A close friend of mine works for S2 Games and was one of the leads on Savage 2... he has told me that they should be selling the game for well over $100 considering all the time and effort they put into making it and the cost of making it... but no one would buy it for that so they had to settle on $30.
A lot of time and money goes into making games and by gaming history standards, $60 is pretty cheap. There were plenty of $80-100 N64 games a decade ago, which would probably equal around $120-30 by today's money.
The only reason we think games are "expensive" is because many games don't offer as much value for your dollar anymore.
yes, companies wouldn't lose as much money with piratingSexy_Pirate
It's not as if the pirates will start paying if it gets cheap enough. They will just think of a new reason to play the games.
The main reason games cost so much though is that the market just isn't as big. Way more people will see the Dark Knight this year than will play any one game. When you have so many people willing to buy a product like a video game or movie where most of the costs remain unchanged despite how many copies you do or do not sell, you can afford to charge less.
It depends. Some "budget" games still cost $60, which is a scam. Take a peek at Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. You get the game for $39.99, then you get a free download for the original Banjo-Kazooie on XBLA. If Rare can afford it, then so can most other game developers.
I'd like it if games cost $50 like they did last gen. At the same time i don't mind paying $60 for a new game, it motivates me to really make sure that i'm going to buy a quality game.
Well not every game may be worth it's initial asking price. That's were rentals or waiting for pricedrops comes in handy. I buy my fair share of $60 games and I can't really recall the last time I didn't feel satisfied with my purchase so I guess I'm content with prices right now.
seriously it seems like every game that comes out this days is not only short but it also fails, they should be like $39.99Merc009
I've got no problem with short games (I do have a problem with the tricks companies use to pad game length like cheap enemies, key hunts and boss recycling) and I don't see why anyone would want to spent time with a game they regard as a failure no matter the price.
umm yea... i think u people are all in America, but here in South Africa games is a total rip off. if i work it in over in curency its about 80$ but consider it like this. i get an average of 10 Rand a day for school to buy a coke and Packet of chips and 2 lolypops.. that was 10 Rand.. now a game here costs 500 Rand... now that is alot.
Gamers screwed themselves when they all rushed out and baught 400-500 gaming consoles and suckup all those 60$ games. Video games should cost 20$ and the extremely pop ones 30$. Corporations have learned though that its cheaper and more profitable to sell 1 video game for 1,000$ than 100 for 10$. Same with consoles. The only problem with that is you are killing off your own fan base.
In europe yes I think games should be cheaper. Its absolute bull that europeans are forced to pay more what americans pay for their games.
For those of you scratching your heads, 60 euros = just shy of 90 USD. So if games are being priced at 60/75 USD then eurpoean games should be priced accordingly. After all its not Europe´s fault America has a failing economy, so why should they be punished for it?
In europe yes I think games should be cheaper. Its absolute bull that europeans are forced to pay more what americans pay for their games.
For those of you scratching your heads, 60 euros = just shy of 90 USD. So if games are being priced at 60/75 USD then eurpoean games should be priced accordingly. After all its not Europe´s fault America has a failing economy, so why should they be punished for it?
EvilAshTwin
Yeah that is definitely BS. I've seen newer console games priced 75 euros here. That's over 100$. All games should be 35-40 euros max, considering that it's the equivalent of 50-60$. Luckily I buy only cheap/used games so it doesn't bother me that much.
well if they're too expensive simply don't pay that amount for them as we as consumers can do that but we seem to be willing to put our cash down.
If a large enough of us choose to buy later or not buy it at all that those prices they would think about lowering but also every-ones economy is going down the crapper so we shouldn't be buying as much.
THis flaw is that you lot will still keep buying even whilst moaning about the prices if you really care demand to lower the prices by not paying but there are other things that should come down as well.
It seems a lot of people don't seem to understand that games cost a lot more money to make now than they did ten years ago *and* they are cheaper by comparison. I guess I only realize that because I was gaming over a decade ago.
Developers spend lots of money and time making games, don't you think it is a good idea to compensate them for their hard work? You think they are just doing this for you and you should get to pay what you want? Lots of these people survive on the money they make by working for these developers and since publishers eat up so much of the profit, most developer grunts make only average wages.
