14 DAY TRIAL // Sony has once again talked about the pricing strategy in regards to games for its upcoming PlayStation Vita console, saying that it factors in different price points so that all sorts of games will be available to customers no matter their budgets.
The PlayStation Vita is out next week, on February 22, in North America and Europe. Alongside it, a variety of games will be available, from big ones like Uncharted: Golden Abyss, to smaller ones, like Little Deviants.
All of these games, as opposed to ones already available for mobile platforms via the iOS App Store or Android marketplace, are quite expensive.
Sony’s Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida begs to differ, as he’s certain gamers will realize the difference between the amount of content they’re getting with a $40/€40 PS Vita game and from a $0.99/€0.79 app.
"We have a theory that if we create really compelling, engaging experiences that you can spend hours with, you'll see the value of spending 40 dollars against one dollar," he explained to Venture Beat. "Gamers love all kinds of games. I totally understand people who like games like Angry Birds, but if you're a gamer, you're also interested in trying different kinds of experiences, bigger games."
The varied price points will also attract plenty of customers that may seem reticent at first to invest in higher priced experiences, according to the executive.
"For the past consoles, we had a pretty rigid price range we kept to. This is a full-price game, $60, this is a Greatest Hits, $30. Like that. But for PS Vita, you'll see games that sell for $50, $40, $30. And on the digital, $45, $35, $23, $15, $10 and $5. A very wide variety of pricing. We're looking at each title and the value and scope of the content, and trying to match people's value perception with the pricing."
The PlayStation Vita’s launch lineup of games includes titles from all of these price ranges, so it’s going to be interesting to see if people invest in higher priced titles instead of cheaper ones.