Sony Accidentally Gives Brand New PS3 Games Huge Price Drops

While the masses of the United States were busy elbowing each other in the throats for a chance to save ten dollars on games like Dishonored, Assassin's Creed 3 and Call of Duty, some big things were going on in the Playstation Store.

[SnakeCQC]

well they are about 20% more expensive than a normal retail store in eu and double the price of the steam store listings

[SolidStoner]

They should be cheaper on PSN , since you dont onw a CD or anything with some value, only a copy on ps3..

[gaffyh]

They overprice them to keep the retailers happy. Without the retailers, they wouldn't be able to sell their consoles. This is why services like Steam, OnLive and Gaikai have an advantage because they are not reliant on the retailer.

[Ducky]

^ I don't buy that excuse. If Sony was afraid of retailers, they wouldn't be offering 'free' games on PS+ or having cheaper pre-orders than retail.

Usually, the prices are dictated by the publisher, and the publisher keeps the price high for their own greed. It's why Steam's prices aren't that different from retail either(aside from specific sales).
Not much to do with appeasing retailers, considering that the retailer will only hurt themself by refusing to sell a console.

[Gaming_Guru]

lol, they have to overprice otherwise they do not make a profit, what really matters if it's what can the market withstand. You people crack me up, about being greedy over pricing and then the next minute say Sony is loosing money with each product being sold. It's either Sony is over pricing to make money or underpricing to loose money, not both.

[Cirran]

They should be cheaper but the publisher sets the pricing. Sony put their published games on the store for good prices...most of the time.

[bozebo]

"Without the retailers, they wouldn't be able to sell their consoles"
There are many retailers which sell consoles but not games. It is merely more convenient that game retailers will sell the console (at almost no profit), Sony/MS could take the hit no problem for the mere $10-20 a large or internet retailer would expect as profit per unit (seeing as they won't necessarily get any game sales where the bulk of the profit is - as will be the case if console games ever go download only). Even publishers will be far less useful then (good for funding and support development, not actual publishing) and hopefully die, leaving just the distribution platform (PSN/XBL) and the developers with no middle man eating money and deciding to make bad games. Anyway discs are still relevant, but they won't be forever.

[BLAKHOODe]

I think there is some kind of law about fair use or something like that, which is why they have to match retailer prices. It's kinda like gas prices and why every gas station typically sells it at the same price in an area.

But I agree, no disc.. no case.. should equal greater savings.

[xX-StolenSoul-Xx]

yeah I agree should be cheaper. No shipping costs to stores afterall... no case.. no book...

[NCAzrael]

Can you name me a single retailer that sells consoles but not games? I realize I'm picking a very small part of your statement to nitpick, but that seems to be a very bold statement with absolutely no proof given to back it up. I know plenty of retailers that sells games but not consoles, but none that sell consoles without selling games.

[andibandit]

@FatOldMan

You're wrong,

Gaffyh is spot on.

[bozebo]

@NCAzrael
Yes, at the moment console manufacturers do use retailers who sell games to get the consoles to users. If they had to; they could sell a little cheaper to bulk retailers (supermarkets and online sellers), many of whom will gladly stock a console for a small-ish profit (guaranteed sale eventually, heavily outside advertised product and no spoilage). MS/Sony/Nint could afford to do that if they sold games digitally so there were no retailers to take a cut of the games sales, no unit manufacturing etc. - and the markup is larger even if they do provide a saving to customers like they aren't at the moment. (it sucks a bit because there would be less jobs for people then too, they should learn to make games)
I think it will remain the same next gen though, there might be a bit more migration to download retail for consoles, but a total transition is almost guaranteed for the generation after because there will be money in it for Sony/MS/Nint if all their customers have a connection which will be good enough for the service (6-9 years from now?).

[Christopher]

***^ I don't buy that excuse. If Sony was afraid of retailers, they wouldn't be offering 'free' games on PS+ or having cheaper pre-orders than retail. ***

Notice those game offerings are typically either first-party deals or games that are released a year after and sometimes to help sell a new release. Example: RE5 Gold goes free on PS+ just as RE6 is released.

Those are promotional offerings with deals made by the publisher and Sony.

gaffyh is 99.99% right in that this is primarily to not take away from retailers. Though they are happy to make a bit more money off of the users as well.

You should note that it's the publisher that designates the pricing on PSN and XBL, not Sony.

[Ducky]

^ Doesn't that reinforce my point?

I don't think the main goal is keeping retailers happy.
When the InstantGameCollection was launched, it had games like All4One and Motorstorm (for EU), which retailed for $50. Seeing as how PS+ itself costs $50, that should've made retailers pretty angry... and the recent inclusion of vita would make retailers start fuming seeing as how games which still retail for $40 are now 'free'.

Couple that with the October's day1 digital pre-order being cheaper on PSN than retail, and it doesn't seem like Sony is that scared of retail.

