PS3 Slim update: official S’pore release in “second to third week of September”

The PS3 Slim has been officially released in Japan. Unfortunately, there is still no word on the exact date of the official local release here in Singapore.

Mr Lim Nurhisham, owner of a popular video games store at Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre (and more affectionately known as “Ah Lim” to his customers), said the official Singapore release of the PS3 Slim will be in the “second to third week of September”.

I’m not sure how accurate Uncle Lim’s sources are, but both Comex 2009 (10 September to 13 September) and the Games Convention Asia (September 17 to September 20) are in the second and third weeks of September respectively. You can bet your money that Sony Singapore will decide to release the PS3 Slim at either of these events.

In my haste to leave Uncle Lim’s shop, I forgot to ask him about the current price of the Phat PS3, although I doubt anybody would bother with the Phat version especially when imports of the PS3 Slim have already arrived.

Several popular local video game retailers are already selling Hong Kong versions of the PS3 Slim, with the cheapest going for SG$468.

Taking into account shipping and handling costs, the SG$468 price tag sounds just about right, and doesn’t deviate too far from my original estimated cost of SG$430.

GameAxis Online has a list of all known shops that are selling the imported PS3 Slim. Out of all those places, only Funzcentre, GameScore, S-Power House and Qisahn are familiar to this writer, and you can rest assured that these four shops are reputable and honest.

One important caveat: the imported Hong Kong sets have no warranty whatsoever, so think carefully before you decide to make a purchase.

Unless you are absolutely dying to play BlazBlue and King of Fighters XII immediately, I suggest that everyone waits till the official Singapore release just to see what Sony Singapore has to offer. In the age of Red Rings of Death and Flying Wii-motes, it pays to err on the side of caution.

The author wishes to thank AceL for posting about the GameAxis Online article in the GameSync forums.