Wow I didn't realise the Japanese are getting just as badly ram-roded as us in the UK. The minimum price on their retail games being 4800 yen which roughly translates to £35, and that is what we get charged here as well. The US $40 retail seems to be the cheapest.

I do agree with the OP, 3DS games should really be between £20-£25. Going into £30 and above is home console territory, which should be off-limits to handheld games.

I think Nintendo should give a suggested retail price for all software on 3DS. This means a cap that games shouldn't cost more then say 39.99$ in the US. Or because software obviously costs a crap load more in Japan cap it off at 60$ (4500Yen). If it is too low for developers and publishers then Nintendo should do something to make software development more affordable.

But their hardware price cut isn't going to help Nintendo much if software is going for 80+ $.

That assumption assumes Pokemon fans care about production values more than the content of the game. Sales show the content is selling those games. Flashy graphics would just hurt the profit margin needlessly.

Let the console manu's still charge their % royalty fees, but allow the publishers leeway in how much they sell their games for (for both online and retail).

One of the reasons Ive turned much more to MMO's and RPGs over the past few gens. I want my money's worth. a 6 hour game at $60 = $10 bucks an hour. No way I should be paying over minimum wage to play a game.