Consumers will have to pay a hefty £150 deposit to pre-order PS3 hardware, if a revolutionary new allocation scheme by Sony is introduced.
In an exclusive report published in tomorrow’s issue of MCV, it is revealed that the format holder is currently discussing the radical new plan with senior retail buyers as it looks to manage a limited initial hardware supply this Christmas.

The £150 deposit scheme is being considered to ensure that allocation can be more fairly managed. In particular, it is believed that Sony is looking to avoid the ‘eBay phenomenon’ that occurred with the launch of Xbox 360 whereby some consumers who managed to acquire more than one unit – on deposits as low as £5 – sold on their extra machines for well above the RRP.

Sony has confirmed that it is in talks with retail about the scheme.