Poll: what's your opinion on the price of videogames?

[Eve Charm]

The prices are fine for the most part, I've made minimum wage, near min wage full time and can still afford a new full price game once or twice a month after bills and such. The problem and the reason I picked other tho, is because a 60 dollar asking price, even on a brand new triple A game, starts to look like way to much when publishers start throwing things around back and forth. Telling me I need to first pre-order to get this from this specific retailer, then I gotta go home and type in my online pass and the other dlc codes I got with the game, Then buy the other day one DLC that came out, and I still won't have it all unless I paid even more for the game in the first place for the collectors edition??? and lets not even get started at how playing the game is with some DRM.

If I gotta jump through hoops to buy and play your damn game, you shouldn't be asking for 60 bucks, and I should have an option to buy a cheaper version for the hassle even if it is missing a bit of the content or online pass.

 

[A Free Man]

I would love to see some more games like mount and blade, where they just say fuck graphics let's take all our funding and development time and use it on key gameplay mechanics instead of pretty pictures. And I know M&B was not without it's glitches and disappointments but imagine if a AAA design team decided to take that path with just one or two games in their lineup. We could see some really awesome games for $20-$30 AUD which would be freaking awesome.

 

[Skoosh]

Four times as much as a movie? Yeah, it's too high for me. I buy most of my games used or much later because $60 is way too high. I think they should be closer to $30-40. I also don't like how all games cost the same amount. We've got games that cost vastly different amounts to make with way different sales projections but all of them have been fixed at $60.

 

[TehCookie]

I have this brilliant idea. How about you wait for games to go down in price if you can't afford it? It's not like you need to buy games and defiantly not right after release if you are tight on cash. I never found games to be that expensive because I do that, and I still buy the occasional game full price. Just the ones I do are usually from good companies I trust.

 

[Signa]

In Australia, you'd expect a new game for no less than $80. $110 at the most for a standard edition. I see people complaining all the time that $US60 is too much, but to us that's a bargain (and it's not a fault of conversion rates, our dollars have been equal with theirs for a long time). It's criminal, I reckon. Especially for a game that they know will sell well, like Call of Duty. Activision can't use the whole "we need to make our money back" thing, because they'd be doing that anyway.

I live in Australia.

Uncharted 3. Asking Price: $110

I hear it's even worse in New Zealand.

...

Thank God for Steam sales.

I know, it's insane. And they usually don't get cheaper with time, like you'd expect. Modern Warfare 2 was 70 goddamn dollars PREOWNED even two years after its release.
Not that I'd pay even 10 bucks for that piece of crap.

Australia's minimum wage is $15.51 per hour or $589.30 per week.

What are you complaining about again? A single days work for a video game? Sheesh...

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/world/5097951/Australia-raises-minimum-wage

DAAAAAMN. I live in Washington State, and we have the highest (or one of) minimum wage in the country. It's at $9.05 right now. If I had a $15/hr job, I don't know what I'd do with the extra cash.

 

[lord.jeff]

I'm okay with the price of games picking up a DVD cost $15 bucks for two hours of movie as long as the $60 dollar game is 8 hours or longer it's a better deal and most of the games I've played have well over 30 hours of play, plus games drop in price quicker then anything else, so within a year that games down to $40, also steam sales.

 

[fenrizz]

I feel the price is just about right.

But, I would have bought more games if the price had been lower.
And I already do, as I buy many Steam games on sale.

 

[Riddle78]

Too high. Drop the price by $20.00. $40.00 for a new release? THAT sounds bearable,to me. Especially if it's a new IP.

 

[LooK iTz Jinjo]

What do I think? I think move to Australia where the RRP is $109.95. These days I import all my games from the UK or Asia, maybe if every other Aussie did the same EB would get the message that the shit they've been pulling for 10 years is unacceptable.

 

[Creator002]

If we're talking about US prices, I'm going to say that it's about right. Assuming it's $60 for a brand new console game and about $50 for PC.
If we're talking about the prices in my country (Australia), I'm saying that it's too high. Most console games that come out are between $90 and $100 brand new, with the PC version being about $10 cheaper than the console version.
I buy most of my games online, either from eBay or GameLane. Sure I have to wait a bit, but it saves me money.

