Is PS Vita Discouraging Downloadable Games? Sony's pricey proprietary memory cards could be considered a gouging of gamers, a retail partner pacifier, and a calculated business strategy all at once.

“Proprietary memory cards were to deter hacks.” The company was roundly criticised for the pricey memory cards, which cost up to $119.99 for the largest 32GB permutation at launch.

As part of its announcement of a Japanese release date – December 17 – for the PlayStation Vita, Sony also announced the pricing of its proprietary PlayStation Vita memory cards.

A quick search for a PlayStation Vita memory card on a retailer like Amazon shows a price tag in the hundreds. In fact, some of those cards can cost as much as $245 for a 32GB card.

Memory cards will come in 4GB, 8GB, 16GB and 32GB sizes, priced at $29.99, $44.99, $69.99 and $119.99 respectively. The pricing raises many questions, and has received criticism from fans.

The big attraction, however, is that with PS Vita custom firmware, one can also negate the need for Sony's proprietary memory cards.