Sony Japan Prices First Playstation Vita Games

The launch of Sony’s new handheld console Vita in Japan is just two months away (December 17), so it’s about time big S made some official announcements regarding software prices. In a nut shell, the first batch of titles will not be sold for cheap.

To be more concrete, the prices for a total of four launch games are now fixed, namely:

  • Uncharted: Golden Abyss: 5,980 Yen/US$78 for the cartridge vs. ¥4,900/US$64 for the download version
  • Hot Shots Golf: 4,980 Yen/US$65 vs. 3,980 Yen/US$52
  • Ridge Racer (pictured): 3,980 Yen/US$52 vs. 3,580 Yen/US$47*
  • Katamari: 4,980 Yen/US65$ vs. 4,480 Yen/US$58*

*Ridge Racer’s download version will, between December 17 and March 31 next year, cost just 2,980 Yen/US$39. Katamari’s downloaded version will be discounted to 3,980 Yen/US$52 in the same time frame.

Prices for games to be sold outside Japan are not yet fixed, but keep in mind the retail prices listed up above are usually undercut by 10-15% (especially by big Japanese electronics discounters) once the games are actually ready to hit stores. Another thing worth mentioning is that the dollar amounts appear to be high partly because of the crazy exchange rate between the dollar and the yen currently (1US$=76.73 yen).

The console itself will be sold in Japan for 25,000 Yen/US$326 (its price will be US$250 in the US).