 

[Macgyvercas]

Drop the price by about 10-15 bucks and I'd be okay with it.

Then again, the Gods of Discount Gaming always have great deals for us. Hell, I got GOTY editions of Oblivion and Morrowind, along with Painkiller and Mass Effect in the Steam Autumn sale.

 

[putowtin]

If I want it, I buy it (normally day of release and/or special edition)
If I'm not sure, I wait until the price drops (which let's face it in this day and age, doesn't take long)

But......
I will not buy second hand any more, why should Game/Gamestop/EB charge you nearly as much as buying it new and keep the profit? That money needs to go back to the developer so they can continue to make great games!

 

[Palmerama]

People recently complain about it like the prices have been going up when they haven't. The price of videogames has remained pretty much the same since the days of the Atari, hell, if anything they're cheaper now thanks to digital distribution and the like.

If you're unwilling to buy a game full price why not just wait till it's on sale? If it's a PC game it's pretty much guaranteed to have a sale somewhere online within a few months with a lower cost.

That is very true! I've still got a copy of Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers for the NES and it's still got the price tag on for £29.99. Now I know games nowadays are bout £40 give or take but still a £10 increase in 15 odd years is still good. Plus I don't know if that was the full price of the game or not (I was only a child).

Edit: Also just found Mario & Yoshi with a £19.99 sticker on it and thats the second hand price.

 

[josemlopes]

I feel that not every game needs to be 60$ at launch and yet all of them are with the exception of the 15$ dollar downloadable game and some games for the PC.

Some games would sell more if they reduced their price (a bit like EDF: Insect Armaggedon)

 

[Joccaren]

CoD, Elder Scrolls, Battlefield, Halo. These games I "deem worthy" of my money however games like dragon age, Prototype (small time games ONLY IN COMPARISON TO THE BIG GUYS) should be valued at $50.

I tend to be the opposite. Games like CoD, Halo, BF (Though the new engine in BF3 and the obvious amount of work that went into creating everything raises it to the level I put TES games at) I want lower prices for as they are mostly a copy paste of the old game, with a few tweaks. That's known as an expansion pack, publishers, and sells for $20. If not a lot of effort (Relative) has gone into the game, they can sell it for a lower price. Its not even like its a finite commodity. We are in the digital era, you can get most of the games online. Why they cost $60 for a blatant expansion pack is beyond me.
Games like Dragon Age, TES, BF3 (Thanks to the effort I can see was put into its engine, and the reduction in price that SHOULD afford other games thanks to that work now being done) that I can see work has gone into I feel should be priced at $60. I mean, come on. Bethesda spent what, 5 years making Skyrim? How long did MW3 take? 2. So why are they both $60. Its not like CoD has sales to worry about. Hell, reducing the price would get them more.

Overall, so long as the price stays the same and further advancements are made, I'm fine with the price. If further advancements are made, and the price goes up, I'll be unhappy. If no further advancements are made but the price still goes up, I'll be pissed.

 

[Zantos]

If I had to pay £40 a pop I'd be pretty pissed off, but I don't mind spending that a few times a year for games I'm really looking forward to, then picking up others for £10 - £20 after a few months if I've seen good reviews/had recommendations/played the game and enjoyed it.

Sometimes, if I'm feeling really good about it, I'll get some sort of collectors edition, but I've only done that on release once or twice.

 

[Joccaren]

What do I think? I think move to Australia where the RRP is $109.95. These days I import all my games from the UK or Asia, maybe if every other Aussie did the same EB would get the message that the shit they've been pulling for 10 years is unacceptable.

Same sit here. Don't worry though, I think they're starting to notice that JB HiFi and the likes sell the games for $70, and are starting to drop their prices. At least around where I live anyway. I still only buy online, why spend $70 on a game that I can buy for $35 with free shipping collectors edition?

 

[manic_depressive13]

In Australia? Way too expensive. I don't know why I would pay five to ten times the price of a book for something that probably won't be a tenth as thought-provoking or fulfilling. Thankfully, I don't have to buy my games. My brother is far more casual about tossing his money away, and he's rarely home. That means I get full access to his games and entertainment systems while he's away without paying a cent. It's pretty convenient.