I acknowledged that publishers set the prices, and I blame their greed for being the main reason for the price of digital games.

That's why even most PC services like Onlive and Steam both have games that cost the same as retail, or sometimes have a small discount for preorders (~10% off). It's only during their specific sales during which games are much cheaper.
Publisher-specific stores like Ubishop and EA's Origin just further point to the fact that it's publishers that overprice their digital games, rather than MS/Sony.

[Christopher]

***^ Doesn't that reinforce my point? ***

No. Year-old games aren't taking up much if any shelf space in retail outlets. Typically it's the last 3 to 6 months of game releases that take up the most shelf space. Especially those that are advertised and make them the most money.

[Ducky]

^ I probably should've quoted the last sentence of your previous comment since that's what I was referencing. The fact that publishers set those prices reinforced my point that it's not Sony/MS which overprice games on PSN/XBL to appease retailers.

As for the age of the games on IGC, All4One was around half a year old, and the slightly older games like LBP and Infamous2 were still priced at $40 or above (at least where I live). Starhawk is another recent game which became partly free, and partly cheaper than it's retail counterpart.

Same holds true for the recent vita games, some of which aren't that old and are at a similar price point.
I would figure that retail would consider that as a threat, especially now when most new purchasers of vita are likely to just grab PS+ rather than buy those games (although, I suppose they can profit off of memory cards)

... and you didn't address the fact that high prices for digital games are generally found on the PC platform as well.

There just appears to be more points that indicate that the high price of digital games is due to mostly greed on the part of publishers, rather than Sony/MS fearing the anger of retailers.

[yeahokchief]

who goes into stores anymore?

i did all of my shopping online while gaming. best buys deals were all online and then some on thursday morning. amazon's lightning deals were gone within a second, but i got all of the ones i wanted since i was logged on and ready for them.

Story is about croatia too. who cares. i lov eu croatia

[Christopher]

Most parents shopping for their kids and many kids who don't have credit cards or the like. Remember, the 12-24 market is typically the biggest market for games, though the 25-40 has grown slightly over the years. Those younger kids tend to buy with cash or their parents or don't buy often as they may utilize other services (GameFly or the like) instead of paying big money for a new game.

[LocutusEstBorg]

That's pretty much how much the PC versions of all games cost here. ~$15.

[HammadTheBeast]

Even games released 2 days ago?

[peowpeow]

Hell no lol

[bozebo]

Sometimes, not AAA multiplats though.

[LocutusEstBorg]

Yeah launch day price.

[isyourhouseonfire]

Dishonored isn't on the level of the blockbusters. Its more of a $30 game. I don't think that one was a mistake by Sony..

[DFogz]

"The brand spanking new release of Hitman: Absolution and Sleeping Dogs costs just around $80 on the United States Playstation Store."

Umm...no they don't? They cost just around $59.99. Exactly, just around $59.99

[strangelove]

If you buy the Hitman Special Edition you get Sleeping Dogs for $25. So you would spend between $80-$85

[DarkZane]

I think they meant for both. Also, Sleeping dogs is 49.99$ here on PSN.

[admiralvic]

So this is news... but Littlebigplanet Karting being $15 dollars at Target isn't... Okay....

[Hicken]

Why would an intentional sale be bigger news than a pricing discrepancy?

[CroKiller]

I bought 2 new games for 13$ so thank you Sony. :) Sleeping Dogs and Hitman for less than 13$. That is Super Black Friday. :)

[B-radical]

Wasnt forza on xbox recently dropped in price? Perhaps has something to do with next gen arrival who knows

[leakeltz]

it doesn't matter as it's now fixed.

[skyblue14213]

I was looking forward to sony having a black friday sale or cyber monday sale on some of their psn games like they did a year or two ago. Instead they had a sale on their useless movies & tv shows selection that no one that I know buys.

What makes me mad, disappointed, and confused is the fact that they will have a black friday or cyber monday sale on their useless movies & tv show sections that the general psn populace has very little interest in, but at the same time they won't have any type of black friday or cyber monday sale on any psn game content whatsoever when they know the psn populace would come in droves to take advantage of psn game content black friday/cyber monday deals if they were available.

The incident described in this article proves my point. I guess it was an accidental price drop on some psn game content, but once some people found out about the mistake
they rushed to the psn store to take advantage of the deal while the accident was in effect. I can't say the same about their movie sale though.

Even though I would not buy ps3 full games on psn & only buy psn games + other psn game content on psn, I was looking forward to a black friday/cyber monday sale on psn concerning psn games and psn game content. The last time sony had a black friday/cyber monday sale on psn games and psn game content I spent a lot of money and bought a lot of psn games/content. It is too bad they have not had one in the last couple of years, they must not want much of my money. Sad just sad.

[ZBlacktt]

The games will be on Craigslist in a month for less anyway.