Thursday 30 March 2006
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has voiced his concerns over the high prices that publishers are charging for the first wave of next-gen games, and claims he doesn't envision the same steep price tag being carried by Nintendo's titles for its GameCube successor, Revolution.
Speaking specifically about the US market, Iwata offered his belief that next-gen games would "cost an awful lot" - US gamers generally pay around $60 for an Xbox 360 game, which translates to £50 for UK gamers. While punters may currently be prepared to pay top dollar for titles, it's not a trend that Iwata expects to last.
"I really don't think that there's going to be a lot of acceptance by current customers of the $60 price tag," Iwata told CNNMoney.com. "They may allow that for a limited number of premium titles, but not all."
Above: How much will Nintendo's next-gen console and its games cost? Hopefully E3 will reveal all the juicy details
And while Iwata acknowledges that Nintendo has no control over the prices that third-party publishers charge for games, he is anticipating that Nintendo's own Revolution titles will be cheaper than those of its competitors, offering the assurance that he "cannot imagine any first-party title could be priced for more than $50".
We'll have to wait and see whether this lower price pledge would also apply to the UK, but when comparing the on-paper power of the three next-gen consoles the average gamer would surely expect to pay less for the privilege of playing Revolution titles.
