Poll: what's your opinion on the price of videogames?
- Thread starter Oly J
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If the game is good (E.G. Arkham Asylum) then I believe the price is relevant considering the man hours, programs, licenses, and bills the developers put into the game. On the other hand if the game is so bad that every retail shop in the world is overstocked with it (E.G. Venetica)then no, if the developers cannot spend time to properly fix more than three hundred glitches - on my count -, dialogue that actually connects with what the character is saying, and it actually works on the system it is being played on then and big fat resounding NO! Games like this are not worth the silicon they are printed on.
When I was younger if used to be that games were £30, and £25 online. But with this "next-gen" set of consoles games go up to £40 and £35 online. Then in the last couple of years some stores feel it's acceptable to price popular games at ever-so-slightly more (Skyrim £43). The most obscene pricing I saw recently was that Mario Kart 7 was £29 on Amazon, but £38 in Game and HMV.
Basically I'm never paying over £30 for a portable/handheld game, and never over £40 for a console game.
Obviously there are some games that I will pay full price for. Most Nintendo games never drop in price (Pokemon, mario zelda) So I feel I might as well buy them as they won't drop for a few years. However, the last Xbox game I bought full price was Skyrim, which I would've happily paid £60 for if it was the going rate. I suppose I think value for money, or whether the price will ever drop when purchasing. Steam is fantastic for deals though.
Basically I'm never paying over £30 for a portable/handheld game, and never over £40 for a console game.
Obviously there are some games that I will pay full price for. Most Nintendo games never drop in price (Pokemon, mario zelda) So I feel I might as well buy them as they won't drop for a few years. However, the last Xbox game I bought full price was Skyrim, which I would've happily paid £60 for if it was the going rate. I suppose I think value for money, or whether the price will ever drop when purchasing. Steam is fantastic for deals though.
Err, well, in comparison to the USA, videogames here cost twice as much while we earn three times less. To envision that kind of financial impact, imagine if a game on release in the USA cost $300. Ouch.
Importing from the UK <3
But anyway, from my perspective they're "too high". Of course, if they actually sold them to me at US prices, I'd see it as a gigantic discount. So maybe they're "about right".
Importing from the UK <3
But anyway, from my perspective they're "too high". Of course, if they actually sold them to me at US prices, I'd see it as a gigantic discount. So maybe they're "about right".
I think it's actually decent. Prices have been the same for quite a while. And Development costs haven't been going down on game, especially with many expecting more and more from their games as they go. So developers and publishers have to get more back when they sell the games to customers. The plus side is that there are now more customers who buy games. Though this leaves niche markets in more 'make or break' situations. Which means more popular genres like FPS will see more games developed.
Of course, they could attempt raising the prices for more niche markets to offset the risk of less customers. But this would lead to outrage by customers having to pay $10 more in sales. So the safer bet is to go with things that will be more likely to sell even if they don't become hugely popular. On the other hand, I do think games that aren't as expensive to make should have lower prices ranges as well to match. I've seen this happen with ports and the like, and it's better then expecting full price.
Of course, they could attempt raising the prices for more niche markets to offset the risk of less customers. But this would lead to outrage by customers having to pay $10 more in sales. So the safer bet is to go with things that will be more likely to sell even if they don't become hugely popular. On the other hand, I do think games that aren't as expensive to make should have lower prices ranges as well to match. I've seen this happen with ports and the like, and it's better then expecting full price.
The pricing can be kinda silly sometimes. It's not too unreasonable for a game that you know you will enjopy, like a sequel to a franchise you like. Many people knew they would enjoy Skyrim and found it worth the price.
However for a lesser known game that someone hasn't had experiance with before it's a big risk.
However for a lesser known game that someone hasn't had experiance with before it's a big risk.
It all depends, console games and PC games are very expensive if you buy it from stores or the bigger chains. I only buy pre owned games from stores now because it´s cheaper buying from internet stores.
I can get BF 3 for PC for about 36$, and on PS3 43-50$.
And thats why I mostly play on PC ...
I can get BF 3 for PC for about 36$, and on PS3 43-50$.
And thats why I mostly play on PC ...
To be fair, we all know that developers are harshly underpayed, so I think they should get the money that's coming to them. Then again, most of that money goes to the execs in publishing, but to be fair to them, they could earn a lot more money in another industry. However, in my opinion those capitalists shouldn't be getting that money in first place.
