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When Vector Cell and Lexis Numérique announced the price for the upcoming horror game AMY, a couple fans were confused. The Xbox LIVE version cost 800 Microsoft points, which is the equivalent of ten U.S. dollars, but the PSN version cost $13. Fans wanted to know why. This is how José Sanchis, CEO of Lexis Numérique, explained the disparity in a recent press release: We decided to have a new approach to digital distribution by proposing heavy content at a very reasonable price because we believe price is a key issue, especially during hard economic times. Indeed,we believe AMY could have been sold a little bit higher. However, the issue we have to deal with is that a price in MS points doesn’t have the same value in all countries. Indeed, because of fluctuations between the dollar and the Euro, 800 MS points are currently worth $10 in the US but €10 in Europe, which is about $12.8. 
As a result of gamers being a little irked by this price differential, they have given fans a choice, which has become one of the strangest inadvertent social experiments to come out of gaming in recent years. They are holding a poll, and in it gamers can choose whether to release AMY early on PSN for $13, or release it late at a reduced ten-dollar price tag. It will show whether or not gamers favor faster releases or lower prices. As of now, it appears as if most gamers favor lower prices with an overwhelming seventy percent in favor of the delay. The poll ends at noon Pacific Time today, so it’s looking very likely the game will be delayed for PSN and launch at a lower price point. The Xbox LIVE release is unaffected by the poll, and will release for 800 MS points on Wednesday either way. By Angelo M. D’Argenio |