Think PSP games are expensive? You'd be wrong. Things have changed greatly since the system's release more than two years ago, with the $50 price point for some UMD games a thing of the past.
Curmudgeon Gamer took a look at the upcoming releases on both handhelds, and noted that only one game currently has a $50 MSRP:
Oblivion. The average cost of a PSP game is $29.89, only $2 more than the DS average of $27.29. Curmudgeon Gamer has a few other interesting statistics:
- EB Games lists 102 new games for the Nintendo DS and 94 new games for the PSP. There's no games for PSP? Incorrect.
- The median game price for each system is $29.99
- About 33% of all PSP games retail for under $25. (DS has about 41%.)
This doesn't come as surprising for long-time PSP fans. Hopefully, the rest of the gaming world will soon understand that although PSP games feature better graphics, they don't have to cost more.
{ Apr 9th 2007 at 11:00AM } 
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
required @ Apr 9th 2007 11:41AM
PSP games feature a lot more than better graphics
txa1265 @ Apr 9th 2007 12:28PM
Two years ago it might have been that every PSP game was $49.99 and every DS game was $29.99, but now it is more likely $39.99 for the PSP game and $34.99 for the DS game.
We *know* that the PSP is more expensive to develop for from an asset standpoint alone.
evan @ Apr 9th 2007 6:06PM
This is interesting. Combine this pricing news with the extra capabilities of the PSP and you have more reason to go with the PSP.
Ben @ Apr 9th 2007 1:21PM
This is good news. I used to be one of those people who thought that the PSP had no good games, but I have finally realized the error in that way of thinking. I eagerly await getting a PSP sometime this year.
txa1265 @ Apr 9th 2007 3:54PM
One of the pricing things that still burns me is the GTA games. I paid $50 each for them, and especially for VCS, feel ripped off. It is decent, but was overpriced and quickly brought down.
Also, median is simply the data point at the center - so there are an equal number of points above and below. It is more interesting to look at the Interquartile range - between the 25% and 75% points. For the PSP that range is $20 - 40, and for the DS it is $20 - 30. The PSP is indeed pricier, but has a large number of games that have been price-cut.
PSP Fan @ Apr 9th 2007 4:13PM
I would expect a PSP game to cost a little more, given the game normally has much more content and looks 10x better, even if it is the same game. On the occasion the game content is the same the PSP game always looks vastly superior so I can see why it might cost a little more. I do agree that 50 is too much for any game on any system.
God of War is the ONLY GOW @ Apr 9th 2007 9:18PM
I finally jumped in and got my PSP this weekend ($148 CDN on sale (thats $129 USD)) for the Core...picked up 6 Greatest hits for $17.50 CDN a piece.
When I looked at DS games in the same price range they were all crap.
I'll play those until the next round of good greatest hits come along and fill my time watching all my converted Divx movies.
Yeah for me.
Nik @ Apr 9th 2007 10:15PM
I call bullshit on this so called "research". Average Joe Consumerson cannot walk into Best Buy, EB or Wal Mart and find all of these titles at these prices. Nor are any of these cheap games any good. $14.99 is almost bargain bin fare and that shows that more PSP games aren't selling well enough and having their prices cut. The prices on the EB website aren't good representations of the rest of the world.
I love the PSP and I think it has some great games going for it but the system is $30 too expensive (even after the price drop) and the top tier games are always $5-10 more than a top tier DS game. Sony finally has games that make the PSP look like a decent gaming system. Games like Ratchet and Clank, Vice City Stories and Killzone Liberation are easily worth $40 but the PSP itself isn't worth $170.
PSP_Rising @ Apr 10th 2007 6:07PM
#8
So you think the PSP should be the same price as the DS?? While we are at it lets make a Porsche the same price as an Escort it makes about the same sense!
Star Trek Tactical Assault was the Same Price on both systems
Need for Speed was the same price on both systems
So older games Like MOHH, OUTRUN2006, or EVEN a launch TITLE Ridge Racer which I might add looks better than any game that has ever been made for the DS, and other Games like Daxter, or the SoCom Series they all was bad games?? I think your taste is bad if you think the PSP is just now coming out with good games, or maybe your love of Mario has blinded you to what true console quality games look like on a Hand Held.
Sure if the PSP had only picochat and played only games made for children then I would say hell yes it needs to be the same price as the DS but that is simply not the case. 169.99 is a fair price for what you get.
txa1265 @ Apr 10th 2007 7:18AM
Re #9 - I think that the important point that #8 alludes to is that the reason PSP game prices seem about the same as DS while the overwhelming majority of new PSP releases are $40 is that the PSP games aren't selling very well and go 'bargain price' very quickly.
That in itself invalidates the entirety of the research.
If you wanted a 'real' comparison, take a look at prices of new games. I think that the price difference has shrunk from ~$20 at launch to ~$5 - 10, but it is still there.
Reason #1 billion why non-statisticians should stay away from numbers.
Nik @ Apr 10th 2007 10:09PM
"Sure if the PSP had only picochat and played only games made for children then I would say hell yes it needs to be the same price as the DS but that is simply not the case. 169.99 is a fair price for what you get."
So if the PSP was a shitty DS it should be the same price as a DS? How the hell do you justify that the DS only has games made for children when looking at titles like Hotel Dusk, Trauma Center, Metroid Prime Hunters, Nanostray, Puzzle Quest and Final Fantasy III? This whole mentality that if a game isn't a sport or doesn't involve explosions it must be for children really shows immaturity and gives PSP owners a bad name. Thats the kind of response I'd expect from a 17 year old who thinks he's too cool to play anything without a gun.
The PSP might sell at $170 as a multimedia device to teenagers who are too embarrassed to play a Nintendo in front of their friends and to the 18-35 year old crowd but if they want to sell a games system to people who generally appreciate handheld entertainment they have to play by the rules and no handheld system should cost $170 two years after it's release.
billzilla @ Apr 11th 2007 12:35PM
PSP games were never 'all' $49.99. Even back in the early days, the argument by DS fanboys that PSP games were $20 more on average was fallacious.
I agree VCS was overpriced given that they released it for so much cheaper on PS2, but other than that, I think we got a pretty big and impressive game for that price and it *did* get marked down. A bit too quickly, perhaps, since I forked over half a hundie for mine and would rather have paid the PS2 price.
Nobody is saying the DS is ALL kids titles, but citing Nanostray, FFIII, PuzzleQuest and Metroid as 'non kiddie' doesn't wash. My girlfriend's daughter just turned 9 and loves Final Fantasy, puzzlers (well, she does play WoW too, but still).
The PSP wasn't overpriced at $199 and it's certainly not overpriced at $169. It's not just for teenagers wanting to 'save face' and not play Nintendo 'in front of their friends' and it's not merely relegated to multimedia status. Saying so is no better (in fact, worse) than saying the DS is just all about kid games - because the latter has more truth to it than the former...
pixelator @ Apr 11th 2007 12:39PM
PSP games on the shelf aren't any more discounted than the older or low-selling DS games.
Most new games are $29 and $39. I don't think the $39 pricepoint is the 'vast majority' either. If you take the average median price of a PSP game not including discounts or price cuts, they're still lower now than they were in 2005.