3DS eShop brings game price hike

Nintendo’s 3DS eStore is now live, and the bad news for consumers is that many titles are priced significantly higher than on rival devices.

For instance, PopCap’s Plants vs Zombies costs 7.20 on Nintendo’s device. It can be downloaded today for 1.79 on the Apple App Store.

RPG Zenonia suffers an even more astonishing hike. It too costs 7.20 on the eShop. On the App Store it’s 59p.

Tetris Party Live costs 4.50 on Nintendo’s machine while EA’s Tetris costs 59p on iPhone, while Pop+ Solo is priced at 4.50. The original Pop is 2.99 from Apple.

These prices are consistent with the games’ previous availability on DSiWare, though they have now been translated from Points to Pounds.

A number of Nintendo exclusive Game Boy games are also available, including Super Mario land (3.60), Tennis (2.70) and Alleyway (2.70).

To further the blow, users must add a minimum of of 10 to their eShop account before any purchases can be made.