Ben-DutkaConsidering that certain old-school cartridges from two decades ago cost the same as games today (despite the massive advancements in the industry and inflation), many will complain about the $60 price tag for new video games.
But might that soon change? According to Game Informer , EA Canada senior producer Jason DeLong believes that lower prices for new software looms somewhere on the horizon. It may not be this year but nevertheless, the lower price tags may still be inevitable. Said DeLong:
"I think that we’re going to start to see – maybe not in the next year, but in the near future – games go down the route of smaller up-front experiences and lower prices at the beginning, and then the ability to extend the game through episodic material or future feature material. I think that’s a direction we’re probably heading in."
Ah, so there's a catch! Is he only talking about smaller titles followed up by episodic content that requires an additional charge? Well, not really, because he expands on the idea by clearly referring to regular, big-budget titles:
"Games are getting more expensive, and times are tough, and it’s getting harder to purchase every game you want. So, how can we keep people playing and offer them more but not have to make them break the bank to do it? It’s going to be an interesting creative problem for us to solve."
It's an ongoing debate in the gaming world: "how much should new games cost?" There are those who believe they're too expensive while others (usually older gamers) look back to a time when they cost the exact same amount…and we certainly didn't get the product we get today. But at the same time, $60 is tough to spend on a frequent basis for your hobby, regardless of how you see it.
i still play counter strike source daily and for 19.99,fact is css replace all fps for me. been playing that for 5+years
Glad to hear it, I've been playing CS since 1999 and CSS since 2004. What's great is both cost me ZERO dollars. I mostly make my rounds on Breakfloor and Crackhouse maps. 🙂
Release the same content online for $10 cheaper and I'm sold on just about anything.
I would rather pay the $60 for a complete game. This seems like a scheme to get more money from you in the long run. They should just leave the price alone and make sure we get our money's worth.
So, "cheaper" games that are actually not really full games and then we pay through the nose for expansion packs that deliver the actual game content?
Let's imagine an EA version of Uncharted 2.
For $40 you'd get the first 10 chapters as well as the multi-player engine. Then it'd be $2 per chapter from then on. You'd end up paying$72 for the game, and that's assuming they only charge $2 per chapter.
So, far from being cheaper, the game could end up more expensive. Rather like an Xbox360 looks cheaper until you add all the extra's needed to make it match the PS3, then it looks more expensive.
Sorry EA, this feels like a con, you'retrying to get everyone with the nickle and dime approach of a lower up front price and then endless extras to follow. It's like paying $99 a night for a cruise when in fact the true cost is closer to $200 a night. So the cruise line starts nickle and diming you with charges for everything and mandatory tipping of your steward, waiter, Matre'D and so on and so fort until they manage to nickel and dime the other $100 from you during your cruise. Except you find that all in all it'd be cheaper to pay all up front because you spent $150 a day on all that extra crap making the cruise cost $250 a night.
Airlines have adopted this practice too. You pay a "lower" price for your ticket, but you pay a fee to print the ticket, a boarding fee, your bags are charged and you have to buy food and drink on the plane. What's next? Pay toilets on aircraft? (I'd love to see that, can you imagine the mayhem of someone refusing to pay and soiling the seat?)
Of course with all the security crap at airports now you can't buy anything to take on board with you so you are essentially obliged to buy something on board. Not to mention the security bans of carry on bags that some places have enacted means the airline can charge for another bag to be checked. A nice little scam the airlines have there. By the time you add everything up you're paying far more than you were when the price of the ticket included all that stuff.
I guess it was only a matter of time before someone exploited this method of nickel and dime business. No surprise that EA would suggest it, after all the NFS games arrived with all the cars on the disc, but you had to purchase unlock codes for them separately. So you spent $60 on the game and another $20 buying the bloody cars.
I do not like this idea at all.
Last edited by TheHighlander on 1/5/2010 5:19:15 PM
I dislike saying this, but to get real value for money you need to wait for the game to come down in price… 6 months down the line you can get it for $15-20 cheaper usually. Alternatively you get second trade ins that are in near perfect condition. Typically you can buy these for half the price, even a few weeks after release…
It really depends on what you as a gamer are prepared to pay for perceived "value for money". What is the cost of entry to you over the life time of the console; and what budget to do you run to sustain your hobby in a responsible way? Typically I will only buy about 3 games per year.
