Topic: Are 'savvy consumers' a threat to the industry?

[Plugabugz]

My question is quite simple. I refuse to pay for new PS360 games at full price. Same with Wii ones. I'm not referring to used game sales. I will wait until when they drop to a reasonable level. I made extensive use of sites like cheaparsegamer (the UK one) and gamestracker to keep an eye on the prices of the gamesi want and then buy them when they reach a sensible level.

For example, No More Heroes 2 is £23 now. Final Fantasy 13 is £17.99. Both came out a few weeks ago.

Now i know on my own i'm not deliberately causing any issues, but what if it occurred on a wider scale? Wouldn't it send clear messages to places like Gamestop (in the USA) or GAME (in the UK) or Activision that charge $330,000 on a Modern Warfare Bubble Bath Party Ultra Extreme 3000 Daisy Edition with Gold Plated Lindsay Lohan that says "no i won't buy X game at £40/$60, i can go somewhere else and save money" and ultimately make a dent in their profits?

OR will those companies hit the panic button and assume the worst? Should we even care?

[broodwars]

Sales are no more an issue now than they've ever been, and if I'm not mistaken unless the publisher officially drops the price the only ones hurt by these sales are the retailers (and if it drives traffic to the store having the sale that's even debateable).  The developers see the same amount of money whether Kmart sells No More Heroes 2 new for $50 or on sale for $30.
 
On the other hand, gamers who wait until "the time is right" is why I'm stuck with Valkyria Chronicles 2 on the PSP.  That happened because, while the game did well over time (especially when the price dropped to around $30-$40), it didn't do well quickly enough to justify making the sequel a PS3 project.  So yeah, it can definitely hurt when people don't support a game they want to do well when it's new.  But what can you do?  Games are too expensive, but they're also really expensive to make no matter the console developed on.  Unfortunately, it's led to the rise of the handheld market as the alternative.

[Ian Sane]

The thing with a free market is that these things kind of sort each other out.  The biggest threat to the videogame industry is incompetence within the industry itself.  If new games are too expensive then the industry has to either lower the price or make games that the general public feels are worth that price.  Rolling with the punches and adapting to change is part of business.

Me, personally, I wait for a price drop on games I'm somewhat interested in.  If I really want it, I'll buy it right away at full price without batting an eye.  I can afford it and having it right now is worth any extra cost.  Actually the games I buy after pricecuts are usually impulse buys that I would likely never have bought PERIOD if the price wasn't cut.  So for a videogame company the alternative is that I never bought their game to begin with.

And I didn't even own a PS3 when Valkyria Chronicles was new.  If Sega were smart they would take into account that for a few years many people were waiting for the price of the system itself to go down.

My only concern regarding the game industry is when crap games are successful and thus influence the creation of more crap games.  But that is entirely a personal preference thing.  But then all of this is personal preference.  I don't give a **** if this industry lives or dies.  I just want them to make games I like.

[Crimm]

Here's a better question. Are 'sexy consumers' a threat to the industry? I say no.

[Chozo Ghost]

For every savvy consumer there are a bunch more who aren't savvy, and must have the latest thing right away. As evidenced by the Wii when it first came out and people were spending upwards of $1,000 or more to get one ASAP. So never underestimate the idiocy of consumers.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

And it's the idiocy of consumers that helps fuel the idiocy of game companies.

not-so-limited editions, console prices that compete with monthly rent payments, SURE, LET'S JUST BEND OVER FOR THESE BUSINESSES

[ShyGuy]

Are savvy consumers a threat to the fast food industry? Meal deals and Value menus say yes.

[Guitar Smasher]

Savvy consumers are not a threat to the industry, just a threat to unearned profits.  The real threat to the industry is consumers who stop buying games outright.  Of course this is the fault of the industry, but that's another discussion.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

are savvy customers stylish?

[KDR_11k]

It's a part of the hype driven sales, when the product becomes irrelevant a month after launch prices drop fast once the hype wears off. You already know how Iwata kept harping on how prices need to stay up for longer to prevent this nonsense.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Maybe if publishers kept advertising their games or supporting them with additional content and attention(tournaments/contest) past the first month of release, then the games would continue to sell to those that don't pay attention to release list or just didn't have time to make it to the store during a busy period in their life for the suggest retail price and then other gamers that are price conscious and waiting for the price collapse would decide to stop holding out and just buy it now since they don't have no idea when the game will be on sale for 40% of full price (which at this point is 6 weeks after release).

[Mop it up]

Are savvy consumers a threat to the movie business? What about the music business? Electronics? Clothes? Groceries?

Savvy shoppers have always existed. The thing is, most people buy what they want when they want it, and don't care about waiting for price cuts. The game industry has no more to worry about than any other industry.

[Ian Sane]

Savvy shoppers have always existed. The thing is, most people buy what they want when they want it, and don't care about waiting for price cuts. The game industry has no more to worry about than any other industry.

This is dead on.  Most people I know, even ones that seem to be pretty smart, base their purchasing decisions on whether or not they want it.  The cost is irrelevent.  Something is only two expensive if one cannot scrounge up the credit or the downpayment needed to walk out of the store with the damn thing... or their spouse won't let them buy it.
 
Unless the suggestion is that videogame customers are more savvy than the customers of other industries.  It seems that people will gladly overpay for Starbucks coffee but are those the same people these games are targetted at?

[noname2200]

Even if a larger share adopts your position, I fail to see the harm.  If prices for games start (and stay) lower, publishers are more likely to do a higher volume of business, and retailers will see a higher turnover rate.  It's rather like the movie business: your DVDs cost a third as much to buy at release, even though the movie's budget was likely multiples higher than the game's. That's alright though, because more people buy those DVDs.

Of course, in order for that to apply completely, the gaming industry will have to appeal to more than its current niche audience...

[oohhboy]

Prices get lowered regardless whether the publisher wants to or not. Through second hand sales, the average price of the game lowers. Piracy also lowers price with everyone of these "sales" gaining effectively $0. Even of those two factors were eliminated, the price of the game would still fall due to depreciation and being surpassed by newer, better games.

With Nintendo games, it is quite possible they were under priced in the first place. Matched with long term staying power and replayability reducing second hand sales if by nothing else by increasing the time it takes for an average game to turn over. Nintendo also spaces out their sequels a lot more. Most games don't see more than one alliteration per generation.

A savvy customer is still better than no customer. Your still getting some dollars out of that person. Having that person pay a lower price that say "**** it, I am just going to pirate it instead" Is infinitely better. But to say to the savvy buy our game at full price or don't buy it at all is just plain idiotic and costs you goodwill.

[KDR_11k]

Are savvy consumers a threat to the movie business? What about the music business? Electronics? Clothes? Groceries?

Savvy shoppers have always existed. The thing is, most people buy what they want when they want it, and don't care about waiting for price cuts. The game industry has no more to worry about than any other industry.

Those things don't lose their value 2 weeks after being new, in fact they rarely see the bulk of their sales during the first days after release.

[Crimm]

Produce loses its value pretty quickly.

Especially to sexy, stylish, savvy consumers.

[KDR_11k]

Produce loses value a time after production, not after being invented.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Produce is not safe to eat if it looks icky.

[Crimm]

I invented tomacco. It lost value.

[Morari]

Are 'savvy consumers' a threat to the industry?

Educated consumers are always a threat to any industry. Products are sold through hyperbole. People that see through that are obviously harder to sell to. Marketing doesn't like those people. Companies don't like those people. Capitalism doesn't like those people.