An article was recently published that points to a decline in the prices for PS3 games. It actually seemed like it could have been a bad mis-print. However, after a little speculation and some investigating, I found out a rather startling revelation: Some PS3 games cost less than Wii games. This is probably good news for PS3 owners who don’t own the game(s) that have dropped under the $40 mark. But it’s probably bad news for the publishers that have launch titles that have fallen by $20 bucks in less than two months.

In a story running on Punch Jump, it appears select PS3 games have actually not been able to maintain their supposed $59.95 price tag at select retailers. Also, with just under 200,000 units in households, it makes it awfully hard to sell a lot of games with only 200,000 potential buyers. There is the possibility of non-PS3 owners (i.e., relatives, friends, etc.,) buying PS3 games for fellow family members and friends, etc. But even then those numbers aren’t going to budge much higher than the initial consumer sales bracket.

But moving on to the meat and potatoes of this article, the news on Punch Jump indicated that Tony Hawk’s Project 8, Activision’s Marvel Ultimate Alliance and EA’s popular title, Need for Speed: Carbon were among the listed that have supposedly dropped under the $59 mark for the PS3. One out of those three titles is easily attainable for $39.95, and it’s not either of the two games not published by Electronic Arts. Yep, Need for Speed: Carbon, an especially hot seller for the PSP, has managed to hit the low marks for the PS3. Ironic, eh? This once again proves that EA just can’t seem to get their launch titles off the ground for next-gen systems.

This looks especially odd given that Nintendo’s Wii (the affordable one out of the big three), has Zelda: Twilight Princess that retails for an average $49.95. Consistent sales (and reviews) for the game have garnered it with a worthy price point. It’s also funny because Wii games don’t average review scores above a 6.6 (out of 10), and yet they continue to move off store shelves faster than Hollywood can shuffle out a celebrity sex tape. And that’s pretty darn fast. ;)

The final interesting thing to note is that PS3 games were supposed to be $50 on up due to their “next-generation features” and “high-end visuals”. Maybe it’s just me, but aside from Factor 5's Lair, nothing on the market (or coming to the market) looks all that “next-gen” about the PS3. If soft shadowing and realtime dynamic lighting adds an extra $10 to the price tag, then I think I’d rather stick with the version of the game that didn’t make any promises to visually disappoint its audience. Or better yet, if things continue to slope downhill for the PS3 software prices...gamers can just wait four months after a PS3 title is released and get it for $19.95. Now that’s a bargain. :)