Proving the old adage "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em", Gerry Harvey has decided to launch a new website that will sell import European copies of video games at discounted prices.

The site, harveynormandirectimport.com, will offer games for PlayStation, Xbox, and Wii at reduced prices for Australian customers. The site will go up on December 22 starting at 6 p.m.

"Harvey Norman is very pleased to announce, from six pm tonight, Harvey Norman will be utilising its global network, selling games direct to the consumers at fantastic global prices GST free," said Harvey Norman spokesperson Ben Mackintosh. "Consumers will be directly importing from Europe at the best prices available.

"The Australian gaming customer has been paying far too much for console games," he continued. "Retailers and suppliers have been keeping the prices far too high. We're utilizing our network to bring better prices to the consumer. We strongly recommend that you do not buy a game until you've seen our website. We will save you money on games.

"We stand by this as a great new feature in the Australian market and we're going to rip up the prices of Australian market."

The site will allow Aussie gamers to buy games directly from Harvey Norman Ireland without paying the GST fee. Some of the games being sold cost between $12 and $25 less than Australian retail prices. For example the Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 for Xbox is selling for $22 less than on rival websites. However, the site is charging $3.95 delivery per game. PC games will be added in the future.

The move is somewhat of a shock considering Gerry Harvey's aversion to online retailers. The entrepreneur has reversed his anti-online stance with a number of expansions of Harvey Norman online. Earlier this year the company launched a Big Buys site that offered products from Harvey Norman except for electronics.

"If you can't beat them join them," said Gerry Harvey. "The number of retailers that are suffering at the moment is higher than it's been in 20 years. Why should an off shore retailer be able to evade duty to evade GST and all the other costs that retailers have? These people don't have any of these cost and at the moment neither does this new company.

"We're not doing this with a great joy," he added. "We've held off but we can't hold off any more."