Ben-DutkaIt remains a hot topic everywhere: the next generation of consoles.
And while hardware price is always a major issue, we also can't forget about the all-important cost of software.
Many think $60 is too much for games this generation (which I don't agree with at all), but the overall cost of development is ever on the rise.
Historically, games on the PlayStation side have gone up $10 with each new generation. During the PS1 era, new games were $40; for the PS2, they were $50, and now for the PS3, they're $60. So is it safe to assume that PS4 games will be $70? Is that properly taking into account inflation and the rising cost of game creation, from the drawing board to the production line? And how much are gamers ultimately willing to spend on a routine basis?
The other question involves shifting formats; from physical to digital. A lot of people think digital copies of games should be cheaper than their physical counterparts, as it costs the publisher less (theoretically). However, we haven't really seen that yet; might we see it in the new generation? Maybe that will accelerate the death of game discs. If a new title launches simultaneously on store shelves and on the PSN, for instance, what if the digital copy is $10 cheaper? Then what? Will that drastically increase sales of one version over the other?
I'm a little tired of all the complainers, who clearly weren't around when SNES cartridges cost $50-$70 nearly 20 years ago. We should all be thanking our lucky stars that games today don't cost $100 apiece; by all rights, maybe they should. But things need to remain accessible and affordable; after all, the industry has experienced several down years, here. So maybe a big price hike in the software department next generation isn't a good idea. Maybe it should just stay at $60…if that's even feasible.
ALl These Prices Should Be Day 1(Games Store's)
(For PS4, Xbox 3, Wii U, PS Vita, 3DS)
Sports Games Price
39.99 (PS3,360,Wii U) / (29.99(3DS,PS Vita)
Shooter Games Price
49.99 (PS3,360,Wii U) / (39.99(3DS,PS Vita)
RPG Games Price
59.99 (PS3,360,Wii U) / (39.99(3DS,PS Vita)
Music Games Price
59.99 (PS3,360,Wii U) / (39.99(3DS,PS Vita)
Rest of Games Type Price
59.99 (PS3,360,Wii U) / (39.99(3DS,PS Vita)
EA Liking Only Compary Would Hate My Prices
Last edited by EA is Greedy on 1/15/2012 2:16:30 AM
Those $50-$70 or even $80 (hi Chrono Trigger's MSRP) games in the SNES days would be close to or over $100 today. The reason for the price drop was a change in medium, over the course since obviously the production costs have gone up in the actual creation of games.
This generation started off very expensive, especially on the PS3's end thanks to the hardware's funky architecture, just as they always do before costs level off and lower as development gets more efficient. IMO there's little reason the price would need to go higher next generation as there's not going to be leap as big as the last one. Things are going to be much easier and faster for developers this time around, probably right from the start.
A lot of the games that spent so much time in development went through a fair bit of development hell before coming out, that'll still be the case but it won't be from difficulty figuring out the hardware.
We'll probably see even more DLC though as I doubt publishers are looking to piss off customers more with a higher upfront cost again. IMO the $60 launch price hurt a lot of games and had a negative impact on sales for anything that wasn't a huge franchise. I think they'd rather sell a million copies at $60 than 800k copies (or less) at $70.
I do roll my eyes when I see people complain about game prices but at the same time I do think there has to be balance and a watchful eye on the market and raising prices higher is just going to turn off even more people from buying new games at launch. If they do end up buying it, it'll be when it's much cheaper or even worse for developers/publishers, used, if they buy it at all.
I think people are well within their rights to complain at the prices.. Times are hard, the cost of living is ever-increasing in many countries and $60 for ONE game alone with the amount of games people want and the amount that are released is ridiculous… Money doesn't last long anyway nevermind spending that much on each game that you/your kid wants.. I'm a games developer student and keen gamer so it's not like I'm unaffected bu I still think people have the right to complain about such high prices considering how many good games come out and how many games are wanted per person considering the cost of each individual game.. I have a LOT of games and when you think just 5 would cos $300.. That's kind of crazy and that's not considering all your other expenses…
With there being more and more people hacking systems and games with glitches/cheats or whatever (basically the ability to manipulate games/software) plus the fact that consoles can be "unlocked" or whatever and then copied games work on them – if the price of games go up – 65-70 alone is ridiculous 60 already is a push… Even then I don't often see games for 60 – sometimes 55 if the title is huge but not 60 or very rarely at least. I just get my games from a supermarket called Tesco who usually sell games for 45-50 which is a very fair price for where I am (Ireland). But if the price goes up in general again then, with what I've already mentioned, I predict the black market for console gaming would soar far higher than whatever level it is currently at…
If they want to sell any games at all, they better watch their reaction on the prices. Any higher and most people I know will just stop gaming period. Because, the price of living and the price of playing a game is two different things with one being way more important than the other. $60.00 is too high as it is, for something that only lasts a couple months and then never gets touched again or gets sold for around $10 – $20.00.
Well blooming said mate!
With the ever higher prices of systems and games, I guess the next gen will push me off of video games (excluing back log of curent gen games.) As for digital, the problem is access. Too many people couldn't get onto PSN for the Welcome Back package the first week. Infamous took me 8 hrs to d/l. Now, what good is cheap digital games if Sony can't handle large quantities of users at the same time?
Gamefly's arrival time seems to depend on location. My games arrive within 2 days usually. But I seem to be near a distributionc enter. One came from out of state, and took 5 days. SO, good if you're close, bad if you're not. Also bad because the more who use GFG, the longer it'll take for the big popular games to even be available. Not a good solution.
Perhaps the solution to to redesign game developpment to keep costs down. Games wer emad eby a few long ago. Now it takes a whole village to make a game. But we must pay for that entire village.
i think price will stay the same. studios will increase on DLC.
I remember paying $59.99 for SNES games back in the 1990s ! LOL ! I think we were being ripped off then though compared to paying $60.00 for games today.
i dont care how much games cost, i only buy them when they are cheaper a year or 2 after 😛
Only Nintendo keeps their AAA at full prices for 5 years or more anyways lol.
So release price of games doesnt matter to me. The only thing that matters is how fast the price drops til i find it a decent deal ^^
Beamboom, spot on referring to market potential. Back in the 80's games had to be sold at a sickeningly expensive value because the market for making your money back, let alone turn a profit, was just so tiny.
The gamer market is exponentially bigger now than it used to be so they should be able to make an acceptable slice on each game without trying to rip off consumers.
It's the publisher refusal to accept market pressure that's the problem. It's almost as bad as the music industry. People are finding other ways to obtain your product because it's deemed to expensive? Cut your damn price and profit margin.
Each gen I buy fewer and fewer full price games. Whether that's replaced by preowned games or cut price specials is beside the point. I would have thought that the industry would have seen by now that gamers just won't take it.
If prices go up then we'll end up with fewer game developers as less gamers have money to risk on up and coming companies.
As SmokeyPSD mentioned, The increasing trend of releasing a game shortly followed by dlc to boost the margins should result in a cut in the starting sales price as gamers like Smokey and I are more likely to completely avoid games which do this until the GOTY edition is released, and by that point we may have gone off the idea completely.
think it will stay @ 60 if increased 65 since DLC is on the rise. .