Price of video games

[RClarke]

Like earlier stated in the thread, there are certainly games not worth the money, however getting 15+ hours of enjoyment out of a game for $60 isn't bad at all.

[stockstar1138]

Games I have spent $60 and hours of gameplay on them (roughly)

Madden 07 - 60 hours
MLB 07: The Show - 40 hours
MLB 08: The Show - 80 hours (still playing)
Resistance: Fall of Man - 80 hours
Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds: 30 hours (plus my girlfriend plays it) (still playing)
Grand Theft Auto 4: 35 hours (still playing)
Metal Gear Solid 4 + MGO : 25 hours (still playing)
Oblivion: 30 hours

I got R&C, UT3 for xmas presents and spent $40 on COD4, GT5:P, and Warhawk

When you break it down, the worst value Im getting is paying a mere $2.00/hr. to play. Tell me something else that you can do as fun as video games for only $2.00/hr. and I will stop playing video games?! (Hint: Its a trick question nothing is more fun than video games).

[bkbluray]

Originally Posted by Cameh

We Europeans are soooo screwed about this.

We pay regular games 69,99€ (that's $108.32) while you guys pay them $60 (38.77€).

Movies ? A movie is up to $30 you say ? We buy a bluray for an average of USD40-45

I often have to buy my PS3 games imported on Ebay or so. Same goes for almost everything else (electronics, etc).

You guys are lucky :/ Or it's rather "Taxes SUCK !"

Yeah, I heard taxes are either 15 or 20% in France. Ugh. The nice thing about the EU is that all prices include tax.

[AranhaHunter]

Originally Posted by stockstar1138

Games I have spent $60 and hours of gameplay on them (roughly)

Madden 07 - 60 hours
MLB 07: The Show - 40 hours
MLB 08: The Show - 80 hours (still playing)
Resistance: Fall of Man - 80 hours
Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds: 30 hours (plus my girlfriend plays it) (still playing)
Grand Theft Auto 4: 35 hours (still playing)
Metal Gear Solid 4 + MGO : 25 hours (still playing)
Oblivion: 30 hours

I got R&C, UT3 for xmas presents and spent $40 on COD4, GT5:P, and Warhawk

When you break it down, the worst value Im getting is paying a mere $2.00/hr. to play. Tell me something else that you can do as fun as video games for only $2.00/hr. and I will stop playing video games?! (Hint: Its a trick question nothing is more fun than video games).

Sex, but you'll probably have to go to a not so developed country to get a not so good looking prostitute for that price.

[silversnake]

Originally Posted by Giyomu

silversnake I love your avatar

Merci ! We suck right now though

I don't mind the 60 $ price tag if it's justified. I still saw heavenly sword here for 69.99 which is steep. I REALLY feel bad for our european friends though. Same price in EUROS, that's just.... insane. The Euro is a great idea but if your currency is worth more , you should make sure your prices are adjusted as well or at least change the income. Most of my friends had their money changed and prices were the same but their income wasn't increased, that's just worth. I could never see myself spending 60 EUROS for a video game.

[statikcat]

Originally Posted by alphapyro

I don't want to be TOO captain obvious here, but if $60 is killing you comparable to the $50 and then $40 you'll pay for a PC game.... Why are you bothering with a console?

You have to draw the line somewhere. That is just my opinion on what I think games should be priced at - that doesn't mean I still do not buy 60$ games, I do all the time. However 60$ for some games I just rent it from Blockbuster with my gamepass.

[Canada]

Originally Posted by frettless5

I remember Atari 2600 games were 50.00, so it could be worse.

Holy, I can't finish that statement without getting banned.

[gavomatic57]

I was thinking about this the other day. With all the talk of the high cost of making games, something isn't adding up...

Back in the 90's when the Megadrive and SNES were battling it out, games would cost £40-£45....

15+ years on and we're still paying £40-£45...

In real terms, they're getting cheaper to buy. Assuming inflation is at 2% (it has been higher and lower), they should cost around £56 now.

[Copywriter]

As with anything, it's about value not price. Games that can give you 10+ hours of fun might have value at the $60 price point. Others, not so much.

And if a $10 difference ($50 to $60) is causing you that much strife, might I consider not buying games at all. There's a difference between being frugal and wanting a $10 discount and being poor and not being able to comfortably afford $60 games---time to get priorities in order.

In the USA, we have an average inflation of about 3% annually. Using an inflation calculator and the CSI, we can see that a $40 game in 1991 is equivalent to a $63 game as of the close of last year.

As a consumer, you vote with your wallet. If you don't like the price, don't buy it. Really, it's as simple as that. Games, like all technology, drop in price.

If you're not a "got to have it on release day" person for every game, you can save a lot of money. I just bought a new LE edition of R6V2 that was like $70 for $30. I got another game that was $60 for $30 by waiting a few months (big deal).