Its is a poultry sum but as much as I can deal with for now. Time and effort to finish games can take weeks for me. I haven't finished the single player campaign of Killzone 2 yet! I haven't purchased Uncharted 2 yet, but will… I am a bit of a slow coach!
But then again, like the PS2, I will have an absolutely huge huge backlog to chose from over the coming years. I don't mind playing Infamous 3 years from now, or Demon Souls… and I will get them for 10 dollars a piece… so it all depends.
Some of the newer AAA I will probably get, like GoWIII, GT5 and Heavy Rain… the rest can come and go depending on the deals I see. This will keep my "average" cost per game down which will help the budget 🙂
I want this generation to last me at least 5 more years; I want it to be like sipping a fine wine… there is so much more to come, and so many games to play over the coming years… not overly concerned about release dates either… I will play these games when I play them, simple as that…
Q!
"i am home"
Last edited by Qubex on 1/5/2010 8:05:39 PM
I do that for games that are not quite on the gotta have it list. I wait for them to be reduced at retail or get their 'Greatest Hits' release. That way I only pay $40 or less, but the publisher and developer still get their cut.
I do buy many full price games as well – probably too many for good sense it has to be said. But then again, I neither smoke (at all) or drink regularly, so I don't fritter away my money there and at least I have something besides ash and empty bottle left over to show for my money.
I got a hard copy of Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty for $10au and its $25au for a blank blue-ray disc.
yeah i like to see those blu rays go down i love them i got the new batman for 10 bucks lol and for old school call me crazy but would anyone like to see zelda come to the ps3 lol i know but i would love to see it happen i loved those old ones the new one not so much just because of all the hand movement but my dreams will never come true but could some one lead me to a good ps3 game that is like zelda yeah i know im kinda of a new gamer to this gen but a old one at that lol u guys know what i mean lol
Good!
Bring them down to $49.99/$44.99 like in the great old days
I have not once paid "full" price for a game. Never have paid $59.99 for a game. I just won't do it. There is something inside me that HAS to get a deal.
Toy's R Us constantly has buy one, get one half off.
Best Buy was selling on sale MW2 for 39.99 and Dragon Age for 39.99 last week. I went in there, and showed them Toy's R Us ad, and they matched. So I got MW2 for 39.99 and Dragon Age for 19.99. Both games should have cost $120.00 together regularly priced, and I got them for $60.00 total.
If you are a savy shopper, you can either wait for the game to come down in price after it has been out for awhile, or if you have to have the latest release right away, you can just look around and find a good bargain.
My best score was purchasing Uncharted 2 for 1 penny. Not an everyday occurance I assure you.
I'm the other way around
I fully support great games like Uncharted 2 and come out happy out of the store, knowing a fully supported Naughty Dog with that purchase
Yes, sadly it's the store which gets a good chunk of that extra money. But overall ND got its fair share.
Paying $59.99 for Demon's Souls was well worth it.
Supporting quality is a priority every gamer should have, imo.
I only care 'bout deals when it comes to accessories.
Scarecrow, I hope you have never bought a used game from the likes of Gamestop. Now that is REALLY not supporting developers if that is your goal.
Me? I can't bring myself to pay full price, when I can go across the street and get the same product for cheaper. I have to look out for me and my wallet first.
Last edited by MyWorstNightmar on 1/5/2010 8:52:08 PM
I suppose I should made an ammendment to my claim that I have "never" paid full price for a game. When I was younger, I often paid full price for NES and N64 games. I had money to burn back then I suppose.
Now that I am older and hopefully wiser, I have not paid full price for a DS, Wii or PS3 game.
Last edited by MyWorstNightmar on 1/5/2010 9:11:49 PM
I'm with you Nightmar, I seldom buy games at full price.
How did you buy Uncharted II for 1 penny MyWorstNightmar? 🙂
Q!
"i am home"
Last edited by Qubex on 1/5/2010 11:22:50 PM
Penis + Mouth
Limited, I never saw that offer in a Toys R Us ad. Maybe where you live?
Qubex, back when Toys R Us was doing the buy 2 get 1 free deal, I took that ad to Best Buy. I bought Brutal Legend for 59.00, and Borderlands for 59.00, and they charged me 1 cent for Uncharted 2. (So to me, that is three games for 120.00, each costing me $40.00 right?) Well, later I change my mind on Brutal Legend, so I take it back figuring they will give me $40.00 back, but no no no, they give me 59.99 back for it. So I say to myself, if this is their return policy, I am taking Borderlands back, and sure enough, they gave me 59.99 back for it. So that is how I got Uncharted 2 for 1 cent.
