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PS Vita games will not have fixed prices photo

Sony has declared that PlayStation Vita games shall do away with a fixed pricing model, instead using a range of different prices to help combat the rise of cheap smartphone games. That's Sony doing something adaptive and smart. I'm genuinely impressed. 

"I think it would be safe to assume we will take a more tailored approach than perhaps we've done in the past," said SCEE CEO Jim Ryan. "It's our challenge to ensure that the gaming experience that we provide is closer to that TV console experience than it is to your 69p thing that you've downloaded on your iPhone. If we do that and we provide great value to the consumer on games like Uncharted, I think the possibility to sustain historic console type price points is there."

Ryan's words back up news that Japanese Vita prices will have quite a range to them

I've wanted us to have a tiered pricing model for a very long time. It just makes sense to only charge a premium rate for the games that are guaranteed to sell for a premium rate, like the aforementioned Uncharted. Smaller titles and untested IP need a smarter price, and I'm incredibly intrigued to see how far Sony takes this. 

Here's hoping that by "tailored prices" they don't mean "between fifty-five and sixty dollars."

Sony planning "more tailored approach" to Vita software pricing [GI.biz]








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56 comments | showing # 1 to 50
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Namodacranks's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 12:32
Namodacranks
This could go either way, really.
RenegadePanda's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 12:38
RenegadePanda
Well, yeah, there's no way they'd get away with selling a Ridge Racer game with 5 cars for 50 dollars.

This is good and bad, and the Ridge Racer model is a scary thing for me. Everyone hates nickel and dime DLC, and that's the only way to get the full Ridge Racer game on Vita. I hope that doesn't catch on. This flex pricing allows them to do that instead of saying 'this game will be 50 dollars so we need to put 50 dollars worth of content in it.'

The flipside being this allows smaller, less known games to be released at better price points to give them a higher chance of selling.

Just depends on who's using it.
DarkTetsuya's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 12:38
DarkTetsuya
Here's hoping that by "tailored prices" they don't mean "between fifty-five and sixty dollars."

Well they're already charging that for memory cards... so why not?
stevesan's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 12:39
stevesan
Cool, this seems like a step in the right direction. Maybe they'll even open up development like iOS...???
JohnApocalypse's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 12:39
JohnApocalypse
Day 1 3DS games cost the same as day 1 PS3 and Xbox 360 games. The chances of that happening with the Vita is 50/50
llort het's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 12:40
llort het
I imagine many companies won't take advantage of it though. They're just going to say "they can charge full price for their game, why can't we? Charging less will only make us look bad." I'm guessing that they could have priced games like xmen destiny at 20 dollars if the developers wanted to, but they usually seem to want to charge a premium price to trick as many suckers as possible before dropping the price to what the game should have coated.
BrowneyeWinkin's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 12:41
BrowneyeWinkin
What the hell is wrong with that guys hair in the front row?
Conan O'brian wannabe
redeemer's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 12:41
redeemer
Calling it: $50 will be the "base" price tier and more popular shit will have $70-$80 price ranges.
quantumcatphd's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 12:42
quantumcatphd
@John: Where do you live? Day 1 3DS games are $40 and Day 1 Xbox360/PS3 games are $60. (USD)
llort het's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 12:43
llort het
*should have cost.
dtomek's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 12:48
dtomek
That's fine and dandy for Sony to say. I guarantee developers will continue to collude on prices unabated though.
that1dood's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 12:50
that1dood
Still, last I checked Uncharted for Vita costs 5980 Yen. That's almost $80 USD. Um... no way in FUCK am I paying that much for a game. Especially one I can't enjoy on my fucking big screen.
Jawmuncher's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 12:51
Jawmuncher
@redeemer

Prices are already sitting at 40 like they were with PSP.

I see a few going to 50 but honestly dont see higher than that.
WarZombie's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 12:52
WarZombie
I hope they do this the right way, and not the "Let's split our game into five parts and charge $20 for each new segment." way. If they can find the sweet-spot, then tiered pricing could be a leap forward as far as game prices go.
jecht35's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 12:52
jecht35
Capcom will abuse this. there already charging 50 dollars for RE: Revalations on the 3DS while everything else is 40 or less. Whats stoping them from doing the same thing again on the Vita.
OneRed's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 12:57
OneRed
Its gonna be interesting to see how this plays out. While we wait, please accept this picture of the Hulk.

nasic870's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 12:57
nasic870
@that1dood
Most premium handheld games cost that much in Japan. Not sure what you're spazzing about.

The range will be $20-$50 for retail games, I'm betting. Most premium games will loiter at the $40 mark with some companies thinking they can push the $50 boundary (Capcom). $30 will be for the mid-tier games like Grand Knights History and Fate/Extra. I don't see many publishers outside of the smaller ones pricing their games for $30. Namco might with Touch my Katamari. $20 will be for stuff like Patapon.
ManWithNoName's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 12:58
ManWithNoName
I think the industry must go this way for full retail PS3/360 games:

$40 for games of unproved developers;
$50 for games of proved developers with unproved IP;
$60 for games of proved developers with proved IP.

