Poll: The prices of these games lately!

[RedxDecember]

Hello everyone. We've all been noticing the prices of gas lately, but what about games? I could recall a few years ago when the big price of a game is 40$, but now i'm lookin at 60$ and 70$ dollar games! sorry for this cheesy rhyme, but are we going to have to have alotta cash to pwn alotta ash?

 

[pilot inspektor]

well i think the prices of games will have to go up, becuase of rising production cost, it costs millions to make a game nowadays.

 

[t0mme]

I don't care what they cost. I'm in no hurry and I will buy it when it reaches the regions of ?15. If people want to pay through the nose to be hip and fashionable, let them. That way, the companies won't lower the initial prices.

Now, I have absolutely no idea about inflation and the like, but I remember paying for a new PC game in the Netherlands during the 90s about 100-110 guilders (pre-?). At the launch of the euro, 100 guilders was roughly ?55 and games costed about ?50. So, they were cheaper. I checked my local gamestores today, the most expensive non-special edition game (CoD4) ranges in price from ?45 to ?55. So you don't here me complaining.
Can't give you numbers on console games though, my first console I bought that wasn't retro was a PS2.

 

[stompy]

Bah, in Australia, the prices have gone through the roof. Last gen, the standard price was $100. This gen, it's gone into the $110-$120 price range. This isn't considering the rise in value of the Australian dollar; the Australian dollar is now on par with the US dollar pretty much. This means that while you Yanks complain about paying $60-$70 for a brand new game, we Aussies have to pay $110-$120 for the same thing (or get less for games like Fallout 3).

 

[SecretTacoNinja]

Since I don't have any money I don't think this applies to me, but I traded in my old PS2 for a pre-owned copy of GTA 4 and that cost 30 freaking quid (that's pounds to you yanks). I can't believe how expensive Wii games are, they're still £30 to £40 2 years after its release. But I guess new hardware is going to be expensive, don't forget that back in the 80s/90s new games for the NES and Genesis were around £40. They might go up £10 at the most I say.

 

[Woe Is You]

well i think the prices of games will have to go up, becuase of rising production cost, it costs millions to make a game nowadays.

It costs millions to make a movie nowadays, but I don't see Transformers going for £30-40 a dvd. Sure, games don't have the same install base as movies, but I feel that that is due in part at least to the hefty price difference between games and movies. Lower the price of games, perhaps more people will start buying them. Heck, the Wii showed you can sell on the cheap and still make huge profits.

The thing with movies, though, is that they basically get to be sold twice. Once in the movie theatre, then they make their second round as DVDs. And movies age a lot slower than games, so I could easily go to the nearest Ma & Pa store and get an old movie like Dirty Harry for 5EUR or the sort.

But no, games aren't more expensive than they used to be. In fact, they're often cheaper, drop in price sooner and if you aren't going for the latest AAA blockbuster, you can get awesome games easily for around 10-20EUR (or $10-20).

 

[KapnKerfuffle]

Bah, in Australia, the prices have gone through the roof. Last gen, the standard price was $100. This gen, it's gone into the $110-$120 price range. This isn't considering the rise in value of the Australian dollar; the Australian dollar is now on par with the US dollar pretty much. This means that while you Yanks complain about paying $60-$70 for a brand new game, we Aussies have to pay $110-$120 for the same thing (or get less for games like Fallout 3).

Why so much in Australia? Is it the open hostility that the government has for video games so they tax them to death?

 

[NeedAUserName]

I think game developers are just getting greedy because they know lots of people are gonna buy their games before the price goes down, and so know they are gonna make a large profit. I think game developers could stand to reduce prices at least $10 and wouldn't be that out of pocket. But taxes on them by certain governments could stand to be lowered too, as you don't see them tax DVDs and so even the new DVDs go cheap in comparison to new games.

 

[Fraught]

Holy shit! I see a 100$ for every new PS3 and Xbox360 game! Do I freakin' complain? Hell no. I know it's those freakin European fucknuts who take taxes, but I ONLY see Americans whining about the prices. Sorry if I'm aggressive, but that pisses me off.

 

[Lord Krunk]

Australia is terrible. Games have reached $120 each, and the $AUS is nearly equal to the $US.

 

[-Seraph-]

hmm...I dont know about anyone else but game prices here in my part of canada are fairly consistent around the $50 range. Rarely does a new game come out at the 60+ range. Sucks for everyone else.

 

[Danny Ocean]

Blu ray phase in? Prices go up, but I dunno about PC games.

 

[stompy]

Why so much in Australia? Is it the open hostility that the government has for video games so they tax them to death?

We have retailers that are smart enough to realise that most customers will pay what ever price they install, and the lack of competition. They've standardised the price, so there really aren't any cheap places.

I would buy online/import, but my parents aren't so happy about the prospect of using the credit card online.

 

[HSIAMetalKing]

I truly hope the price of games doesn't go up by another 10 dollars anytime soon. I spent 40 dollars today and bought four really great used games-- hell if I'm going to blow 60 on a new one unless it's something I really want.

 

[Spartan Bannana]

I rent more games than I buy, so this probably won't affect me...

 

[puffbro1]

Why so much in Australia?

Because they can. Huge numbers of people still buy the games at the high prices, so the price never gets lowered.

 

[Brett Alex]

Why so much in Australia? Is it the open hostility that the government has for video games so they tax them to death?

Because the government just plain hates video games.

Nah, but heres my 2 cents. Last gen i was fine paying $70-$100 for a brand new game if i really wanted it. Otherwise I'd wait a few weeks for returns and pick up a pre-owned for $50. If there was nothing new that excited me I'd just get the 1 year or older pre-owned's for around $20. ($10 during sale time... ahh the glory days)

$120 for brand new just pushes it that bit too far. $100 for a pre-owned is ridiculous and that really shits me. Although I find that if you avoid that specialized gaming chains *cough* EB *cough* and head to places like JB Hi-Fi, primarily a CD/DVD/Electricals store cause often selling the same current gen games for $20-$30 less. So I doubt pice hikes are cause of manufacturing costs, it seems more like using new consoles for profiteering.