A few weeks back we posted about Sony hinting at an upcoming price cut for Canadian gamers. Looks like it’s going to come true as of May 1st. No word yet on exactly what the price adjustment will be, but my guess still says par. Here’s the official word;

In conjunction with the PLAYSTATION®Store weekly update on Thursday, May 1, Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) will adjust pricing for downloadable content available through the PLAYSTATION Store for the Canadian market. The adjustment comes as a result of the strengthening Canadian currency and SCEA’s ability to localize pricing within the PLAYSTATION Store. SCEA will execute the adjustments in a phased approach prior to the regularly scheduled PLAYSTATION Store update, with prices adjusting during a window of time prior to the scheduled update on May 1st.

“We are continually looking for ways to enhance the player experience on the PLAYSTATION®Network, and downloadable content through the PLAYSTATION Store is just one of our areas of focus,” said Grace Chen, Senior Manager for the PLAYSTATION Store. “We anticipate that this price adjustment will meet the expectations of our Canadian consumers and provide them with a better PLAYSTATION Network experience.”

UPDATE: I’ve just received confirmation from PlayStation Canada PR rep Kyle Moffatt that the price adjustment will in fact put the pricing even with the US price. Sweet.

Sometimes being Canadian sucks. Sure we’ve got health care, civility and the french, but what about that damned exchange rate?

Things have evened out over the past year or so putting the Canadian dollar more or less on par with the US on a consistent basis, and we’ve actually seen that reflected in everything from the price of books to (gasp — you guessed it) gaming goods, both hardware and software. But digital downloads? Not so much.

Last year Sony was the first (and thus far only) company to make an adjustment in their Canadian pricing. For the most part items are only a dollar more on the PlayStation Store in Canada than in the US. Bigger ticket items like Warhawk and Prologue have a larger price difference, but all in all a much fairer pricing structure than anyone else. So who is going to be the next company to lower their prices? Turns out it’s Sony again.

Yay Sony! Boo everyone else!

The above image is a screencap from a post on the Playstation.Blog, and the response is from none other than Senior VP of Marketing and PlayStation Network Peter Dille (so we know it’s not just a heinous rumor). There’s not much lower they could go at this price without hitting par, so I’ll assume that’s what they’ll do.

My advice to the big three? Just charge us in US dollars. It keeps it fair and above board for everyone. When the exchange starts hitting 40% again, then we’ll talk about separate pricing — sound good?

Further Reading: Our very own Ryan Hewson wrote a fantastic piece on the pricing problem in Canada last summer. It’s what brought him to our attention in the first place and it’s well worth a read. Check it out here.

If you happen to live in the Great White North like I do, you’re in for one hell of a cel-shaded treat. Phantom Hourglass? Half price. That’s right ladies, you can forget that unpleasant Canadian MSRP of $39.99. Amazon.ca has this bad boy on for a mere $19.99!

This one showed up on a lot of top ten lists this year, some of ours included. If you’re somehow not familiar with it, make sure to check out our early impressions with the import version from way back when. Now get shopping!

UPDATE: Sold out. You snooze you lose.

[via SmartCanucks]

Today Square Enix launched the official North American branch of it’s online fan club, Square Enix Members, which allows fans of the company to register online in order to gain acess to special content. The content will include developer interviews, downloadable stuff like desktop wallpapers, contests and exclusive game trailers. Apparently there may be even more incentives added to the site as the months go by.

The Japanese site features a points system which rewards members with points when they purchase Square Enix products from the site and these points can be redeemed on special swag like stuffed Chocobos and Slime Pillows. Hopefully they provide our site with the same, but since the online Square Enix store doesn’t ship to Canada right now due to problems with customs, I doubt this will happen soon.

Special flash games based on Square Enix games may be available on the NA site for members to play as there are currently available on the Japanese version of the site. The Japanese site also acts as a gate to an avatar based MMO community where members can create a Final Fantasy style character to interact with other community members.

Since I’m writing this post the night before the official launch, I’ll be excited to check out the site with everyone else today. I hope Square Enix rolls out the good stuff for us.

Sigh. You know, when I started working here last year my first post was about the shortchanging Canada seems to get from Microsoft. Hell, I’m still waiting for my Zune. I would have liked to think that after a year things would have changed a little, but when I sat down this morning to check out the long awaited Canadian release of the Video Marketplace I realized that the more things change the more they stay the same.

I can deal with the tiny handful of films we recieved. I can deal with the fact that nearly half of the 31 films we recieved were direct-to-video nonsense. I can even deal with the complete and utter lack of television programs available at launch. But what I can’t deal with is the pricing.

Microsoft Points is a currency unto itself. It’s not affected by shifting dollars or export fees. That’s why a game that costs 800 points in the US will cost the same in the Ukraine or Singapore. So why is it that I’m paying between 20-40% more in points for my VOD rentals??

• Old SD Rental: US-240, CAN-300
• New SD Rental: US-320, CAN-440
• New HD Rental: US-480, CAN-580

If I had to guess at a corporate answer as to why this is, something tells me it would have to do with licensing fees in different regions or some such. If that’s the case, why can I buy/rent/VOD a film in any other form (taking exchange rates into account) for a price comparable to US pricing?

Asides from my pricing issue, I just have two small observations for my fellow Canucks that may still feel inclined to check out the service tonight and pick up a vid. First up — there are some pretty choice classics mixed in with the 31 releases. The Man with Two Brains and The Never-Ending Story are always worth a viewing. Second up — be annoyed about the lack of TV. Seriously annoyed. Sure, I can understand licensing issues with American programming, but there’s no reason original Canadian content couldn’t have been figured out in time for launch. Where’s my Little Mosque on the Prarie, Corner Gas or Billable Hours?

It would have been easy for Microsoft to get a passing grade on this one if they’d just kept to the pricing established and thrown in a little Canadian content. Instead I’m going to have to give them a big fat F on this one.  Boo-urns, Microsoft.  Boo-urns.

“Friend of the show” Faith from “The Girl Gamer” blog posted a picture of a sweet Mortal Kombat hood design. She found it in the wild of Canada at her local grocery store. It’s quite the awesome find.

2K Games has officially announced the completion of HistoriCanada: The New World — a free Civilization III mod that recreates all 400 years of Canadian history in mind-boggling detail. The intention behind this product is to get Canadian high school students involved in their own history in a fun and exciting way. As both a former history major (stay in school kids!) and a former CivIII addict, I couldn’t be more psyched about this.

100,000 copies will be bundled with CivIII and given to high school students throughout Canada. No word yet on whether or not 2K will be trying to get this into high school classrooms or if they’ll be offering this as a free download publicly, though I’d be surprised if this wasn’t the case. If/when it is released to the public, I’d strongly encourage American and Canadian gamers alike to give this a whirl. Canadian history is fascinating beyond belief — you’ll be amazed by what’s gone on just north of your border.