@MyWorstNightmar — I love stories like that. Good for you!
If they keep trying to screw gamers over, more & more will just start buying like I do, waiting till it drops to a $20 used price-point (especially since BD's rarely scratch).
And there will still be enough "1st day buy" people who will also trading them back in on the next "1st day buy", so you can always find copies of them on the shelves a few months later.
That's the only way I'm able to buy the games for my collections in batches of 5 to 20.
What's the difference between a used PS3 game and a brand new one?
Shrink wrap and about $15 at retail.
Exactly Highlander!
Q!
"i am home"
depends where you got it from.
buy a brand spanking new ps3 game from target and it has scratches all over it because for some reason they keep the games in the manual not the box.
buy a used game from EB and its got absolutely no scratches on it what so ever.
thats why ive only bought 2 games from target and never will again.
take it back with receipt and show them the scratches and they say you did it and refuse to give a refund.
should of reported them to the department of fair trading.
Good grief, what is your target doing to the disks? TO scratch a BD you literally have to try to scratch them. I've purchases many games from amazon and the discs are not always retained properly in the case, and yet even through delivery in that state the disc is unscratched.
I think perhaps that target needs to be outed, because PS3 games at least cannot be copied and if they sell a bad disc, they should step up and replace it. Now if it were a regular CD or DVD I could understand some of the reluctance once the shrink wrap is broken. But a PS3 game on BD? ridiculous, they should refund or replace. Most places will at least replace the disc with a clean one, I wonder what justification they have for not replacing the faulty disc?
Buy it on a credit card and demand a replacement from Target. If they fail, contact your card issuer and demand a replacement through them because the disk is damaged and therefore faulty and should be covered by their purchase protection.
I'd definitely report that Target branch as you say. Tell them ahead of time that you will unless they uphold your consumer rights to a replacement for faulty goods. You have rights and they should know that.
Last edited by TheHighlander on 1/6/2010 10:04:28 AM
exactly.
i have never ever EVER! scratched a bluray disk.
and i even used one as a frizzby outside on the bricks and it still did not get scratched.
target for some reason keeps them in the game manuals instead of the game cases, i think its because they dont get display cases so they have to use those.
opening and closing the draws and such making the disk roll around.
they still should not be getting scratched like they are, so its a stone cold guess why they are.
thats why i never buy games from them, no matter how cheap they are.
instead of siring up a ruckus i just ignore them.
they treat a customer like that, soon there going to mess with the wrong person, and they will find themselves in court.
but i wont be the one there with them, dont have the time or patience.
Last edited by ___________ on 1/7/2010 6:35:56 AM
prices double from the PS1 days to PS2 days, than ps3 comes allong and adds another 20 bucks to the mix.
yea, i cant see this happening.
ps3 games have dropped slightly, they use to cost 120 each on release now there roughly 108 each on release.
BUT trade value has dropped dramatically.
i remember trading in rainbow six vegas 2 2 weeks after release and got 90 bucks for it.
though i traded in SAW 12 days after release and got 40 bucks for it.
how a game can depreciate 70 bucks in 12 days is beyond me.
SAW was not made by alfa romeo was it?
I think that retailers of used games are learning which titles will sell well used and which will not, and the used value is dropping accordingly. They also know that BDs don't scratch easily, and so if they sell a used copy of a moderately successful game that has a play through time of about 20 hours, it is likely that the game will be back in their hands in a couple of weeks and they can get a second bite of the cherry – so to speak.
I've noted that recently Amazon sells brand new top tier games through pre-order at about $56 (no sales tax) with free shipping and generally includes a $5 incentive reward that can be used on your next purchase making the 'real' price of the game more or less $51 not $60. So It's relatively easy to find games below $60 on launch day.
are they talking about modchip on ps3 ??
Nope. The last one of those mentioned never surfaced and required more than a dozen solder links on the motherboard to accomplish.
If ever anyone does actually produce a mod hip for the PS3 there are other things to take into account. Consider the fact that the system was designed with IBM's assistance and almost certainly includes tamper detection allowing the system to silently 'call home' and notify Sony that it's been modded. The net result of modding a PS3 will be a permaban for the PS3 system and PSN id associated. Sounds like a price that's just not worth paying
or you can use ZPack.
special software and a USB dongle that allow you to store and play games off the HDD.
thats if the videos are not fake.
But for those that don't take their system online, like me, a ban doesn't mean anything to them.