Collector's edition's keep climbing in price because modern currency is very, very hot and wallets just aren't designed with enough insulation nowadays. Therefore, instead of holding onto cash, many video game addicts feel the need to spend their money as quickly as possible. Video game developers, you see, are providing a necessary service for the safety of their customers. They provide very cheap, junky, cold chinese manufactured plastic toys in exchange for lots of hot, hot cash.
OMG!!! GREAT NEWS GUYS!!! The US may be behind the 8 ball in terms of this South Korean Law, but soon we will be the global leaders. My girlfriend and I decided to see the head guy of the Republican party, John Boehner, and Mitt Romney was there two. (That and a whole bunch of NRA-loving, bible thumping, rich republicans upset by the high federal minimum wage rates). We discussed how video games were corrupting the youth of America much like cocaine, and too our surprise Romney agreed with us. He said America must wage a "War on Games" right after Obamacare is repealed.
Anyways, we bounced a number of ideas around, but Romney pledged to support the "Responsible Citizen's Act of 2013." Basically it involves a bunch of tax credits for Microsoft, Sony, Activision and EA (to make up for any lost business) and limiting gamers time on-line without morally responsible behavior off-line. See, it'll work like this, for every hour of community service you perform you'll get a prepaid keycard to play on-line games with the corresponding hours worked. However, you can pay a hefty tax to avoid the community service (so rich kids don't have to denigrate themselves with menial work) at roughly 3 times the normal subscription price. The tax generated will be used to compensate for losses any large gaming company may experience.
I'm so exited to not be gaming anymore. Now I can completely devote myself to my girlfriend's every whim. Oh today is a beautiful day, but tomorrow will be even better.
This article has inspired me to put down my keyboard and crusade against the evils of on-line, heck ALL video game play. Governments around need to step up to the bat and limit everyone's playing time, because we gamers can't control ourselves. Gaming is the new crack in our society, no it's worse than crack because marriages are crumbling, babies are dying, and nobody is spending money on real world endeavors anymore!!! It's time this party ended, we need you gamers to live useful productive lives spur the world's economies. All computers and video game consoles need a 2 hour maximum timer and I'm going to see my local senator right now to make sure this becomes reality.
Now if someone could kindly ask my girlfriend to remove the gun from my head, I would greatly appreciate it.
Okay, I just figured out why everyone is soooo worked up over this issue. If South Korean teenagers can't farm gold between the hours of midnight and 06:00 gold prices will increase at the various spamming websites and lazy americans will have to pay more money to buy their uber-toons they don't know how to play.
OMG!!! REALLY!!! Sorry I just don't care what laws South Korea passes and I don't see why anyone at Gamespot would get worked up over it. I don't remember raiding with any South Koreans when I played WoW. Frankly, I don't see why any game publisher would get worked up with it, they get paid the same regardless and it reduces traffic flow on there servers.
I do think America needs to do something about this, but not just for teenagers. I think everyone needs MMO time limits. Why? Because I'm sick of people wasting my time when I play an MMO. If you were only allowed to play say 6 hours a day per account, then you'd be far less likely to waste my time (walking your dog, loving your significant other, smoking, sleeping, spamming chat, etc.) and more time focused on getting the raid objectives down.
WHOA, don't trip on the SHENANIGANS!!! Mr. Sweeney statement is intended to mislead people at the gaming conference, and possibly here at Gamespot as well. Please reread this statement carefully: "The most profitable game we've ever made, in terms of man years invested versus revenue, is actually Infinity Blade."
That statement does not mean what you think it means. Gears of war generated far more revenue than $30 M, far, far more. Mr. Sweeney is being cagey about exact numbers so let me illustrate some economics with these fictious numbers. IB made $30 M. Lets say it cost $2 M to make. The profit margin is 15:1. Lets say Gear of War made $300 M, but cost $100 M to make, the profit margin is 3:1. At the end of the day Gears of War made $200 M, while IB made $28 M.
How will this spur industry growth?
What is known: 1) There are less competitors on the multitudes of handheld/tablet game formats 2) Less people buy popular handheld/talbet games than console games 3) Design costs are significantly lower on handhelds/tablets because they don't need/use high end graphics/cinematics.
So yes, right now companies that make good handheld games can realize higher profit margins, but not higher profits by developing good games for handhelds/tablets. Within a few years, these profit margins will come back in line with other game formats. Ignoring sustainable profits from existing revenue streams would be stupid, and CEOs who want to do this crap should be fired, IMMEDIATELY!!!
The Xbox you are getting isn't worth $400, it's the cheapest version of the 360. During the 2011 holidays this package was selling for $200 total. You can get it for $294 at Amazon right now. It's under $50 for 12 months of live membership. What's the point in getting a Live Gold membership with a 4 GB console?
It's all about the games, man! No matter what the price, I've not heard any buzz on WiiU games. If Nintendo hopes to make any impact they need some console movers on the shelves with the hardware, otherwise they shouldn't launch their project, period.
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