jooey said:
hi konex. nearly every 3rd party PSP game is $50.
Are you talking about US dollars? If so, then most third-party PSP games have been released at $39.99. The only PSP games that are $49.99 are the ones from Electronic Arts and Activision, and maybe a handful of others here and there (
Dynasty Warriors and
Midnight Club 3 are two of them).
To answer the original question: They get away with it simply because
they can. They make lots of games that people like, and if those people really want to play those games on PSP badly enough, then they'll pay the $49.99 that EA's asking.
I just bought EA's
Burnout Legends for that price, because it's a game that I really wanted to play on my PSP. I also paid the same amount for Activision's
Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix for the same reason. Those are the only two PSP games that I've paid $49.99 for--all the other PSP games I own (four of them--three of which were third-party) were $39.99.
Would I rather be paying $39.99 or lower for EA and Activision games on PSP? Of course I would.
Do I plan on buying a lot more PSP games at $49.99? Not really.
Would I pay $49.99 again in the future for a PSP game if it was very high in quality, and comparable in scope to something most people pay $49.99 to play on a TV-based game console? Well, if it's a game I really wanted, then yes, I probably would.
It's pure economics. If consumers get fed up with paying $49.99 for EA/Activision (and a smattering of other third-party) games, then sales of those games will drop off, and the publishers will get the message and lower prices accordingly. Until that time, however, if consumers perceive those games to be worth $49.99, then they'll continue to pay that amount, and publishers will continue to use that price point for their new releases.