Savior of stingy spenders and bane of box art, the budget lineup, is set to incorporate several PlayStation 3 titles in Japan next month. IGN reports that the official "PlayStation 3 the Best" branding will highlight familiar titles at friendlier prices, with Resistance: Fall of Man, FolksSoul (aka Folklore), Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Gundam: Target in Sight, and Ridge Racer 7 pinching the first pennies -- or, uh, yanking the first yen. The "Best" games will sell for ¥3,800 ($36), which represents a saving of roughly ¥2,200 ($21) for Sony-published games and ¥3,200 ($30) for third-party titles.

On the other side of the ocean, Sony told GamesIndustry.biz that a similar "Platinum" range of budget games would likely arrive in Europe. "We have introduced a Platinum range of best-selling titles for all of our platforms to date, and it is likely that we will do so in the future for PS3," said a spokesman, noting that the timing and lineup had yet to be finalized.

We'll let you know what Sony America has to say about a budget lineup as soon as they accept our collect call.

Read -- "PlayStation 3 the Best" for Japan
Read -- "Platinum" for Europe