The UK launch saw Uncharted: Golden Abyss dominate the sales charts during the units launch week. That’s significant, namely due to the price point. With a $10 difference between Sony’s first party offering and, well, everything else, does this mean Sony will be convinced that these bulkier, high production value titles can withstand a peskier market?
Not really. Launch titles are, after all, a different beast. They aim for a different consumer, the “gotta have it” types willing to deal with those early quirks. It’s great that Uncharted was able to beat out everything else, price or not. It shows that even amongst the die hard community there’s an earnest want for this type of software. The worry of course would be that this could be a consistent thing, not the quality software mind you, but the idea that $50 for a single player game only in a world of $1 apps could work.
Time will tell if this sticks, but what’s important is that it shouldn’t be taken as a definitive “yes” from the community. There’s room for experimentation, while that search for wide adoption can be rapidly impeded if prices cannot be managed in a competitive way. Not everyone understands what goes into a AAA production, and for some reason, it’s even harder on a portable platform.
The Vita needs to succeed if dedicated handhelds will continue to be a thing, a counterpart to that console experience. If games stick at $50 because Uncharted pulled it off? It’s going to be a battle. Add in multiplayer, and someone might be brazen enough to gun for $60. Ouch.
