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How do you feel about $69.99 MSRP for standard, non-special edition games?

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Adrock:
I have a long list of questions I wanted to ask all both of you who still post here regularly so in a fleeting effort to foster more discussion, here’s one of these new topics! 👍

This is not a timely thread because Sony announced that some PS5 games will be $69.99 last year. Looking over my PS4 library, I have a personal goal to not spend more than $20 on any PS4 game. I’ve largely adhered to that, only going over slightly twice for optional DLC like costumes in Resident Evil 2 and 3.

On Switch, I often buy Nintendo published games at full price since they don’t go on sale often. I have occasionally patiently waited for sales because hey, $20 is $20. Both Super Mario Maker 2 and Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition were bought on sale. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury, Clubhouse Games, and Astral Chain are still sitting in my Amazon “Save For Later” list.

Back in the 90s, consoles games were like $49.99. Plugging that into an inflation calculator, that’s ~$87 in 2021. This at least partially explains why my parents generally only bought me games on my birthday and Christmas. They also never really liked me playing video games. Jokes on you, mom!

Is the price hike problematic for you? Will you wait for sales? Or is the entire thing a non-starter?

M.K.Ultra:
The increase to $70 is inevitable and is easiest to swallow when paired with a new generation as Sony is implementing with PS5. I think it is fair considering the effort that goes into a AA game and for the inflation argument Adrock mentioned. Personally I am still adjusting to $60. I had the Best Buy gamer's club discount until  March. It gave me 20% off so I was paying $48 for new games. Before it wore off I pre-ordered what I could but I may have to actually pay $60 for a game now. I still only buy full price games with Nintendo and wait for Sony and Microsoft games to drop to about $20. Part of that is preference for Nintendo games but also the fact that other games would be discounted to $20 within a year of release while Nintendo games would take 5 years, or never drop. Another factor is the type of game. I only play online multiplayer with Nintendo games and those seem best enjoyed the first few years after release. With PS and XBox games I am not playing online so it doesn't matter if I am a few years late to the party.

ThePerm:
Reminds me of the n64 era. Remember when Sony undercut Nintendo's prices?  n64 games were $59.99 -  $69.99 and Playstation games could be as low as $9.99

I buy some new games when they come out, but 2/3 I buy on sale.

Ian Sane:
Since the Canadian dollar fluctuates with the US dollar, my game prices have been quite different over the years.  Right now brand new games often cost between $80-90 CAD.  Back when game prices "increased" to $60 around the Wii era the Canadian dollar was about on par with the American one so while our new games were $60 that was a decrease from the $70 games of the Cube era (and N64 games were $80 because of the cart format).  If they increased to $70 USD then they'll probably be $99.99 CAD which would frankly SUCK.  Videogames are already too expensive new in Canada and this will just make it worse.

Though used games, provided they aren't old enough or rare enough to have been affected by the high prices of retro gaming, still remain affordable and non-Nintendo games still drop into the Wal-Mart cheap bin 9 months after release.  You can still afford things easily if you're not insisting on playing new games on day one.

But the PS5 is practically a digital-only console since you have to pay a premium for one with a disc drive.  There are no used digital games and no need to be clearing out old stock like a physical store does.  So price drops are entirely at the whim of the publisher.  So they nearly eliminate the few options available for people to buy games for current consoles at a low price and then increase the price of new titles at the same time?  Yeah, that's not a coincidence.

nickmitch:
I'm ok with the price increase and think it's a good thing overall.  As stated in the thread, the costs of publishing a AAA (or any) title have only gone up since $60 became the norm.  We've seen companies implement microtransactions and emphasize DLC and pre-order incentives in order to mitigate those costs.  An honest and upfront price increase seems like the better way to go, imho.

Preferably, I'd like to see the scope of some games actually go down.  Not every title needs to promise the player so many hours.  Scaling back on scope could make production costs cheaper and allow me personally to play more games, which would be nice.

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