As of last week the Playstation Store is the only place PSPgo owners can go to pick up their games. Just how do the prices of the Sony-operated online store compare to the prices of the same games sold as used at retailers?
We checked with four online retailers and online shopping services to see how their prices compared to the ones found in the online Playstation Store. The results? A little surprising.
| Title | PSN | Amazon | Gamestop | Half.com | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| God of War: Chains of Olympus | $15.99 | $13.24 | $19.49 | $13.25 | $13.49 |
| Lumines | N/A | $13.67 | $11.49 | $20.88 | $10.69 |
| Ridge Racer | N/A | $9.42 | $11.49 | $10.05 | $10.74 |
| Tekken: Dark Resurrection | N/A | $15.97 | $19.49 | $18.99 | $18.49 |
| Wipeout Pure | $15.99 | $6.22 | $5.49 | $6.80 | $6.49 |
| Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions | N/A | $14.73 | N/A | $14.05 | $15.48 |
| Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness | $14.99 | $33.98 | N/A | $27.98 | $38.49 |
| Burnout Legends | $19.99 | $14.97 | $19.49 | $9.30 | $12.89 |
| Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories | N/A | $11.14 | $19.49 | $12.30 | $9.98 |
| Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror | $15.99 | $10.99 | $11.49 | $9.99 | $9.98 |
With only half of the top-rated Playstation Portable games (shown in order of ranking) currently available online, it's hard to do a meaningful comparison. It is interesting that the inability to find a particular used title can drive up the price in a store, but doesn't seem to impact its price online.
While the difference for many of the available games online often isn't substantial, the Playstation Store's relatively high price for a game like Wipeout Pure, which has been around for awhile and will run you nearly half the price in a store, is troubling.
Methodology: We used Gamerankings.com to find the 10 highest-rated games on the Playstation Portable. Prices were checked Sunday night. For used games we used the "like new" condition prices when available or "very good" condition when the service didn't include like new as an option. In the case of Google, we used Google Shopping to find the best price of a used title from a retailer.