Although if that's the case, then it should be noted that the majority of people voting here (for "too high") have the same mentality, even though most AAA games decrease their hard-copy sales by 80% in the first two months. So really it comes down to patience versus greed. Take your pick.
P.S. For those of you not keeping a tally: "Then again", "but", "however" and "although". (Maybe I should have chosen a less isometric argument.)
Although if that's the case, then it should be noted that the majority of people voting here (for "too high") have the same mentality, even though most AAA games decrease their hard-copy sales by 80% in the first two months. So really it comes down to patience versus greed. Take your pick.
P.S. For those of you not keeping a tally: "Then again", "but", "however" and "although". (Maybe I should have chosen a less isometric argument.)
Personally I'm of the opinion that having an arbitrary entry price for a new game is absurd in the first place. Most new games (excluding indie titled) release at £40-45 new regardless of their budget or content. The only publisher I've seen breaking this trend is From Software/Namco Bandai when they released Dark Souls. I saw it release brand new for £29.99 and I believe the Collectors Edition was the same price.Oly J said:
I think what publishers need to understand is that there isn't and shouldn't be a standard price across the board for videogames, especially if it's a new IP they're trying to sell to the community. Also sticking on the topic of new IPs, maybe developers and publishers should stop just throwing money at them? Developing a new IP is a big risk, so developing on a smaller budget and then selling at a lower cost will open up the avenue for a bigger budget on a sequel if it proves popular enough.
Sure Bethesda can sell the Elder Scrolls for it's renown as a series of big open world RPGs and Activision can sell Call of Duty almost entirely on the multiplayer base, but they should be the exceptions and not the rule.
Reasonable but too high for my broke ass. Never bought a game new since Portal 2, always when the price dropped or there was a sale.
I think that the subject of "price" can be taken in two ways.
1) Should all games be 60$
2) how do you price a game which isnt as encompassing as say, Mass Effect (which is a 40+ hour adventure)
Its hard to justify minor changes to an existing platform and still charge full price, I think we can all agree on that. The issue then becomes, how much "change" warrants a full $$ pricetag.
For example, lets look at CoD MW3, a game which a lot of people (at least when you look at reviews of it) feel was just a copy paste of MW2.
MW3, has a "refined" graphics engine, which they have been using over the last couple of games. To some, heavy graphical upgrades make for a significant change to a game. MW3 suffers from game spanning issues, such as poor hit detection, poor spawn locations/spawn logic, and fairly poor connectivity (course I Could be biased as I want dedicated servers). Fixing these issues could be considered a significant change to the game.
I think that games which pump out yearly updates are the games which would suffer the most from the "why am I paying full price for this" syndrome, because...well lets be honest.. its every 3-4 games that something drastically different is done.
1) Should all games be 60$
2) how do you price a game which isnt as encompassing as say, Mass Effect (which is a 40+ hour adventure)
Its hard to justify minor changes to an existing platform and still charge full price, I think we can all agree on that. The issue then becomes, how much "change" warrants a full $$ pricetag.
For example, lets look at CoD MW3, a game which a lot of people (at least when you look at reviews of it) feel was just a copy paste of MW2.
MW3, has a "refined" graphics engine, which they have been using over the last couple of games. To some, heavy graphical upgrades make for a significant change to a game. MW3 suffers from game spanning issues, such as poor hit detection, poor spawn locations/spawn logic, and fairly poor connectivity (course I Could be biased as I want dedicated servers). Fixing these issues could be considered a significant change to the game.
I think that games which pump out yearly updates are the games which would suffer the most from the "why am I paying full price for this" syndrome, because...well lets be honest.. its every 3-4 games that something drastically different is done.
I do the same. Hey, if enough people do that, maybe it will change. Or maybe they come up with more crackpot schemes like online pass.Twilight_guy said:
In considering this with this weeks Jimquisition, in most cases I can see them charging $60 for the "Complete/GOTY" edition but maybe they should start selling the original releases for cheaper then.
Occasionally there is a game that is a good value AND has good value dlc, but let's face it, that's really rare. Borderlands comes to mind.
BTW - hope you had a Twilight Zony New Year.