Director of Software Marketing Jeff Reese writes on the PlayStation.Blog that Patapon will be released on February 26th at $19.99 in the US:
"As you can see, Patapon is really different and highly creative, a new kind of PSP experience we don't want anyone to miss. So to make it more accessible to everyone, we are happy to officially announce that we are releasing it at $19.99, lower than other new PSP games. It's a game that shouldn't get lost with some other big titles launching on the platform. It deserves your attention because it's very cool.
Normally, this price had been reserved for our Greatest Hits line, a collection of well established titles. But we felt that the unique nature of Patapon fit nicely into this pricepoint, and would work to attract the masses (casual, younger) who may otherwise miss it. So we'll see if it works!"