GameStop prices PS Vita memory cards

Since the news that Sony’s upcoming handheld game system the PlayStation Vita would require proprietary memory cards for downloadable content and game saves, prospective buyers have anxiously clutched their wallets. Video game retail chain GameStop has finally tagged Vita memory cards with prices tags.

GameStop updated its official Vita page last week with prices for both memory cards and several peripherals. Those expecting to buy the system, a game and memory card on day one should also expect to walk out of the store with a wallet at least $320 lighter.

The company listed the 4GB card at $29.99, the 8GB card at $44.99, the 16GB card at $69.99 and the mammoth 32GB card at an equally big $119.99. Not too far off from the prices announced for Japanese memory cards two months ago.

Sony’s decision to forgo internal memory helped keep the device’s price down, but that cost is being passed off to consumers via the Vita’s myriad accessories. Without a memory card, gamers can’t download anything. And with full retail games to be available in the handheld’s online storefront, a single 4GB card won’t last long.

For the most part, the memory cards’ main purpose will be DLC. However, certain titles require one for game saves – a possible sticking point for some cost-conscious gamers.

Sony announced a special First Edition bundle for U.S. and Canadian customers which includes a Wi-Fi and 3G-enabled Vita, a 4GB memory card and the game “Little Deviants.” The limited edition package launches a week before the actual device’s February 22 launch date for $349.

Whether gamers flock to Sony’s new handheld or balk at the increasingly high entry price remains to be seen.