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Title : Avid Games Willingly Pay More For These Playstation3.
But Parallel-Imported Consoles Do Not Have Warranties And May Not Be Safe
By : Leung Wai-Leng ( Former Fren + Regular Customer )
Lim Yee Hung

All Video Gamers Want For This Christmas Is The Sony Playstation3 And They Are Happy To Pay Throuth THe Nose For The Pleasure Of Owning The Console. Sony Has Yet To Offically Launch The PS3 Here But Local Retailers Are Offering Parallel-Imported Sets Of The Popular Gadget For $1600 - Nealy Twice The US$599 Retail Price In The United States And Gamers Are Snapping Them Up.

Most Of The Machines Are Imported From Japan, US And Hongkong, Where The PS3 Has Already Been Released. Sony Has Not Disclosed A Launch Date In Singapore. What Buyers May Not Know, However, Is That These Parallel-Imported Sets Do Not Have Warranties As They Were Not Imported Through Sony's Offical Channels. And They May Pose An Electrical Hazard To Users, Warns Spring Singapore, The Agency That Manages The Consumer Protection Registration Scheme.

The Scheme Requires Suppliers Of High-Rish Electronic Products, Including The PS3, To Register Their Products Before They Can Be Sold In Singapore. Sony Singapore Said Parallel-Imported Sets Have Not Been Approved For Sale And Usage By Authorities Here. This Was Confirmed By Spring Singapore.

Traders Found Guilty Of Selling PS3 Sets Not Registered With Spring Singapore Face A 2 Year Jail Term Or A Fine Of $10000 Or Both. This, However Has Not Dampened The Roaring Trade In The Consoles. A Check Last Week With 10 Game Retailers At Funan Digital-LIfe Mall And Sim Lim Square, 2 Of The Most Shopping Centres For Techies In Singapore Showed That Most Were Actively Selling The PS3

8 Offered The PS3s For Sales And Even Displayed Them Prominently On Store Shelves. There Retailers Say The PS3 Sold For An Even Higher Price Of $1799 When It First Arrived Last Month But Prices Have Since Fallen. Business Has Been Brisk So Far. One Game Shop In Funan Sold More Than 80 Sets In Two Weeks While Another Sold 15 Sets In A Day.

Said One Gameshop Owner :" This Is The Same Situation As When The PS3 Was Launched. We Also Imported The PS2 Before It Was Released Here And Sold It For About $1000 Which Was About $600 More Than The Retail Price."

Spring Singapore Pointed Out That Electrical Products Sold Here Must Be Designed To Operate At The Local Voltage Of 230V. Electronics From US ANd Japan, Like The PS3 On Sale, Are Designed To Operate Off A 110V Supply.

Importers Supply Adapters To Get Around This Difference But Spring Singapore Said This Does Not Mean The Product Is Safe. Among The Riskes Cited By Its Director Of Consumer Product Safety, Mr Michael Ong, Were Electrocuted From Wrongly Inserting Plugs Meant For US Sockets, And Lack Of Knowledge Of Safety Precautions Due To Instruction Manual Printed In Japanese.

Mr Ong Said :" In View Of The High Risks Involved And Consumers' Ignorance On The Technical Structure Of The Game Console, Spring Singapore Is Of The View That Non-Registered Parallel Imported Of The PS3 Should Not Be Sold Here."

When The Straits Times Asked Retailer If The PS3s There Were Selling Had Been Registered With Spring Singapore, All But One Declined To Comment. Said The Retailer Who Operates A Store In Funan :" The PS3 Has Not Been Offically Released Here, So It Has Not Been Approved By Spring. I Believe This Is The Case With All The Retailers Selling PS3 In Singapore."

The Risk Has Not Dissuaded Avid Games Like Mr J.L Lee, A Civil Servant Who Bought An Imported PS3 Just After It Was Launched In Japan On November 11th. He Said :" I'm Used To Buying First-Launch Consoles And So Far, I Have Experienced No Defects."