Jimquisition: Videogames Are A Luxury

[Jimothy Sterling]

Videogames Are A Luxury

A common argument used to defend the videogame industry from accusation of anti-consumerism are that games are a luxury, therefore nobody is entitled to them. A fair enough suggestion, but one that misconstrues a number of reasons why the game industry is criticized in the first place, and the real reason why anti-consumerism is a problem. This week, the Jimquisition explains the folly of the "games as a luxury" argument.

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[Mikeyfell]

Now I'm not usually this guy, but...

People didn't already know this?

 

[wooty]

And now, I want....a Cream Egg.

We're just out of season too, wonderful

 

[vallorn]

Shrimp static... I dont get it...

 

[blurredplacebo]

why the prawns at the end?

 

[metal eslaved]

Videogames ARE a luxury
Jim Sterling is a necessity.

Remember to thank god for him.

Like always great subject of discussion, i live in a country where a new game cost a lot money and used games are pretty much a god send.

 

[Sixcess]

"It's like they made two bags of money fuck to have money babies."

I could easily see EA trying to make this a reality.

 

[Epona]

Good video. Yes video games are unnecessary and therefore sit pretty low on the priority list. I get satisfaction hearing that sales are down. I hope that means people are protesting the greed of the publishers.

 

[DiMono]

I wonder if there's a non-corrupt way to have critics set game prices. i.e. the better a game is rated, the more it's allowed to cost.

 

[nodlimax]

It's not just, that videogames are to expensive, they have been getting worse and worse over the last few years. So much stuff got dumbed down so that the game can reach a bigger audience that as a player who appreciates a good challenge I can't enjoy most of the games anymore.

World of Warcraft? Dumbed down to a point where it's gotten really boring (example: skilltrees, different difficulties for the same dungeons and so on)
Civilization 5? Lost a lot of features compared to it's predecessors
Shooters? All the same, it doesn't matter if it's Crysis 2, CoD:groundhog day or whatsoever

But they all demand more and more money for stuff older players got free a few years back and they deliver less and less at the same time.

CoD Mappacks for 10 Dollars (5 maps!!!!!!). These morons can go and f*** themselves. I wont support these business models.

I've effectively stopped buying games from companies like EA, UbiSoft, Activision and Blizzard as well.

It's not just the money ripoff. It's the "Online-Services" as well. I don't want to have 4-5 freakin programs (Steam, Origin, UbiLauncher, Battlenet -yeah I know it's not an actual seperate software, but still-)on my PC just so I can actually run the games connected to them.

 

[Ne1butme]

on Some days, i miss being in the world with only shrimp. Today is one of those.

 

[3quency]

on Some days, i miss being in the world with only shrimp. Today is one of those.

I dunno, the world with no shrimp had it's merits.

 

[James Crook]

But... what about the people who distribute the games? The retailers and online retailers? GameStop, GOG, Steam?

 

[The White Hunter]

and Jim Sterling is an incredibly sexy man...

Oh shit I actually wrote that

 

[Epona]

I wonder if there's a non-corrupt way to have critics set game prices. i.e. the better a game is rated, the more it's allowed to cost.

You really don't want that. Heaps of praise thrown on games like Skyrim would result in $100 price tags.

 

[Callate]

This is all true. But it's also true, as I've said, that the price of many games is artificially low when they have to sell in the millions to make back their production costs. I don't say that as a "woe, won't someone think of the poor publishers" statement; I just think the current way of things is unsustainable. Something's gotta give, and will, and soon...

 

[Bloodtrozorx]

CoD Mappacks for 10 Dollars (5 maps!!!!!!)

Wasn't the last one $15? Regardless the point stands. It's too damn expensive.

Captcha: baby steps
lol

 

[PunkRex]

Im quite poor. I live with my mum at the mo and earn, roughly, £200-250 every two weeks. I give half to my mum which leaves me with about £100 for myself every fortnight. Its enough to get by and ive always hated London transport so prefer to walk everywhere but after buying food for myself every day and the handful of times a week I need to take the tube I only have about £50 left. If I wanna go out with my brother to the cinema or if I have a relatives birthday then basically I don't get any spending money. I don't mind, im not greedy, all in all I think over the past year ive bought 2 AAA games for myself and play 1 or 2 of my brothers. The point im trying to make is that I have to be careful with what I buy, I would never pirate a game so I tend to check out CEX before any of my purchases. If publishers want me to buy their stuff then they sould stoping crying and start acting like a REAL f*cking buisness! I personally don't mind a slightly lower resolution if it means I can actually afford the bloody thing.

Ive got several 1st world problems being a publishers ***** aint one!

HIT ME!