I think the video game industry is in for some tough times in the near future due to so many games being available at such a cheap price right now. I was feeling bad recently about buying so many games when I already had a large backlog of games to play.....but I realize something now.
I have been creating a backlog of games for years based on how dry the video game market used to be during the summer (I used to replay Diablo 2, and the old Might and magics most summers for instance) and my normal urges to try any new game that fits my genre type.
This holiday season though games are almost being given away ranging on average from $10-$15 for anything that is not brand new pretty much. I just got Fable III and Super Mario Galaxy 2 along with a few other games in the middle of November for my birthday (I had made a list for my wife/friends). The cost of those games halved in 2 weeks if you got them on sale. I have a ton of games I have not played nearly enough to warrant the huge drop in price from when they were released till now. Demon Souls for instance is an awesome game. I picked it up because it's my genre and everyone said it would be hard to get in the future probably. I've played it quite a few hours but it was on sale for $14.99 vs the $59.99 I paid for it before. Same goes for Fallout NV etc...just about everything has been on insane sale recently.
Thats bad enough, making it seem silly to buy games when they first come out, but as I mentioned before TONS of games were on sale (and still are...amazon is having video game sales all month) so I have picked up a ton of them....and from how fast lightning deals etc have sold out so has tons of other people.
A saturated video game market isn't too bad if everyone does not end up buying most of the games for $10-$15.....but when so many people pick up games of all types for such a small amount they won't be in a rush to buy anything when it's first released for awhile. I was going to get DKCR and Epic Mickey but I'm not even thinking about it now. I have 5-6 platform games to play alone, all with high ratings in reviews. I get a free game rental a month from Blockbuster and that will be more then enough to let me try either game for now...and then I'll buy it later when it goes on sale for $15 or less (even if thats next year at Christmas).
I haven't spent a ton on video games this year but probably still spent a good $1000 before the last few weeks (where I spent another $400 or so) but if I had just wated to purchase most of the games till now I would have saved most of that. Games went from $60 to $10 within a year which is just insane...and I'm not even talking about used copies!! Amazon even has free shipping on the games!!
I'm sure we will all buy the best games that come out. I'd still buy Fallout NV for instance right away if it came out now, but the huge amount of games available for such a low price is going to have an effect. I mean I bought something like 30+ games for only $10.....the trade in value for those games can't be that much...nor can they be resold used for much more then that either after the market is flooded. Most of them are currently being sold used at gamestop for 2x the price I paid for them.
For example:
Prototype for the Ps3 NEW from walmart online $10.....used from gamestop $25
3d dot heros $10 from new egg...used from gamestop $30
Sin & punishment Star Successor $14.99 from amazon....used from gamestop $35
GTA 4 $10 (used 17.99
RE 4 $10 used $20
Red Steel 2 $10...used $25
etc.
The list is so long it's silly. So the question becomes will the used game prices drop due to the huge number of games that were just sold new for a fraction of the new price?
Even if they don't the game market has just been mega flooded and will continue to be throughout the month from sites like amazon.com who are selling games on sale every day. Honestly I spent way more money then I should have because of the deals but I'm STILL tempted to buy more from amazon because they have insane deals every day. My gold box deals often have a 50% or higher reduction in one of the items and by choosing one of them I get another 5% off and free shipping and handling. Right now the best deal on my quick picks is No more Heroes 2...which is 48% off at $15.....although I would get another 5% off dropping that to $13 and change. Too bad I already got it for $12 heh. At least in that case it's sold used for only $18 at gamestop so it's not that huge of a difference.
What do you all think...will the huge access to games from all systems at such low prices have a negative effect on the gaming industry in the next year?
I have been creating a backlog of games for years based on how dry the video game market used to be during the summer (I used to replay Diablo 2, and the old Might and magics most summers for instance) and my normal urges to try any new game that fits my genre type.
This holiday season though games are almost being given away ranging on average from $10-$15 for anything that is not brand new pretty much. I just got Fable III and Super Mario Galaxy 2 along with a few other games in the middle of November for my birthday (I had made a list for my wife/friends). The cost of those games halved in 2 weeks if you got them on sale. I have a ton of games I have not played nearly enough to warrant the huge drop in price from when they were released till now. Demon Souls for instance is an awesome game. I picked it up because it's my genre and everyone said it would be hard to get in the future probably. I've played it quite a few hours but it was on sale for $14.99 vs the $59.99 I paid for it before. Same goes for Fallout NV etc...just about everything has been on insane sale recently.
Thats bad enough, making it seem silly to buy games when they first come out, but as I mentioned before TONS of games were on sale (and still are...amazon is having video game sales all month) so I have picked up a ton of them....and from how fast lightning deals etc have sold out so has tons of other people.
A saturated video game market isn't too bad if everyone does not end up buying most of the games for $10-$15.....but when so many people pick up games of all types for such a small amount they won't be in a rush to buy anything when it's first released for awhile. I was going to get DKCR and Epic Mickey but I'm not even thinking about it now. I have 5-6 platform games to play alone, all with high ratings in reviews. I get a free game rental a month from Blockbuster and that will be more then enough to let me try either game for now...and then I'll buy it later when it goes on sale for $15 or less (even if thats next year at Christmas).
I haven't spent a ton on video games this year but probably still spent a good $1000 before the last few weeks (where I spent another $400 or so) but if I had just wated to purchase most of the games till now I would have saved most of that. Games went from $60 to $10 within a year which is just insane...and I'm not even talking about used copies!! Amazon even has free shipping on the games!!
I'm sure we will all buy the best games that come out. I'd still buy Fallout NV for instance right away if it came out now, but the huge amount of games available for such a low price is going to have an effect. I mean I bought something like 30+ games for only $10.....the trade in value for those games can't be that much...nor can they be resold used for much more then that either after the market is flooded. Most of them are currently being sold used at gamestop for 2x the price I paid for them.
For example:
Prototype for the Ps3 NEW from walmart online $10.....used from gamestop $25
3d dot heros $10 from new egg...used from gamestop $30
Sin & punishment Star Successor $14.99 from amazon....used from gamestop $35
GTA 4 $10 (used 17.99
RE 4 $10 used $20
Red Steel 2 $10...used $25
etc.
The list is so long it's silly. So the question becomes will the used game prices drop due to the huge number of games that were just sold new for a fraction of the new price?
Even if they don't the game market has just been mega flooded and will continue to be throughout the month from sites like amazon.com who are selling games on sale every day. Honestly I spent way more money then I should have because of the deals but I'm STILL tempted to buy more from amazon because they have insane deals every day. My gold box deals often have a 50% or higher reduction in one of the items and by choosing one of them I get another 5% off and free shipping and handling. Right now the best deal on my quick picks is No more Heroes 2...which is 48% off at $15.....although I would get another 5% off dropping that to $13 and change. Too bad I already got it for $12 heh. At least in that case it's sold used for only $18 at gamestop so it's not that huge of a difference.
What do you all think...will the huge access to games from all systems at such low prices have a negative effect on the gaming industry in the next year?
