Poll: Call of Duty: Black Ops... Prices?!

[Aphex Demon]

So Escapists, today I managed to get my hands on a copy of Black Ops, I was planning on getting the Hardened edition, until after asking the price of it, I realised I hadnt got enough money, thus forcing me to buy the standard edition, still costing me £49.99. Now for one I have never ever spent £50 on a game that is the 'Standard Edition', Dont get me wrong I will quite happily spend £50, considering I did just spend £50 on it, but dont you think the game developers are taking advantage a bit because they know people will spend that much on it. FYI Americans, £50 works out at about $80.

If your wondering how I got it a day early, its because the shop is an independent franchise, so its easier for them to get away with selling it as soon as the shipping order arrives.
(Funny thing was, both managers of Gamestation from Newcastle and Stafford were in the bottom of the shop talking to the manager of this 'independent franchise', So I was subtly prompted to go exit the store on the other side, haha.

Ah well, I have my copy, so I dont really mind, but I want to see other gamers opinion on this considerately more costly price...

 

[JourneyThroughHell]

Your poll seems to be broken.

So, umm, 80 bucks? That's the standard price for most new console games from where I live.

It's a brand new game from my favorite series, I don't really mind paying this much.

Also, you have the game already? Envy... ENVY!!!

 

[Corpse XxX]

Dont put the game in your console before launch date!

Its like dividing by zero and all will cease to exist!

Ohh wait.. That was the kinectimals...

 

[SalamanderJoe]

Your lucky. If retialers were very evil they'd charge £55 seeing as thats the RRP for the standard.

 

[comadorcrack]

Well I'm having mine delivered to me tomorrow. SO by that time I'm sure most people will have prestiged about 4 times =P

I got my copy for £40 p&p So i'm relatively happy about that, seeing as retail puts it at £55. Although I'm sure tesco and asda will undercut many people like they did last year... Aw well I just want my copy of the damn game!!

 

[acosn]

Welp. The pricing figures for the US is 60$, so I don't see where the 20$ mark up is coming from.

It is somewhat justified though- for about 20 years now the video gaming industry has been selling its software for about the same price- around 50$. The only reason they ever mark up the prices is because they know you're buying it regardless. If you don't like it, don't buy it. They'll get the message and the game won't get worse somehow for the wait.

 

[Katherine Kerensky]

Eh, you have to pay that much?
Games have never cost that much for a standard edition at my local stores, despite the companies who made them raising the prices...
I feel lucky to have stores that actually stand up for the customer. And all I have to do is wait one more day.
So yes, that price is a tad high. A price I don't have to pay.

 

[Aphex Demon]

Welp. The pricing figures for the US is 60$, so I don't see where the 20$ mark up is coming from.

It is somewhat justified though- for about 20 years now the video gaming industry has been selling its software for about the same price- around 50$. The only reason they ever mark up the prices is because they know you're buying it regardless. If you don't like it, don't buy it. They'll get the message and the game won't get worse somehow for the wait.

At the usual exchange rate, £50 converted into dollars is £80

 

[RobCoxxy]

If your wondering how I got it a day early, its because the shop is an independent franchise, so its easier for them to get away with selling it as soon as the shipping order arrives.
(Funny thing was, both managers of Gamestation from Newcastle and Stafford were in the bottom of the shop talking to the manager of this 'independent franchise', So I was subtly prompted to go exit the store on the other side, haha.

Ah, a fellow Stafford man? Ha, I just got it on Steam. £39.99. Still a bit much, but activision is run by Bobby "Shylock" Kotick, and CoD is pretty much the only game franchise that can get away with ridiculous prices, people will still buy it in droves.

 

[JWRosser]

It seems insane paying £55 for a video game...
My brother ordered if off Amazon for £39.99, I think, reduced from £55. Never in my life have I paid that much before.
Even on Steam it's £39.99!

 

[Aphex Demon]

If your wondering how I got it a day early, its because the shop is an independent franchise, so its easier for them to get away with selling it as soon as the shipping order arrives.
(Funny thing was, both managers of Gamestation from Newcastle and Stafford were in the bottom of the shop talking to the manager of this 'independent franchise', So I was subtly prompted to go exit the store on the other side, haha.

Ah, a fellow Stafford man? Ha, I just got it on Steam. £39.99. Still a bit much, but activision is run by Bobby "Shylock" Kotick, and CoD is pretty much the only game franchise that can get away with ridiculous prices, people will still buy it in droves.

Yeah, I live in Stone, but I work for the council in IT. Its looking at me, staring me down, asking me to go home 'ill' and play it. This is going to be one LONG day.

Where abouts are you from? In Stafford like.

 

[Chappy]

I wouldn't imagine it's cheap to make something like the Call of Duty series when they hire out orchestra's and sound studio's just for the music and voice acting, then the amount of time it takes to make a game and all the wages and bonus when the game is a success if they pay it out. Just saying it's going to cost a company like Activision a lot of money to make a game like call of duty even if they know they are going to get a great return on their investments they are still going to price the game to make sure in the worst case scenario they don't lose to much of their investment.

That being said though I prefer to buy 'big games' like Call of Duty late (or in this case get them for Christmas) because it's a little cheaper and by then they will hopefully have fixed some of the major bugs, abuses and glitches people will find. (And yes, no matter how 'good' a game can be there will always be an abuse, glitch or bug in a big multiplayer game like Call of Duty that someone will find and take advantage of.)

 

[Twaddlefish]

I've always been a PC gamer, but the very most I'll pay for a new game (not including collector's editions) is £34.99. Bought MW2 on release date because it looked great and left very disappointed with the single player. MoH for £30 took the piss, a 4 1/2 hour game is an embarrassment to your development studio.

On the other hand, I got 80 hours out of Dragon Age. I would be happy paying £0.50 an hour for a game. It would be so unforgivable if they didn't claim that the multiplayer makes up for it (which it doesn't, because you don't have to do stuff like story, set pieces or AI).

As a final point, I'll never be a console gamer because £45 for a game is laughable at best.

 

[AfterAscon]

I don't really see £50 as too much for a game because that's what all N64 games were. I tend to buy all my games from stores, such as Game, and it's very rare for a game to be priced at £50. However, if I do see a game at that pricepoit I'll probably go elsewhere since I know I can get it cheaper (where I live there are 2 GAMEs, a gamestation, a HMV and a large Tescos all within a 500ft radius).

Anyway, I'm waiting for a price war between the supermarkets tomorrow where I should be able to pick Black Ops dirt cheap.

 

[Gunner 51]

Fifty quid?!? I reckon you got ripped off.

I do enjoy the CoD games, but charging that much for a product that's with only forty quid - at most - is crazy. Especially with the short single player campaigns, which is supposed to be the meat and bones of the game.

But ultimately, this was your call OP to make. If you think the game was truly worth it, then I tip my hat to you for getting the game early and even getting the VIP treatment by your local games retailer.

For that extra tenner, I'd be wanting the staff to come home and wash the dishes for me.

 

[Aphex Demon]

Fifty quid?!? I reckon you got ripped off.

I do enjoy the CoD games, but charging that much for a product that's with only forty quid - at most - is crazy. Especially with the short single player campaigns, which is supposed to be the meat and bones of the game.

But ultimately, this was your call OP to make. If you think the game was truly worth it, then I tip my hat to you for getting the game early and even getting the VIP treatment by your local games retailer.

For that extra tenner, I'd be wanting the staff to come home and wash the dishes for me.

I know this game is gonna last me at least a year, so its all good.