The $500 and $600 price range for the PS3 has had a generally cooling result on the gaming community\'s enthusiasm for the PS3. Gamers might be excited about what the system can do, but it remains to be seen if the PS3\'s features can justify the spendy price tag.
Now there are suggestions that PS3 games might cost more as well. Following the Tokyo Game Show, Japanese website Impress Watch posted an article that claimed that PS3 games will sell between 8,900 and 9,800 Yen, the equivalent of U.S. $76 to $84. Since we don\'t read Japanese, we\'re having to
rely on IGN\'s discussion of the post, but they seem to feel the author of the article, Munechika Nishida, is a reliable source, saying, \"(he is) a well-known contributor to the Asahi Shimbun newspaper and Ultra One PC magazine.\"
Wii titles will sell in Japan between $41 (4800 Yen) and $58 (6800 Yen). Japanese titles tend to sell for more than their U.S. equivalents; for example, Wii titles will sell here in the United States for $50. If you look at current pricing for game systems, PS2 games sell for around $58 to $62 in Japan, and around $40 to $50 in the United States.
However, even considering the Japanese vs. American price differences, the $76 to $84 price range is substantial and would indicate that high priority PS3 titles would sell in the U.S. for around $70. Triple A Xbox 360 titles sell for around $60, making the PS3 games more expensive than either Microsoft or Nintendo by $10 to $20.
Is the report accurate? These numbers seem too high to be relied on, since those prices - on top of the already poorly-received system price - would almost certainly make the system less competitive than the Wii or 360. Still, it\'s interesting to see how Sony\'s image stands. People are obviously willing to believe that Sony is capable of demanding almost any amount of money for their products.
Sadly, it\'s possible that they are capable of demanding any amount of money for their products; Sony tends to come across as more and more out of touch with reality these days.