Sony’s plans for Vita outside Japan remain a mystery, besides knowing we won’t be buying a Vita until next year. Vita releases December 17 in Japan, however, which means details are beginning to get locked down left and right for that region, including game pricing.
The discussion of game prices has flared up since the rise of mobile and social games, fueled by Facebook and iOS devices, which largely feature free or very cheap games. It’s been speculated that both new fronts have deeply affected the popularity of Nintendo’s 3DS handheld.
Do keep in mind these prices are for the Japanese market and will very likely change for everyone else. Japan tends to skew expensive.
Andriasang reports Uncharted: Golden Abyss is listed for retail at ¥5,980 (roughly $78) and digital for ¥4,900 (roughly $64). In the Namco Bandai camp, Ridge Racer will hit retail for ¥3,980 (roughly $52) and download for ¥3,580 (roughly $47). The download version will be on sale for ¥2,980 (roughly $39) until March 31, 2012. Katamari Damacy is in a similar spot, with retail for ¥4,980 (roughly $65), download for ¥4,480 (roughly $58), and the same limited sale for ¥3,980 (roughly $52).
It’s not common for PSP games to be cheaper when sold digitally over here, but it’s not unusual in Japan. Sony Computer Entertainment America has not made any comments about Vita game prices in North America or Europe, but Uncharted: Global Abyss is listed as $39.99 on both GameStop and Amazon.
By comparison, on PSP, Monster Hunter Portable 3rd retailed for ¥5,800 (roughly $75) and Dissidia 012: Final Fantasy retailed for ¥6,090 (roughly $79) in Japan. The latter came over here for just $29.99.
