the main gaming feature being marketed.

However, in South Africa Ster-Kinekor has opted to position it slightly differently.

“We’re really positioning it as a remote console,” Dos Santos said. “You can play 400+ [PS] Vita games on it, so it’s a really sexy piece of equipment.” The PSTV is also able to play PSP and PS One games.

PSTV owners will also be able to subscribe to PlayStation Plus, Dos Santos said, giving them access to the free games and other benefits that existing PlayStation owners get from the service.

The PlayStation South Africa website also lists three games that will be included with the PSTV: Worms Revolution Extreme, Velocity Ultra, and OlliOlli.

Asked about controller support for the PSTV, Dos Santos said that you can use your DualShock 3 (PS3) and DualShock 4 (PS4) controllers with the device.

He added that Ster-Kinekor is doing a bundle that includes a DualShock 4 and PlayStation TV for under R2,000.

In addition to benefiting new console owners who want a sub-R2,000 gaming system, Dos Santos said existing PlayStation 4 owners will also benefit from their controller+PSTV bundle offering.

“For the guys who already have their PS4 it’s also a value-add. If they’re going to get another controller, they can get the PSTV essentially at half price,” Dos Santos said.

No streaming video just yet

Questioned about whether the PSTV’s online media streaming capabilities will be available in South Africa too, Dos Santos said that they don’t have Sony’s Video Unlimited and music services as yet.

“That’s proving particularly challenging in our market because of the rights,” Dos Santos said.

“Historically, Sony has never had an office in this territory for their content businesses, so these rights are a little bit tricky to manage and I guess that’s the hold-back,” Dos Santos said.

However, there is some hope for South Africa when it comes to Sony’s Video and Music Unlimited services, Dos Santos said.

“At some point those services will be available in this territory too.”

Article courtesy of MyBroadband