I'll probably pay retail for a few games each year. The rest are all big discounts.

[SkillzthatKillz]

if it's a good game i dont mind spending 60 bucks on it. not to mention a lot of games have online play now so those are the best buys because the fun is nonstop and there is no online fee (cough XBOX Live cough)

[WickyWoo]

The cost of the games has gone up, the potential profits have gone exponentially up, and the cost of publishing way down (just a 5MB catridge used to run in the neighborhood of $20-25 at manufacture before console royalties)Their cost today for the medium is closer to $0.50

[MOONPHASE]

if its a game i truly want or will enjoy i would pay any price to get the games i want because 60 hours of enjoyment thats like $1 per hour of gameplay not to bad

[ThePhantomOak]

What bothers me is the lack of any change in price for games...

What I mean by that is a GTA/MGS is CLEARLY worth a LOT more than a Iron Man.

The market clrears this by keeping games like Resistance at $59.99 for about 18 months, and Iron Man drops to them paying you to take it after a month... SO, why are companies willing to do this?

IMO, Game makers could see much larger profits (for all games) if they priced their games from launch with this in mind. The ONLY thing they do is have S.E. games as tier pricing.

I wonder if Sony sets the price and wont allow games to launch higher than $60?



Anyway, for me, $60 for a game like GTA et al is a great deal. Any game that ends up being .40 cents or less an hour is a good deal IMO.

Also, I buy BD for an avg of less than $14 ea. So they give me around $1-1.40 an hour (given that I watch each 5 times, or enjoy the extras)






Oh man, Armored Core 4 cost me $8 an hour. What a shit game.

[JR8300]

You know not to bring this back....as the thread is pretty much dead. But if people can remember back 2K games attempted to change the price curve with bringing out their sports games at $20 in 2005. It worked a little too well and we all know how that story ended...

[Proteus]

Here's why crappy games are still $60 at launch:

A) Continuity. It keeps all pricepoints simple and makes retailer lives easy (Lego games being the only exception at a $49.99 release price... a steal).

B) Crappy games like Iron Man do not make money at retail really anyway. Even if they were $20 they wouldn't sell much better, believe it or not. Where they make their money is the lucrative rental market. ANY game can basically bank on the rental market purchasing a certain huge amount of copies to put into the rental stream. Frankly, that pays for development and a pretty darn good profit on games like Iron Man and Prince Caspian, etc. It's actually considered VERY lucrative to be a 'low end' developer who has a three to six month development cycle on a title that can still roll in millions just from rental chains.

C) The price at $60 to start also means that the 'die hard' fans of a franchises, again we'll say Iron Man, for example, will pay it. Video games make their money in the first couple weeks... After that development houses are usually too far along in the next product to even care or notice. If it's a bigger release you can trail out some advertising spots for a month to help clear another 'wave' off shelves over time, but ultimately, the first two weeks is it. Why not capitalize on those initial impulse buys and fanboy purchases?

There's a little more to it but those are the basic things that should help put it all in perspective... Particularly, the rental chain income. That is SO huge. When I worked with the team on Amped for the Xbox we always joked about how even if the game bombed it would make a million or two just off of rental sales. Talk about a no stress distribution system!

[MacDaddyOJack]

Originally Posted by ThePhantomOak

What bothers me is the lack of any change in price for games...

IMO, Game makers could see much larger profits (for all games) if they priced their games from launch with this in mind. The ONLY thing they do is have S.E. games as tier pricing.

Not to rain on your parade, but the Lego games started at $50 and when Disgaea 3 comes out next month, it is also supposed to be $50. Plus there are online games (I dont mean the small ones like pain) that cad be had on launch day for less than $60.

[dereksworl]

Originally Posted by MacDaddyOJack

Not to rain on the OP's parade, but the Lego games started at $50 and when Disgaea 3 comes out next month, it is also supposed to be $50.

WTH is this? what does it stand for. i see everyone using it and im like "am i not hip on the lingo?"

[stockstar1138]

Originally Posted by dereksworl

WTH is this? what does it stand for. i see everyone using it and im like "am i not hip on the lingo?"

OP = Optimus Prime, we talk about Optimus Prime lots here.

Naw, for real OP stands for Original Poster.

[Nerdkiller likes BD]

Y'know one annoying thing is that here in Europe as I've read in my magazine is that games here cost more than they do in Japan and the US of A because of import costs. I'd probably say that thats a different story for EU publishers like Ubisoft or Codemasters and probably the role reversal for the other regions.

[Pelican170]

I think $60 is a bit much for most games. I feel like alot of games they push out quickly, tack on the $60 price tag, then expect you to pay more with DLC for the game that makes it better....