I was looking for something and remembered a little something. Something Sony warned us about. Something that hasn't come to pass, and hopefully won't.

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In a recent interview with US consumer magazine PSM, Hirai was quizzed on the price point for Sony's next-gen software in comparison to the current retail cost of games on Microsoft's Xbox 360.

"Generally speaking, over the past twelve years or so, there has been a consumer expectation that disc based games are maybe US$ 59 on the high end to US$ 39 on the low end," Hirai stated.

"So, what I can say now is, I think it would be a bit of a stretch to think that we could suddenly turn around and say PS3 games now US$ 99.99."

Although there were no direct figures quoted, Hirai went on to say that Sony will be making its next-gen software "as affordable as possible," but suggested costs could rise from what consumers are currently paying.

"If it becomes a bit higher than US$ 59, don't ding me, but, again, I don't expect it to be US$ 100," he concluded.

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http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3151823

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/sony-exec-hints-at-ps3-software-pricing

http://news.spong.com/article/10311?cb=375

So far regular games are no more than $59.99. Anything higher than that? Either you're getting ripped off or buying a Collector's Edition with a lot of cool stuff.

So my question is - what if, and only what if - PS3 games did indeed cost more than the going rate? How much would be "too much" for you? $5 more? $10 more? $15 more? What would be required to make that tolerable? Exclusivity? A vastly superior version compared to other platforms?

I'm just curious, really. I know a lot of folks including myself aren't overly thrilled with $60 games as-is. Yes, they're quite often amazing pieces of work, but a game is a game, after all. I'm sort of wondering if Sony was worred about that this generation, might it happen next generation? Or will the industry have moved to other revenue models rather than risk out-pricing their products? John Riccitiello believes the $60/game pricing model will be obsolete in 10 years. Is he onto something when it comes to consoles? I mean, there are a plethora of revenue models for free and cheap games on the PC after all, but there's still the normal $40-50 retail boxes too...