Sony faces a backlash in the UK after ruling out a price cut for the PlayStation 3 games console just days on from a $100 (£48) reduction in the US.

Customers across Europe will instead be offered a ‘starter pack’ which includes two free games and two controllers.

The move means the PS3 will cost shoppers almost £180 more in the UK than on the other side of the Atlantic.

Sony has been coming under intense pressure in the US to close the sales gap on Microsoft and the top-selling Nintendo Wii. It has sold 1.4 million PS3’s in the US since its launch last November, compared with 2.8 million for the Wii.

The price cut in the US took the cost of the PS3 down by 17 per cent to $499. Its recommended retail price in the UK is £425.

The Japanese group also announced plans on Monday to launch a new 80GB version of the console in America.

A spokesman for Sony UK insisted the group was not short-changing customers.

“The starter pack means customers are getting £115 of added value for the same price,” he said. “How can that possibly be ripping people off?”

The free games on offer alonmgside two Sixaxis controllers are Resistance: Fall of Man, Motorstorm, Genji: Days of the Blade, Formula One Championship Edition and Ridge Racer 7.

The PS3 was launched in the UK and Europe in March, after a series of delays caused by technical problems and a stock shortage.

It is £125 more expensive than the equivalent Microsoft Xbox 360 bundle of console and games and £225 more expensive than the Nintendo Wii with two games.

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