Take $10 off for 3DS/PSV games and we can have a deal.
RenegadePanda's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 12:58
RenegadePanda
@that1dood

Japanese games always cost more than they do in the US/UK. Most of the games we pay 60 dollars for, they wind up paying 70-80 for. Japanese pricing makes absolutely no sense to me at all.
Salnax's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 12:59
Salnax
3DS games already cost either $30 or $40 dollars, with the upcoming Resident Evil game costing $50. I fail to see anything revolutionary.
Dancing Mad's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 12:59
Dancing Mad
@jecht Resident Evil costs more due to a larger game card size. It isn't an arbitrary hike.
Thane Vickers's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 13:00
Thane Vickers
"Here's hoping that by "tailored prices" they don't mean "between fifty-five and sixty dollars.""

They do.
Robotron's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 13:03
Robotron
It's Sony. They love to say one thing but their actual practice is usually the opposite.
blehblah's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 13:03
blehblah
Thank God for Jim Sterling.
Smo5000's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 13:05
Smo5000
This just means that they'll price their mobile games cheaper and fluctuate the pricing for their more solid titles.

They cant expect someone to pay $40 - $50 for Little Deviants, although in this retarded industry they could get away with it, turn a profit, and be adored for it.
MCBattery's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 13:10
MCBattery
I'm hoping the current $39.99 price point for AAA games like Uncharted: Golden Abyss,Resistance: Burning Skies,LBP,etc,is the Top tiered price point.
If so we could be looking at $20-30 for the less popular games. I can live with that..
Pichu0102's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 13:13
Pichu0102
I think they meant variable pricing between $60 and $90.
STRYKIE's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 13:19
STRYKIE
I believe they mean variable pricing between 499 US DOLLARS and 599 US DOLLARS.
whormongr's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 13:23
whormongr
I imagine that this would be the case, I don't know if any other PS users did the survey that went out a little while ago but they were asking a ton of questions about pricing tiers from something like 5 or 7 dollar 2-3 month delay download releases to $59.99 early releases for major titles and different pricing models for download and physical media - usually the surveys can get tedious but this one I actually found pretty interesting
Chris Carter's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 13:25
Chris Carter
To my knowledge everything has variable prices. Games are released every month for $20 budget prices for portable systems, PCs, and consoles.

This just gives them an excuse to charge more than the standard $40 for portable games. But Capcom already beat them to that punch with Resident Evil: 3DS!

Can't see good things happening from this!
mix's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 13:28
mix
This could go either way but I won't be spending $49.99 on a Vita game....EVER.
TwinDad's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 13:33
TwinDad
Why do I think this is a non-direct way of Sony saying teh game prices need to rise (Ala $60).
sofik88's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 13:39
sofik88
and by that they mean 50$ for every title? Ridge Racer was confirmed to be 30$ on Vita and that's a demo.

@RenegadePanda,
the problem is that Vita games in japan cost as much as console games in japan.
salamagogo's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 13:45
salamagogo
" I think the possibility to sustain historic console type price points is there."

Maybe I'm reading that wrong, but to me it sounds like;

"I think we might be able to get away with charging $60 for certain vita games."
slbr's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 13:56
slbr
This could go well.....at the same time this could go way wrong.
pABSO's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 14:07
pABSO
I feel like this is designed to prepare a excuse to justify PS3 prices on a handheld device.
nasic870's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 14:13
nasic870
@sofik
Premium PS3 games, like Ni no Kuni, Dark Souls, and FFXIII, cost roughly 8000-9000 yen, actually.
Pringao's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 14:15
Pringao
Actually I think this sounds good.

If the games turn out to be cheap, I really see myself buying a Vita sometime next year... or the other.
BrainWasherAttendent's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 14:17
BrainWasherAttendent
Goddamn, you are a colossal blowhard.
Mark Mann's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 14:32
Mark Mann
YES




YES
FPS Baby Jesus's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 14:33
FPS Baby Jesus
@redeemer I don't know if u live in another country or just being sarcastic. I can't see how u can even fathom a Vita game costing $20 more than a PS3 game.
amtalx's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 14:42
amtalx
It's about time. All of the big three should adopt this. However, I hope it doesn't mean that the next Elder Scrolls game will cost $500. Even though I would still buy it...
Zyk's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 14:47
Zyk
As long as the games are of the quality of PS3 games I don't mind if they charge AU$100.
tekbunny's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 14:48
tekbunny
Please let this be Sony recognizing the benefits of digital copies and are passing the savings along to the consumer...
handhelds4ever's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 14:58
handhelds4ever
Jim, did you know Playstation suite will also be on the ps vita?

Basically, sce need to open up some parts of the ps vita, even their approach to pricing.

I will not be surprised if steam arrives on the ps vita too.
Wrath and Pride's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 16:05
Wrath and Pride
It will be interesting to see how far they take it, that being said the little cynic in me is wondering the same thing (concerning how far they will take it; i.e 50-60).
Tahiri's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 16:25
Tahiri
Eh? PSP had ranged pricing already
Gwendolyn's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 18:10
Gwendolyn
@tekbunny: I wouldn't count on it.
asojax's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/30/2011 18:42
asojax
Now lets see if other publishers decide to do this, just because sony says they would like this, if other publishers decide to stick with a set pricing no matter the game then it really doesn't matter what sony says especially if sony only publishes one game a year on the vita.
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