Ben-DutkaAfter the price points for the first batch of PS2 classics on PS4 were revealed , there was some dissension among the PlayStation faithful.
Some thought the $10 and $15 price points were simply too high for these older games, and the price is even harder to swallow if you've already purchased the title in question (perhaps more than once if you got it as a PS3 classic).
But Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida has defended those price points. In a recent PS Nation podcast , Yoshida said the addition of many new features makes the prices worthwhile. There's the 1080p/60fps upgrade along with Share functionality and as he mentioned:
"We are also able to add Trophies; some people really care about Trophies. So we can provide that. And it takes some time for our staff and QA and licensing and everything to bring back these games. So it takes us time and cost. So we felt that we should charge."
Yoshida did say that it's possible the prices will come down in the future, but you can expect the current prices to remain for some time. Most recently, they added PaRappa the Rapper 2 and next on the list is The King of Fighters 2000 and (according to some rumors) Max Payne .
We still wonder if this initiative will prove popular . Only time will tell.
Well, sure. A business should invest money into making money. I'm just not convinced their best price point is there. You want to find the best threshold for a net profit. Sell too high and you'll sell some, but not a lot. Sell too low, and you'll sell a ton, but make very little per title. There's a sweet spot where moderate to high sales at a certain price point makes more money than extremely high sales at a lower price point. I don't believe they're at that spot.
Especially since it's digital content. The cost of distribution is nearly zero after your initial spend to get it uploaded to the network. I bet you'll see them figure out how to charge for it within the year.
They need room for deals. Rogue Galaxy and Dark Cloud will obviously drop in a level 5 sale when Ni No Kuni 2 comes.
It's simple. If many gamers bite, the price point will be justified to stay at their current price for a long time. If not, they'll come down sooner.
Personally, I wouldn't pay any more than 10 dollars. And that better be for future console releases. I understand that it takes time, but development, marketing and distribution costs, three biggest factor, shouldn't be a big part of the cost, if at all. New Indie games would make sense to cost more than 10 bucks, but these ps2 rehashes shouldn't be at the same ball park.
I'd probably buy them if they were $5 but I'd likely only play them for a night or two just to feel them again if I had.
I feel like anyone going into these with the intent to play and finish them a price of $10-15 isn't a bad value.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 12/18/2015 10:35:25 PM
While I completely understand the business philosophy and I actually see his point that $15 is probably fair. But being what they are I'm in the boat that says $5-$10 is probably the right price point. Heck $10 is still a great deal.
I support it regardless and the right game comes along and I'd probably bite regardless.
Quite frankly I don't think it matters if this gets popular or not. It's not a subscription service so if consumers don't react Sony can just stop upgrading the PS2 games. However, this gives consumers an outlet to buy games they may have missed out on or may not have the system to play it, or simply don't mind buying it again wether they do or don't have the disc.
The negatives regarding this are revolving around purchasing the game a 2nd or 3rd time. Fortunately it's not all about that consumer, and the world moves on.
Last edited by bigrailer19 on 12/18/2015 11:18:33 PM
Putting it at this price point allows for the games to come down at flash and Plus sales which is what drives the sales and word of mouth and game play broadcasts.
Yeah its true. I'm okay with the price, the more I think about it. For me personally I'm not sure I'd jump for every game that interests me at the $15 though. But luckily there's evidence as you suggested that prices will come down.
But in the same token……if that consumer had already bought the very same game 2 or 3 times already, then I'd have to think he/she's a super-consumer….and I'd also have to think it "is" & should be, all about those very consumers.
Just my 2&1/2 cents.
Which is why I think if you have it on your PS2 Classics download list for PS3 you should just get the dang game or a major price cut for PS4. They didn't think of that.
I'll pass.
Typical problem of the times. Content provider says this is clearly a fair price because yada yada yada. Consumers say no way, So, products fail, providers claim consumers not interested at all,so nothing new is done.
Meanwhile consumers assure them they do want more. Providers say small majority is not enough. Except small majority is large majority. And when consumers say just lower your prices, providers say no, that's ridiculous.
