Will our PS3 games cost more? Look at Japan!

Very few of you (who are reading this article) live in Japan. So you probably couldn’t care less that PS3 games in Japan are now expected to cost $ 72 to $ 84. But what if you find out that these rising prices are being attributed to growing development costs?

Ah, this season has been a bit of a rollercoaster (or at least a very bumpy kiddie ride) for your average PS3 fan (let’s call him Joe). Recently, Joe felt happy when he found out about the price cut of the PS3’s 20GB model in Japan (maybe because of the Wii?). Joe felt slightly miffed that this is a Japan-only price drop. Now Joe finds out that PS3 games in Japan are going to cost more than expected. We bet Joe is hoping that this is a Japan-only price hike! (We’ll have to wait and see, won’t we?)

But this might make Joe relax until we get official news about non-Japan prices: It turns out that it’s normal for game prices to vary wildly in Japan, and this is true even for games in the same platform. Gamasutra gave some examples: the Xbox 360 titles Dead Rising and Lost Planet will be priced at Â¥8,379 ($ 72), and that’s a price increase of Â¥1,000 to Â¥2,000 ($ 9 to $ 17).

One other thing: Sony looks like it is de-emphasizing the 60GB model. We wonder if that’s because Sony is now adopting a different marketing and selling approach following all the feedback (wowed, lukewarm, and bad) that they’ve been receiving.

Very few of you (who are reading this article) live in Japan. So you probably couldn’t care less that PS3 games in Japan are now expected to cost $ 72 to $ 84. But what if you find out that these rising prices are being attributed to growing development costs?

Ah, this season has been a bit of a rollercoaster (or at least a very bumpy kiddie ride) for your average PS3 fan (let’s call him Joe). Recently, Joe felt happy when he found out about the price cut of the PS3’s 20GB model in Japan (maybe because of the Wii?). Joe felt slightly miffed that this is a Japan-only price drop. Now Joe finds out that PS3 games in Japan are going to cost more than expected. We bet Joe is hoping that this is a Japan-only price hike! (We’ll have to wait and see, won’t we?)

But this might make Joe relax until we get official news about non-Japan prices: It turns out that it’s normal for game prices to vary wildly in Japan, and this is true even for games in the same platform. Gamasutra gave some examples: the Xbox 360 titles Dead Rising and Lost Planet will be priced at Â¥8,379 ($ 72), and that’s a price increase of Â¥1,000 to Â¥2,000 ($ 9 to $ 17).

One other thing: Sony looks like it is de-emphasizing the 60GB model. We wonder if that’s because Sony is now adopting a different marketing and selling approach following all the feedback (wowed, lukewarm, and bad) that they’ve been receiving.