Strange word comes from Videogamer.com that, at least in the UK, several retailers have decided to charge £10 more for the PS3 version of Devil May Cry 4 than the Xbox 360 version. Contrary to Sony marketing bollocks, the 360 still has both a higher install base and significantly higher game sales in the UK, so, maybe retailers are looking for a way to subsidize all the SKU changes and hardware stocking costs they’ve had to eat?
“We don’t set the prices of our games, that’s at the discretion of the retailer. In this specific instance, the process has resulted in a price difference, but the process itself is not something we completely control.”
High street specialist retailer GAME lists DMC4 with an RRP of £49.99 on PS3 and £39.99 on Xbox 360. Both Play.com and Amazon.co.uk list the same pricing.”
First of all, at current exchange rates, the 360 SKU of DMC4 costs the equivalent of approximately 80 dollars. This means that the PS3 version is selling for essentially $100.00. So, a moment of silence for our British gaming compatriots, because that is fucking insane. This also means you don’t get to bitch about games being too expensive anywhere on the internet.
Second, the more I think about it, the more I really do wonder if this is aimed at recuperating costs associated with the difficult retail costs associated with Sony’s rapidly transforming strategies for the PS3 over the last 12 months. At least here in the states, hardware price drops are frequently eaten by retailers (although people are welcome to correct me if I’m wrong, as this is the case at Frys, Best Buy, and Gamestop at the very least), and retailers already make next to nothing on hardware. Will other retailers in the UK and EU decide to follow suit?
-Aegies