It seems a lot of people don't seem to understand that games cost a lot more money to make now than they did ten years ago *and* they are cheaper by comparison. I guess I only realize that because I was gaming over a decade ago.
Developers spend lots of money and time making games, don't you think it is a good idea to compensate them for their hard work? You think they are just doing this for you and you should get to pay what you want? Lots of these people survive on the money they make by working for these developers and since publishers eat up so much of the profit, most developer grunts make only average wages. foxhound_fox
THAT is why we should be complaining more about EA than the price of their games. The publishers are a completely unecessary step in all this, kinda like health insurance companies in the US. They are the ones making it harder for decent games to get released, while eating up a good share of the profit. I was gaming over a decade ago as well, and yes while sales prices may not have changed much, the market is MUCH larger and I have to beleive that production is not terribly different scale wise, but like I said, what has changed are these publishing companies...
The only justification developers have for increased prices is improved graphics. But I don't think the extra $10 is worth it when the average single-player FPS only takes around 6-7 hours to complete (not to mention PC gamers need the hardware to run it, as well). Lower prices would reduce pirating, too.
Prices should go back to $50/game. I'd be really happy if it happened.
EDIT: and like the guy above me said, psycho publishers are also a factor.
It depends. Some "budget" games still cost $60, which is a scam. Take a peek at Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. You get the game for $39.99, then you get a free download for the original Banjo-Kazooie on XBLA. If Rare can afford it, then so can most other game developers. BioShockOwnz
This is great by why the hell do I have to pay £40 :| Rare are ripping off their homeland :cry: which is ofcourse an extremely British thing to do... at $40 though with the free XBLA game I must admit I would be all over that.
@PoshKidney If we put off buying games until they are used or cheap off ebay then consumers are screwing the publishers/developers out of money and you wont see any sequels. Waiting for price drops is great for us in the short term but not so good for a series we love and want to see again.
@KillobKilled Publishers are an unnecessary step?? Who do you think funds the games. Developers have no cash. They goto publishers and ask for millions of dollars over X amount of years. How would developers fund their projects if they didnt borrow money from the publishers?
@PoshKidney If we put off buying games until they are used or cheap off ebay then consumers are screwing the publishers/developers out of money and you wont see any sequels. Waiting for price drops is great for us in the short term but not so good for a series we love and want to see again.
@KillobKilled Publishers are an unnecessary step?? Who do you think funds the games. Developers have no cash. They goto publishers and ask for millions of dollars over X amount of years. How would developers fund their projects if they didnt borrow money from the publishers?
_AbBaNdOn
So what we don't get a new installment of a games that might be good you keep doing to games that are weird from developers like double fine.
But choosing with our money will make more of impact than continuing in paying those prices and them moaning about it.
But its the price for getting games cheaper. Its not like something you lot keep buying will be hurt with sort of buying and the smaller companies won't as you won't buy their games in the first place.
Not really. Big titles cost a hell of a lot more money to make today in general than what they used to, and oddly enough, the games are actually cheaper now then they were back then (which is actually partially because carts were expensive to manufacture)...and that is even before you figure in inflation.
That said, I buy a lot of used and/or older games anyway, so whatever.
Reading these post on here make me laugh and shake my head in amazement. You people whine and cry about everything. If all games being made for $30 and had last gen graphics you'd whine about that. Now you got games coming that look awesome with great graphics, music and everything else and you still whine cause it's $60 for the game. Think of games like GT or Forza, try to picture how much time and effort go into just making one car. The scanning, inside and outside doing everything to make sure that car looks real. Don't forget the way a car handles and the sound. But if they used a cookie cutter method to make the car and they all handle the same and sounded the same everyone of you would be screaming at the top of your lungs. If you don't want to pay the price then don't buy the damn game and wait for it to drop in price. No one is holding a gun to your head forcing you to buy the game.
Even if it appears that the games cheaper than it really should be, people whine about it because of the state of the economy, how prices go up like every week, additional charges in the bills and so much more. Let's face it, living nowadays is very expensive.
in europe prices ar much higher than in the states with any product, not only games. And as far as piracy goes, games will be pirated no matter what the price is. If you're used to getting a game for nothing, why would you pay 30$? because it's not 60$ anymore? it doesn't make any sense. And don't forget that there are mini games like the ones from shockwave or whatever that cost like 10$, and they're still getting hacked
Log in to comment