There's a rumor
going
'round
that Xbox 360 games are going to cost more
than current-generation Xbox titles.
Out of all news outlets we surveyed in a quick review of this rumor, only IGN appeared to get it right. In their article, IGN noted that the collector's edition of Perfect Dark Zero would retail for $60 and that the regular version of the game would sell for $50. That's how much the game would sell for on today's consoles.
So what gives? There are a couple of factors at play. One: everyone's a David to the Goliath Microsoft. Given ambiguous statements on game prices, the world tends to tilt to the negative interpretation when it comes to Microsoft. The Inquirer (a rag that tends to sensationalize just about everything), writes, "WHO in the audience would be surprised if we said that Microsoft was going to do its best to hike the price of videogames for the next generation of consoles?"
Two: marketers would of course love to charge more for games, and they're very curious what gamer reaction will be to various price points. Some game companies are therefore likely testing gamer response to higher price points by having online retailers list titles at higher prices just to see how pre-order rates compare to lower-priced titles.
The Joystiq prediction: games for the Xbox 360 and PS3 will cost about the same as games for today's platforms. There may be temporary spikes based on strong holiday demand and limited supply, but prices will settle at levels that look very much like today's prices.
