Before anything else, please bear in mind that I'm speaking from my experience as an Indonesian citizen who happen to own a PC, PS4, and Switch. No XBox so I may be misinformed about it but I've done my research.
So anyway. Indonesia, many people may not know its location or haven't even heard about the country. It's such an insignificant country especially when it comes to console revenue. Despite that fact, Sony reached out to us and give us full support on everything.
Sony Center
Yes, Sony actually opened a branch here a few years ago in the PS3 era, providing full support on selling the consoles and warranty claims as well as repairs. Today, they have 6 Sony Centers across the country, with dozens of official stores and service/repair centers. Consoles and games are plentiful here, we don't need to import and worry about warranty and other services.
On the other hand, Microsoft and Nintendo never bother to even open a small office. They haven't officially released their consoles here so we have to import to get one. And of course, no warranty and official service for us. Just like the consoles, we also have to import the games or buy from resellers.
Playstation Store
On top of physical goods support, Sony also offers digital support. PSN is fully accessible from Indonesia, and everything is purchasable with our currency, IDR. It doesn't stop there, they also give a decent regional pricing policy, which means that digital games on our PSN store are cheaper than the default $60 price tag. For example, God of War was 600k IDR at launch, or equal to $40. Horizon was also cheap as far as I remember. Unfortunately, this doesn't apply to all games (just like Steam). Most 3rd party publishers still set the pricing from the $60 straight conversion. Speaking of Steam, Dragon Quest XI is cheaper in PSN than on Steam.
On XBox One, people usually use a US or Singapore account to be able to purchase games on the store. As for the Switch, we can't even access the eShop unless we setup a special proxy/nds on our network settings. They simply don't want our business.
Gift Cards
This seems like a non-issue for developed countries, but in my country, most people are still reluctant to open a credit card account. The majority of people are still comfortable with debit cards and cash, therefore buying games directly from the console and/or PSN will be a huge turnoff. And here's where Sony step in by distributing Gift Cards of our currency to fill our PSN wallet. We can buy them digitally and physically in minimarkets. Just like games, Gift Cards are also often on sales which is always a good thing to have. Even though I buy most of my console games physically, I have a few digital PS4 games on my account.
Ultimately, it's just disappointing that Microsoft and Nintendo haven't made a move on us after all these years. XBox 360 can still be seen in stores, the Wii was very popular, and NDS/3DS are basically everywhere even my non-gamer cousin has one. And yet, they're still abandoning us. I wonder what should we do for them to notice us.
Now, the situation might be varied across countries. I'm fully aware that I can't say that most other countries with the similar economic situation as Indonesia would have the same treatment from the 3 console manufacturers. I've looked up on wiki and some sites to see the list of supported countries of each console, but I guess that won't be enough.
Therefore, I'd like to hear it straight from you, console owners who are not from UK/EU/Japan and many other well-supported countries. Tell me about the support of Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo in your country, and maybe we can come up with a conclusion later. Though I'm not gonna diminish insights from everyone else. If you know something about this stuff, please do tell us.
So anyway. Indonesia, many people may not know its location or haven't even heard about the country. It's such an insignificant country especially when it comes to console revenue. Despite that fact, Sony reached out to us and give us full support on everything.
Sony Center
Yes, Sony actually opened a branch here a few years ago in the PS3 era, providing full support on selling the consoles and warranty claims as well as repairs. Today, they have 6 Sony Centers across the country, with dozens of official stores and service/repair centers. Consoles and games are plentiful here, we don't need to import and worry about warranty and other services.
On the other hand, Microsoft and Nintendo never bother to even open a small office. They haven't officially released their consoles here so we have to import to get one. And of course, no warranty and official service for us. Just like the consoles, we also have to import the games or buy from resellers.
Playstation Store
On top of physical goods support, Sony also offers digital support. PSN is fully accessible from Indonesia, and everything is purchasable with our currency, IDR. It doesn't stop there, they also give a decent regional pricing policy, which means that digital games on our PSN store are cheaper than the default $60 price tag. For example, God of War was 600k IDR at launch, or equal to $40. Horizon was also cheap as far as I remember. Unfortunately, this doesn't apply to all games (just like Steam). Most 3rd party publishers still set the pricing from the $60 straight conversion. Speaking of Steam, Dragon Quest XI is cheaper in PSN than on Steam.
On XBox One, people usually use a US or Singapore account to be able to purchase games on the store. As for the Switch, we can't even access the eShop unless we setup a special proxy/nds on our network settings. They simply don't want our business.
Gift Cards
This seems like a non-issue for developed countries, but in my country, most people are still reluctant to open a credit card account. The majority of people are still comfortable with debit cards and cash, therefore buying games directly from the console and/or PSN will be a huge turnoff. And here's where Sony step in by distributing Gift Cards of our currency to fill our PSN wallet. We can buy them digitally and physically in minimarkets. Just like games, Gift Cards are also often on sales which is always a good thing to have. Even though I buy most of my console games physically, I have a few digital PS4 games on my account.
Ultimately, it's just disappointing that Microsoft and Nintendo haven't made a move on us after all these years. XBox 360 can still be seen in stores, the Wii was very popular, and NDS/3DS are basically everywhere even my non-gamer cousin has one. And yet, they're still abandoning us. I wonder what should we do for them to notice us.
Now, the situation might be varied across countries. I'm fully aware that I can't say that most other countries with the similar economic situation as Indonesia would have the same treatment from the 3 console manufacturers. I've looked up on wiki and some sites to see the list of supported countries of each console, but I guess that won't be enough.
Therefore, I'd like to hear it straight from you, console owners who are not from UK/EU/Japan and many other well-supported countries. Tell me about the support of Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo in your country, and maybe we can come up with a conclusion later. Though I'm not gonna diminish insights from everyone else. If you know something about this stuff, please do tell us.
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