Topic: Game prices suck.

[KDR_11k]

Just feel like ranting a bit.

Today I saw the sequel to the popular budget game Katamari Damacy (not released here) in a store. From what I understood We Love Katamari was budget priced in the US, too. Well, guess what it costs? Yep, 60€, full price. What kind of idiocy gave us 60€ console games in first place I don't know but the 40€ a PC game costs is already plenty. So, just for fun, I decide to look at the pricing of XCircle games. I took Perfect Dark Zero and - I kid you not - saw it was priced at 75€. That's right, 75€, 90 US$ according to Google. This is getting out of hand. Prices are skyrocketing, price cuts nearly nonexistent on consoles and publishers dare to complain about used game sales??? Mark Rein even had the balls to tell us that we should pay more for games. WHAT?!? WHY?!? Games should be getting CHEAPER, not more expensive! 60€ is insane already, 75€ is 13€ short of a Gamecube + Mario Smash Football bundle.

If games are getting so expensive to make that you can't even keep those insane prices (while, BTW, leaving almost no margin for retailers to profit from, which is the reason many retailers try to sell you used games or additional junk in addition to the game that barely breaks even after deducting storage and work), why don't you cut your budgets? Making cheap games worked before, it works for Capcom right now (who at least pass 10€ of the savings on to customers here) and it'd work again if you didn't totally lose sight of what a game really needs. I'm really not convinced that games need normalmaps or HDR and I'm 100% sure that those aren't enough to make up for a freaking 15€ added to a price that's already 30€ beyond sanity.

If a game really needs all those graphics to succeed, why are Counterstrike, The Sims and Grand Theft Auto such megasellers? Isn't the real problem that you're trying to use graphics to distract from the lack of ideas for the gameplay? First Person Shooters push the hardest for better graphics. First Person Shooters also ran out of new ideas somewhere around Deus Ex. They're turning into carbon copy games where you're running along a long corridor and shoot everything in the way with very few distinguishing features (that are often rather cosmetic) telling the games apart. Seriously, you can play Quake, then Half-Life and then Doom 3 or HL2 and you'll see almost no difference beyond the graphics. In fact Quake, with its almost non-linear level design, seems more advanced than the other two.

It's possible to reduce dev costs, slash retail prices AND have the game sell big. Not only does that mean less risk, you'll see more people buying your game new. But some idiot decided that in the games industry it's smarter to bet everything on one card. Seeing all those developers, long standing and newly established alike, go bankrupt certainly speaks for the current business model...

[couchmonkey]

Yeah, I think the industry has problems with pricing.  Things are actually pretty good in Canada (and presumably the U.S.) now: Player's Choice titles are in a decent price range (although I think they could afford to be $20-$30 instead of $30-$40) and new games rarely launch over $70 now, where they used to launch at $80 or even $90 regularly on the Super NES and N64.

But it sounds like things are absolutely terrible in Europe - those prices are crazy.  For taht matter, I think even here games have to get a little cheaper if Nintendo wants to make it's non-gamer strategy work.  I can buy most DVD box sets for less than any new game, and movie DVDs and CDs are usually much cheaper than Player's Choice games.  It's no wonder my girlfriend doesn't just go out and buy new games for her GBA on a whim, like she does with CDs and DVDs.

[Pale]

Its important to note that he We <3 Katamari price thing kind of happened here too.  The first was budget priced at 20 bucks, then the second came out at 30 based on the firsts popularity.

[ThePerm]

anoither sad thing..in 2001 when gamecube was coming out  one euro was worth 99 cents, now its worth like 30  percent  more(a few months ago it was w orth  twice)

[Sir_Stabbalot]

I've always refused to buy any game over $50.

[stevey]

I agree with KDR on everything and hope nintendo make it's revolution game way more cheeper like 39.50 for a new game. 50¢ insted of 95¢ will give stores more profit per nintendo game sold, making them the winner in getting self space back from the others system that are stealing nintendo rightful place.  

[PaLaDiN]

Also, why is Geist still $50?

[King of Twitch]

If games were $90USD in the US, I would never buy another game so I def feel sorry for you guys.

-why don't you cut your budgets?-

BINGO. Same goes for Hollywood. People will eventually realize they don't really need all special effects all the time, and they will appreciate the lower ticket prices in turn by watching more movies/buying more games.

[IceCold]

Quote
Originally posted by: PaLaDiN
Also, why is Geist still $50?

Hmm, really? I saw it for $20 CDN a month ago nearly everywhere I went..

