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ESRB denies charging too much for PSP Mini ratings photo

The long and winding saga of high PSP Minis prices continues. When we last left off, the ESRB was identified as the reason PSP Mini downloads costing twice as much as their iPhone counterparts, with accusations that ratings cost too much. The ESRB has now hit back, claiming that cheap games do not have to spend so much cash to get their game approved.

"The ESRB has a reduced fee of $800 for games that have development costs under $250,000," explains ESRB spokesman Eliot Mizrachi, "which would likely apply to virtually all PSP Minis."

The PSP Mini buck passing has gotten somewhat ludicrous. First Sony blamed developers, then developers blamed the ESRB, now the ESRB is saying it's not their fault. So, who is to blame for that $9.99 Tetris? We'll probably never know the full reason. All we know is that PSP Minis cost stupid amounts of money and is yet another half-hearted portable download service that's doomed to tread water. 

At least the trash on DSiWare is cheap. 


Continue: More ESRB stories





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22 comments | showing # 1 to 22

Everyday Legend's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/13/2009 08:19
Everyday Legend
Hmm.

All signs point to people not wanting to claim involvement in the PSPgo.

Which, of course, is highly understandable.
lolipantsu's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/13/2009 08:24
lolipantsu
I have a feeling that PSP minis would be cheap like DSiWare if a majority of them were interactive clocks.
JustLikeBuck's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/13/2009 08:35
JustLikeBuck
The fact that games on the PSP but not the iPhone need ESRB certification should be the point of contention! Not how much it costs, surely?

It's also odd that a game like Tetris is $9.99 in the states, but £3.99 in the UK: normally a UK game will be priced at around the £6-7 for a $10. So WTF is going on, and if Tetris can be fairly priced in the UK, why can't others?
dj-anon's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/13/2009 08:35
dj-anon
With all these mess, no wonder why piracy is so successful, because BS like this is not exclusive to PSP minis.
Cyber Altair's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/13/2009 08:42
Cyber Altair
Why would I have to pay 800$ to get an okay from ESRB if I'm making a goddamn Tetris game?
lolipantsu's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/13/2009 08:47
lolipantsu
@ Cyber Altair

They pay because the ESRB is the industry's form of self-policing. I'd hate to see what the government would do if they stepped up and took the ESRB's place.
CBunn's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/13/2009 08:59
CBunn
Add to that the PSP dev kit cost (anyone have that info?) and you are waaaaaay ahead of the 100 bucks entry fee of iPhone development.
Cowboy TTop's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/13/2009 09:11
Cowboy TTop
Love the passing of the buck they are playing with this. Its like people in an elevator, one farts but not one is prepared to take the blame, even though the elevator is climbing 300 floors.

This kind of thing is already sinking the PSP Mini ship. Like someone said, I notice Sony never talk about the cost of a dev kit for PSP Go, no real secret why. Too damn pricey, like anything else Sony.

Indeed, why would any indie developer, make a PSP Mini game over an iPhone, DSi or XNA one? Another nail for the Go's coffin.
hornetjockey's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/13/2009 09:16
hornetjockey
Last I heard, the PSP dev kit was $1500, which doesn't seem outrageous unless you consider that you can start developing for the iPhone/Touch for $100 and don't need to pay $800 to the ESRB. So a new developer pays $2300 to develop their first title for the PSP, or $100 on the iPhone. I would charge more for the PSP version too considering I don't know how many copies I'd sell.
hornetjockey's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/13/2009 09:18
hornetjockey
Also consider that in addition to having to pay 23 times the amount to develop for the PSP over the iPhone, a portion of your profits goes to Sony. I don't know if Apple takes any money from the devs profits or not.
ParaParaKing's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/13/2009 09:18
ParaParaKing
At least the Minis are cheaper in Europe.
matrixdude171's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/13/2009 09:21
matrixdude171
Then how the hell is DSiWare so cheap? How are those prices not as high even though they have to deal with the same process?
agentgray's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/13/2009 09:29
agentgray
One thing I think people are overlooking when it comes to the prices is that the PRICES are not entirely different.

Take a look at the large developer games on the App Store and then compare the prices on the Minis. There is some difference, but it's not by much. I don't see many big-name developers releasing games on the App Store for less than $5.

The other big consideration (and I need to verify this) is that Sony charges for bandwidth and Apple doesn't.
hornetjockey's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/13/2009 09:34
hornetjockey
@matrixdude171:

That just goes to show it isn't just the expense of the dev kit or ESRB ratings that attribute to the price. The DSi dev kit is actually more than the PSP and they still have to pay the ESRB. I see two possible reasons. Sony is taking too big of a cut, and/or the devs are uncertain about the market for PSP Minis and want to make sure they recoup their expenses.
free touch's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/13/2009 10:00
free touch
Seriously... why even bother with the esrb. $800 for a person to read a review of a game and give it a grade?

Ratings should be self policed. not passed on to some made up department like the fcc.
Mike's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/13/2009 10:19
Mike
I completely fail to see what the issue is here. Do you all think it costs the ESRB *NOTHING* to have a professional (as in a psychologist rather than some kid in mom's basement) review the contents of a game? One to which the ESRB are providing a considerable salary, benefits, equipment and office space (again not operating out of a basement)? Depending on the nature of the title being reviewed, the paperwork involved and the necessary public releases, an $800 fee probably wouldn't even cover the organization's actual costs.

Secondly, I'd seriously question any business plan that views an $800 certification fee as being insurmountable. Unless you're an indy developer who's pirating all of the software you're using, that fee could be one of your smaller project costs.
Everyday Legend's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/13/2009 10:52
Everyday Legend
Psst....
...it's really Sony, folks.
DinnertimeNinja's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/13/2009 10:52
DinnertimeNinja
This is pretty much a non-issue as I think it's beyond obvious why PSP mini's are a little more pricey than most iPhone aps.

Development just costs more.

The only REAL question here is why SPECIFICALLY EA's Tetris costs what it does when most of the other mini's are $5 to $7.
PEICanada7's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/13/2009 11:18
PEICanada7
"At least the trash on DSiWare is cheap."

Hey, the pinball game on DSiWare this week looks cool. So you can lay off the "trash on the DSiWare" comments for this week Jim.
BattyAdroit's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/13/2009 12:35
BattyAdroit
Mike is totally right. Not that any of you will bother to read his response.
stevenxonward's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/13/2009 13:28
stevenxonward
@ BattyAdroit

Because his comment assumes without substance that the ESRB really does all of that.
atastysammich's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/13/2009 16:53
atastysammich
If nobody else will step up and take responsibility, I will. It's me, guys. I'm the reason why PSP Minis are so expensive. My bad.
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