So sad, really.
so, it all comes down to 1080p/60fps, Sharing, and trophies being enough value aside from the game. So for those who want it, maybe ti is a fair price. For those who don't, it's not. The big question is, which of the two groups is the majority? Complication. Some only want one or two of the three. Perhaps in the end, price by total value is a bad idea.
short-minded thinking… spend time & money to charge high prices for old ps2 ports for a niche audience and probably not making more than thousands (if at all)…
OR… spend that time & resources to add a BC feature a lot of people have been asking for and consider valuable in other ways than monetary and sell tons of new PS4s to your old fans & get a lot of goodwill in the process and make millions…
Nahh let's go with option 1.
So re-buy games or re-buy a console!? That's would be the result of what you are asking for. There's no legitimate reason for Sony to build a new sku and spend the money to incorporate BC into the PS4. We are 2 years into this gen and the current system is doing fine without it. The consumers have spoken.
Sony us giving gamers an outlet to play more games. Great old classics. That's all.
No, I'm talking about Sony releasing the PS2 software BC engine they've obviously already built to support their little ps2-game ports, and making it a proper free BC for every PS4 owner to use for whatever old copies of ps2 games they might have.
Considering PS2 emulators have been available free on PC for many many years on hardware far less powerful than the PS4, and made by people without big budgets & full ps2 hardware info & license, so it should be a piece of cake for Sony to do on the PS4.
Fifteen bucks doesn't sound unreasonable for hours of entertainment.
It does for outdated software, though.
Except it's updated software…
Last edited by bigrailer19 on 12/19/2015 10:13:17 AM
I agree, they were bigger productions than PS1 games which are cheaper and they do have more features and cost less than a Call of Duty from 3 years ago.
I would like to see 1 hour free trials attached to all of these. my biggest hesitation is in buying a game on the basis of remembering how great it was just to find that it hasn't aged well at all. I feel like buyers remorse is too much a risk.
There's no reason demos shouldn't be available. It seems like in the beginning of the PS3 days every game had a demo available via the store.
I miss demos too but I think a timed trial would be nearly effortless on Sony's part. Just set the license to expire after an hour of play.
It happened to me when I was playing Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus on my Vita. My Plus membership expired and the game warned me that it was about to close, which it did.
Yeah either way fo sure.
Not to mention you can take pictures of any scene or take videos of all your favorite cut scenes and such. It's automatically social (people like that now I hear) cuz you can Facebook all that and let your friends remote play PS2 games and broadcast your play (free advertising). There will be lots of word of mouth. Good stuff all around.
Look, it's a good price for something that was once $60 and is now new or better to you.
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 12/19/2015 10:34:37 AM
I agree with your last part in particular. It makes sense. I would like to see it around $10 across th board at least one day. However I was browsing last night and I think the GTA games are probably worth the cost. Furthermore being a PSplus member might pay off big time as Parappa was only $7.49 I think for PSPLUS members.
Last edited by bigrailer19 on 12/19/2015 10:56:28 AM
If folks do keep complaining I think we will probably see that $10 price tag for anything that isn't a major RPG or open world like GTA. Basically the same as PS1, where they overcharged for all the Final Fantasy games.
Depends on developer really. Tales of zestiria was completely locked out of saving videos and screenshot. Square did the same thing with ff10 remaster. I was saving all the cutscenes, then I get to one I really wanted (the tidus and Tina water scene). Guess what, square enix blocked recording of that. Just about stopped playing the game to play something else now. Don't know what else they blocked.
Some games are a better value at 15 than others, and compared to the 10 price of most ps2 classics on ps3, I can see these new additions being worth an extra $5.
I would just like to hear some assurance that these games will work on generations to come.
I bought many of these for ps2, some for ps3, and now again on Ps4. Since some much was done to modernize these, I hope they also made them a little more portable, not unlike an app for Android or the like.
Last edited by Drodin on 12/20/2015 2:30:27 AM
I sure would pay 15 for each Silent Hill at 1080p/60fps with trophies.
It would have been awesome had Sony included BC for PS2 disc games but they want to nuckel and dime people who probably owned some of these games when they had their PS2 consoles and now they want you to buy it again.
I kept my PS2 and my games and I'm glad I did!
Paying $14 for games we have all played and purchased years and years ago. Do they think the visual upgrade (simply ressing up old textures) justifies the price point?
What a laugh. Should be no more than $5 a pop and even that's generous.