Cognition Dissemination: Why is Persona Q $50?

I had a bit of sticker shock upon first seeing the price Atlus USA was charging for Shin Megami Tensei IV early last year. When a few publishers charged $50 for their 3DS games around its launch window, it was written off as an anomaly, an expected occurrence when certain offenders tried the same tactic with early PSP software years ago. Atlus’ newest RPG, however, didn’t fit that bill.

Even after seeing the price, I was anticipating its arrival so much that I was more than willing to swallow it. Atlus USA had been such a good company that I could afford giving them the benefit of the doubt a second time. (The first occurred with the Persona 4 Arena region-locking fiasco.) This, of course, was before I was aware of the goodies it came packed with — an art book/strategy guide hybrid and a small soundtrack. The two of those, along with the game releasing less than two months after its Japanese release, made it well worth the extra $10. But really, the game was nice enough that I would have paid that price regardless.

Maybe Atlus USA heard people like me, because they’re charging the same price for the upcoming Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth on 3DS. After seeing what’s included in its package, I’m struggling to figure out why — outside of jumping to an obvious, cynical conclusion.

Persona Q is one of four games in the Persona franchise Atlus announced in Japan in last November, all of which were obviously put into development in an attempt to help their parent company, Index Corporation, their crippling financial issues. It’s by far their most popular franchise, and every title was guaranteed sell, even outside Japan.

Unlike a traditional Persona game, Q takes Etrian Odyssey’s dungeon-crawling style and presents it in a more palatable format for the far larger Persona audience, adding features like a familiar cast (nearly everyone from Persona 3 and 4) along with more voice acting and dialogue. This was shown in its Japanese sales, which outsold every EO game (not total) in the first week.

You’re reading the words of someone cynical enough to believe Atlus USA knows they have a guaranteed hit on their hands, to the point that they’re willing to charge $50 to make extra money. This is reflected with the lone extra packed with the standard edition of the game, a second set of 11 Tarot Cards — following the first set that came with last week’s release of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax. While the cards are large and well-made, that doesn’t come close to comparing to SMTIV’s excellent extras.

Also unlike SMTIV, PQ is following the usual localization trend in coming nearly six months after the Japanese release. There’s a hell of a long, empty gap between June 5th and November 25th.

Notice how I used the words “standard edition” above. There’s also a limited “The Wild Cards Premium Edition” including an arrange soundtrack CD, art book, and 3DS XL case in addition to the aforementioned Tarot Cards, going for a whopping $80. That sounds reasonable ostensibly, until you realize it comes with the kind of art book and soundtrack (including only four tracks) the company used to give with preorders and first printings for free. The case, however, is nice, but may not be worth the extra $30 upon considering my previous points.

They may also feel they need to charge $50 for the number of resources required for the localization, with the game including a plethora of text and voice work — though most resources are dedicated to the former. It’s all for a game on a system that’s merely performing OK in western territories. While Nintendo-published software sells fine on 3DS, third-party software sales have been well below the DS’ levels. That’s also partly because other companies refusing to take the risk of localizing their titles, making this a self-fulfilling prophecy. Atlus has been good in this regard, but their Japanese arm may want them to focus on the release being profitable above all else.

That necessary profit may be part of another possible scenario that’s less likely, but far more harrowing: Atlus USA can’t miss a beat in terms of making money, or their new owners, Sega, could make a corporate move unfavorable to the company’s niche-but-vocal fanbase. This theory is admittedly farfetched, but after seeing how Sega’s Japanese arm gutted their western districts to the point that they barely do anything worthwhile, it’s not hard to imagine. They’ve mostly left Atlus alone since purchasing them in September, even going through the bother of splitting Atlus from Index (reviving Atlus Co. Ltd. in Japan) and giving Atlus USA their old name back (from Index Digital Media). Hopefully this trend continues.

As much as I’m complaining about the price, and rightly so, I won’t pretend to say I’m above skipping it for that reason. I may not be able to grab it when it launches due to always-cumbersome life issues, but I’ll have a copy by the end of the year. That Atlus USA is constantly posting new character videos for it every Thursday, along with story trailers, makes it even tougher to resist. However, I don’t blame anyone for skipping Persona Q due to the price being too high for their liking. There’s less of a chance of this happening with titles like Persona 4: Dancing All Night, Devil Survivor 2: Break Record, and Etrian Odyssey Untold II due to those titles not requiring quite as many resources. It would be nice if this didn’t become a habit, but it might be too late for that.