Japanese PS3 game prices revealed

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[PS3] Cheap at half the expected European price

Tuesday 10 October 2006
We're starting to see the first confirmed pricing for PS3 software - in Japan, at least - with Sony's first-party efforts retailing for slightly cheaper than other game publishers' titles.

First-party games Resistance: Fall of Man, Genji 2 and MotorStorm will be sold in Japan for 5,980 yen, or about £27 - which is actually less than the 6,800 yen (£30) price tag on the majority of PS2 titles over its lifetime. Meanwhile, third-party Sega PS3 titles Sonic the Hedgehog and Sega Golf Club are a slightly more expensive 7,140 yen (around £32).

We contacted Sony Europe to see if they would be joining in on the price-announcing fun but were told that any PS3 pricing announcements would be made closer to the European launch.

With most UK retailers still pitching PS3 titles at a next-gen £50, it's an interesting situation given that PS3 is apparently region-free for games (but not movies) - that is, you could import the cheaper Japanese version of a game and play it without any need for mod-chip trickery.

Sony has taken a dim view of importing in the past, though, so it remains to be seen if we should all be brushing up on our Japanese menu text.