[Cap]

Quote
Originally posted by: PaLaDiN
Also, why is Geist still $50?

the wal-mart in my area cut geists price down to $20(canadian) a long time ago......they still cant seem to sell the game.

looking at some of the prices for the 360's games, i cant understand how people can keep buying games. the high prices will eventually cut into game sales in my opinion, and developers will have to change their pricing and/or game budgets. its only a matter of time.  

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Quote
Originally posted by: PaLaDiN
Also, why is Geist still $50?

From another angle, you could say Geist "went back up" to $50 considering it was discounted all the way to the Mushroom Kingdom ($10-$20) during the Holiday buying season.

[ThePerm]

lol i got geist for $10...that was too much

[PaLaDiN]

Oh great, I go away for the holiday shopping season and this is the time span wherein the game decides to become affordable.

[Dasmos]

Games at full prce in AUstralia seem to have gone down. New games used to be AU$100 when they first came out, now they seem to be around $80-85. Usually there are also sale prices on top of this. I think the only time I paid over $100 for a game was when REmake first came out...

[darknight06]

Hey KDR, are the third party X360 titles over there the same price as the first or are they more expensive?  I'm just curious in that I know around here they're usually more expensive by $10 US.  

[TrueNerd]

Yeah, this whole increasing prices thing is not good. With games becoming more expensive to make, publishers are only going to make games that they know will turn a profit because too much money is at risk. Also, with games becoming more expensive to buy, consumers are only going to buy games they know are good and/or familiar. Basically it means that nothing will be made except for sequels and movie licensed games, and if that day ever comes, I will find a new hobby.

I think what Nintendo is doing is a very good thing by not putting an emphasis on uber-visuals and by using the same dev tools as the GC. It will keep things less expensive all around and hopefully that will translate into more games that take risks. I also hope the Xbox Live Arcade does well. That could be a haven for cheaply made games.  

[KDR_11k]

darknight: Haven't checked, I saw Gun and Quake 4 priced at 68€ each but that was during early launch and those games have PC versions for less than 40€ available. Guess I'll have to look a bit more.

[BlkPaladin]

Well I don't know about other countries, it was announced though in the US that most of the major publishers will now charge a norm of $60.00 per game to comabat shirnking profits because rising development costs. (Most due to the inclusion of HD graphics etc.)

[KDR_11k]

Pah, yeah, sure. PC games go for 40€ still and they've been using much costier tech than console games for quite a while now.

[darknight06]

And I thought the whole point of leaving the cartridge medium was so that games WEREN'T expensive.  From the looks of things Gears of War will be $70 if they can help it.

[Ian Sane]

"And I thought the whole point of leaving the cartridge medium was so that games WEREN'T expensive. From the looks of things Gears of War will be $70 if they can help it."

Bloatware.  Discs offer more space so developers and publishers feel the need to fill it.  Restrictions can actually be incredibly beneficial for creativity in the right situation.  Hardware limitations force efficiency.  It can be like having a salary cap in sports.  Yeah we're getting closer to photo realism in graphics but that takes an insane amount of work.  More storage space allows for CD quality music and voice acting but that has created the temptation to use licenced music and hire celebrity voice actors which drives costs up.

It's a hard rut to get out of.  The solution is for some third parties to not fall into that trap so that if you want to make an efficient game there's still a publisher available.  The American publishers are pretty much a lost cause but I think Japanese publishers aren't quite as stuck.  Japanese games seem to strive on creative graphics over realism and don't rely so much on celebrity-related glitz so there's still hope.

[Smash_Brother]

Quote
Originally posted by: ThePerm
lol i got geist for $10...that was too much

What are you talking about? Geist was awesome!

That game truly won my heart when it let me possess a stack of plates and fling them into the head of the chef, breaking them across his face (and then there was possessing a shower head in the women's locker room...).

You just don't get gaming experiences like that anywhere else.

-SB

[Talon]

Looks like X360 games will be retailing for about $95-$120 (AU$) (or $70-$90US) in aus!!

Ouch thats a bit harsh considering most new releases for this gen are about $70-$85.  I for one are definately not looking forward to the HD generation if its going to push prices up that much (no more impulse buys).  Lets hope Nintendo take advantage of the situation and keep the RRP the same (or lower the RRP) on their titles.  

[KDR_11k]

You made impulse buys with full price games??? Man, you have too much money. I don't consider anything above 20€ impulse buy material.

[Smash_Brother]

$70-90 US?!? Good GOD...

The games may cost more, but when roughly 80% wind up in the bargain bin for $10, I can't understand how anyone would justify buying them.

It's not even a question of affording it anymore: it's the principle of the matter. I'd go out of my way to NOT support companies who sell for prices which equate sodomy.

-SB