Note: Sony has told IGN MSRPs for the 4GB and 8GB cards are $24.99 and $39.99, respectively. These prices are $5 less than what GameStop is charging (the site hasn't updated its prices since this announcement.) That puts the price-per-gigabyte $6.75 at the most. No word on whether or not the larger capacity cards will be cheaper. We'll keep you posted.
GameStop has posted prices for four different PlayStation Vita memory cards, from a 4GB model all the way to 32GB. Prices start at $29.99 $24.99 for the former and go up to $119.99, which means a buyer looking for the base model of Sony's new handheld and minimal storage will fork over approximately $280 at launch. That's about $3.75 per GB for the largest card, $8 $6.75 per GB for the smallest.
Last month Sony confirmed that not only would Vita utilize proprietary memory storage, but that certain games would require it.
Compound the high price with the fact that the company will release a new system in what is the most toxic handheld market in years -- unless you're a mobile games maker, that is -- and the decision to stick with proprietary media storage is a bit vexing. On the other hand, more proprietary products means more money in Sony's coffers with each new sale.
Then again, this is the first listing for official Sony memory cards since the company announced it was sticking with proprietary formats for storage. Could other retailers offer better deals or is this the official MSRP?
To be honest, the high price point is a bit of a turnoff for me, which is a damn shame because Uncharted: Golden Abyss looks like it has potential. What do you think? Do these prices affect your decision to purchase a Vita at launch? Or at all?