PS Vita Games Priced for Japanese Launch, Not Cheap
October 11th, 2011
Sony Japan has announced software prices for their PlayStation Vita games. Japan will be getting the handheld on December 17 and that’s when Uncharted: Golden Abyss will cost you 5,980 Yen (~$77 USD), and games like , Hot Shots Golf and Katamari Damacy Novita will sell for 4,980 Yen (~$65 USD). Some games like Ridge Racer will sell for as low as 3,980 Yen.
If that seems high, you can get download versions of the same games for 1,000 Yen (~$7 USD) less if you want to save a little money. But U.S. gamers need not worry, it seems extra high because of the exchange rate. Here in the U.S., where brand new games should cost about $59 (USD), and it’s possible download versions will sell for less – only time will tell. Regardless, those who are importing the console and games will be paying a lot more.
In Japan, you can expect the PS Vita to cost the equivalent of $390(USD) for the 3G version or $325(USD) for Wi-Fi, while the U.S. retail prices will be $299(USD) and $249(USD).
[via Andriasang and Geek]
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Categories: Mobile Tech Technology Video Games
Haha, you’re reeeaaaaallllyyyyyy misinformed. First of all, Hot Shots Golf and Katamari Damacy cost 4980 yen in Japan. Second, Ridge Racer costs 3980 yen. Third, these prices are relatively normal for PSP games in Japan – they’re even around the same price as 3DS games in Japan if not cheaper. Ridge Racer for the Vita costs significantly less than Ridge Racer 3D (launched for 6040 yen).
Why is this important? Sony and third party publishers don’t seem intent on charging more for Vita games than for PSP games – so we should be getting most retail Vita games for $30-$40. Dragon’s Crown is already set for $30, and the other versions of UMvsC are set at $40.
But none of this means that downloadable versions will be cheaper than retail versions in the US. It’s common practice to do so in Japan and has been for quite some time but it’s not common practice in the US with only a couple of publishers pricing the two versions differently.
Joe: You are correct on the Japanese pricing. It turns out that only Uncharted is going to sell for 5980 yen (which is still over $77 USD), but that game should sell for $59.95 stateside. We will correct this error.
Any thoughts about U.S. downloads being cheaper than physical media is completely speculative.