Kaz Hirai, president of Sony Computer Entertainment America, gave some rather interesting remarks on where he thinks the price points of PS3 games is heading-and that direction seems to be up. In an interview conducted by PSM, Hirai danced around the issue of PS3 game price points by saying, "…generally speaking, over the past twelve years or so, there has been a consumer expectation that disc-based games are maybe $59 on the high end to $39 on the low end. So, what I can say now is, I think it would be a bit of a stretch to think that we could suddenly turn around and say ‘PS3 Games now $99.99,."
Hirai then went on to say that the possibility of games costing more than $59.99 might indeed be a reality. "I don’t think consumers expect software pricing to suddenly double. So, the quick answer is that we want to make it as affordable as possible, knowing that there is a set consumer expectation for what software has cost for the past twelve years. That’s kind of the best answer I can give you. So, if it becomes a bit higher than $59, don’t ding me, but, again, I don’t expect it to be $100."
The gray area that Hirai mentions, $59-$100, is quite a number spread for the cost of PS3 games. His coded words may be indicating that Sony intends to push the envelope, at some later time, for price increases for PS3 games. Whether this strategy will work depends on the pain threshold of consumers. With the price of a fully equipped PS3 going for $600, the additional load of expensive PS3 games may just be too much for some consumers to bear.
