Pricing of Games

[DraftPickle]

Right this isnt't a cheapskate rant, but games for Xbox 360 are like £40 and I agree alot of effort goes in etc BUT I can get the same game for PC at half the price and if the same effort went into making the game for each platform maybe even more so for PC. So why the price gap?

 

[goatzilla8463]

Yep, prices are pretty damn high.

I get £15 a month so I have to save money which I'm not good at.

 

[oliveira8]

Console developers don't want to make their games sell on consoles.

Theres already 4 PS3 games selling at my local store for 74 Euros!!! I refuse to buy games more expensive than 50 Euros unless they bundled with other games.

 

[DraftPickle]

Aye, but question is why are PC so much cheaper?

 

[Cpt_Oblivious]

Aye, but question is why are PC so much cheaper?

Because we're amazing.

 

[Emmitt_Nervend]

The way I see it, DVDs are usually about $15 and most movies are around 90 minutes long and CDs will usually run you about $10-$12 and you can expect those to be around 60 minutes. That's about $10 per hour of media. By those standards, a $60 game should last at least 6 hours.

Sure, the price is on the steep side but It's not that bad depending on your perspective.

 

[DraftPickle]

yeah I don't mind the price....too much, but why are PC games cheaper that console games?

 

[barryween]

Console developers don't want to make their games sell on consoles.

Theres already 4 PS3 games selling at my local store for 74 Euros!!! I refuse to buy games more expensive than 50 Euros unless they bundled with other games.

Holly shit!!! How much is that in USD (I think I know but I thought u might know for sure) Games over here in the US are $60 for 360 and PS3 and $40-50 for Wii (I have a 360). Even if 360 games were just $50 I would buy at least one or two more games compared to what I do now.

 

[Candybar]

Because Console Producers have to make their money of them!
The selling of a PS3 is a loosing sell for the company and only if they sell enough games they can earn a Profit!

 

[New Troll]

The two reasons games are cheaper to start out with on PC are first, they cost more to develope on a console, and secondly, there's a much bigger market on the consoles than on PC (which is a shame really.) But if you notice, prices seem to drop on console quicker due to huger sales. Eventually the games end up the same price on both, but then they're usually still easier to find on console due to stores limiting thier PC selection down to mainly 'budget' games.

 

[barryween]

The way I see it, DVDs are usually about $15 and most movies are around 90 minutes long and CDs will usually run you about $10-$12 and you can expect those to be around 60 minutes. That's about $10 per hour of media. By those standards, a $60 game should last at least 6 hours.

Sure, the price is on the steep side but It's not that bad depending on your perspective.

I kinda get where you are coming from, but you have to remember that Cd's and Music don't take as much money to make as games. So it is an uneven ratio. It's like putting a ratio between a 12 oz. Crap steak and a 24 oz. Fillet Minion.

 

[Candybar]

@ New Troll
Why are Console games Cheaper in Development?

 

[oliveira8]

Console developers don't want to make their games sell on consoles.

Theres already 4 PS3 games selling at my local store for 74 Euros!!! I refuse to buy games more expensive than 50 Euros unless they bundled with other games.

Holly shit!!! How much is that in USD (I think I know but I thought u might know for sure) Games over here in the US are $60 for 360 and PS3 and $40-50 for Wii (I have a 360). Even if 360 games were just $50 I would buy at least one or two more games compared to what I do now.

Taken from an Euro to USD converter: 74.00 EUR=103.309 USD

 

[DraftPickle]

I think £40-£45 is about 70USD, and If you want Guitar Hero Bundles that retail for about £130 thats about 200 USD, pretty fuckin steep eh?

 

[Knonsense]

Console makers get a piece for licensing the work. This isn't really the case for PC games. Also, Console SDKs are really, really expensive, but I don't know how much that contributes.

It's usually only a 10 USD gap if both versions release at the same time over here.

 

[barryween]

Console developers don't want to make their games sell on consoles.

Theres already 4 PS3 games selling at my local store for 74 Euros!!! I refuse to buy games more expensive than 50 Euros unless they bundled with other games.

Holly shit!!! How much is that in USD (I think I know but I thought u might know for sure) Games over here in the US are $60 for 360 and PS3 and $40-50 for Wii (I have a 360). Even if 360 games were just $50 I would buy at least one or two more games compared to what I do now.

Taken from an Euro to USD converter: 74.00 EUR=103.309 USD

damn thats about what I thought. and these are just plain games, not bundles or anything? That is so screwed up!

 

[ILPPendant]

Holly shit!!! How much is that in USD (I think I know but I thought u might know for sure) Games over here in the US are $60 for 360 and PS3 and $40-50 for Wii (I have a 360). Even if 360 games were just $50 I would buy at least one or two more games compared to what I do now.

74 Euros is about $100. In the UK the average RRP for a PS3 game seems to be around £50 which is about $80. Quite honestly I wouldn't buy any game if it cost more than £25 but I'm a pure PC gamer so that's my privilege. The PC game RRP looks like £35 (~$60).

In the end the fact is that Europeans pay more for games than Americans.

What does interest me greatly is why none of this practice is considered price-fixing by any kind of watchdog. Does anyone have any idea why videogames all sell for the same price even though there are several publishers and thus potential for competition? If Valve weren't forced to charge obscene prices on Steam they'd make enormous amounts of money (£35 for a digital download? Fuck off, I can get that off Amazon for £12 less).

Why does the Pound sign not work properly on this forum?

 

[Zac_Dai]

My theory.

The console market can sustain higher prices than the PC market.

Most PC gamers are adults and usually make intelligent choices about game purchases. If a game is too expensive initially they will wait until the price drops.

A lot of consoles owners are kids, they easily get over excited by the hype machine and aren't patient enough to wait for a game to come down in price. So they either use all the pocket money they saved have or beg their parents to buy the game at release.

So publishers know they can push a high price on consoles at release if they hype it enough, notice also how the game will rapidly drop in price after 6 months to catch the market who waited.

This is why DLC is usually free on PC and why you don't find midnight queues outside game shops for PC games except WoW.

 

[DraftPickle]

See thats a point I think that its complete bull, that US companies completely shaft Europeans, especially Britain cuz the pounds is quite a strong currency (although falling like a ************) things like games and iTunes we get properly diddled.

 

[oliveira8]

Console developers don't want to make their games sell on consoles.

Theres already 4 PS3 games selling at my local store for 74 Euros!!! I refuse to buy games more expensive than 50 Euros unless they bundled with other games.

Holly shit!!! How much is that in USD (I think I know but I thought u might know for sure) Games over here in the US are $60 for 360 and PS3 and $40-50 for Wii (I have a 360). Even if 360 games were just $50 I would buy at least one or two more games compared to what I do now.

Taken from an Euro to USD converter: 74.00 EUR=103.309 USD

damn thats about what I thought. and these are just plain games, not bundles or anything? That is so screwed up!

Nope not bundles.