- cross-posted to:
- games@sh.itjust.works
- cross-posted to:
- games@sh.itjust.works
Yarr?
This headline doubles as a punchline. Neat.
Price it $499 and I’ll still wait until it’s on sale for less than $10.
Controversial take but having the industry fixed at $60 only will increasingly encourage predatory models as inflation continues. Price should be reflective of the quality and content of a product, not a fixed standard.
I’d agree with you if studios producing actual high-quality games (like Elden Ring or Baldur’s Gate 3) were hurting for money, but they don’t appear to be. So what is the justification for the higher price? All I see is more money being shoveled towards investors, or used to buy (and bleed out/close) smaller studios.
I think if a studio had more money they could improve the conditions for their emplyees. But of course the executives are just going to pocket it
Who cares? There’s 10’s of thousands of high quality gaming hours across every genre already created. You don’t need anything they are currently making, certainly not for years
I think the AAA industry is really struggling with this.
Also, improved graphical fidelity isn’t really a big selling point like it was in the 2000’s AAA days.
I think I bought Shadow of the Beast for almost that much in 1988 or 89. Of course, it came with a t-shirt and cool Roger Dean poster, which added some to the cost.
Point being, games certainly were this expensive for a long time, and I’d agree with them being that expensive again, but for the money going to vulture capitalists who’ll soak me via DLC on top of that. And I won’t get a Roger Dean poster, even.
Do it. If people want to pay high prices for brand new video games, let them pay it. I’ll just do what I’ve always done; wait for a sale.
You realize this consequentially also increases the reduced price of a sale, right?
You realize that sales come in varying magnitudes, right? Each individual decides what a game is worth to them, and if that means a 50% sale might have been sufficient for a $60 game, but that it’ll take a 65% sale to make an $80 game worth it, then so be it.
You understand that games don’t just get cheaper until the are on 100% sales, right?
There’s a fundamental disconnect here and I’m not sure where it is, so let me just explain my position and maybe you can tell me where you’re confused.
Let’s take, for instance, a game which at full price is $40, a game that’s $60, and a game that’s $80.
In all of these cases, let’s assume I have decided that I am willing to pay $20.
In the first case, I will wait for a 50% sale, and buy the game.
In the second case, I will wait for a 66% sale, and buy the game.
In the third case, I will wait for a 75% sale, and buy the game.
If that sale magnitude doesn’t happen, I won’t buy the game. Similarly, if I’ve lost interest in the game by the time that sale magnitude happens, I won’t buy the game.
It’s very simple. Nobody is forcing you to pay $80 for a game, and nobody is forcing you to buy it just because it’s 50% off, if the 50% off price is not low enough that you feel it’s worth your money to buy it. It’s OK to just not ever buy a game.
And now increase the price a little more, until you never ever reach your 20 bucks target price point. Please just stop playing obtuse. You should know how percentages work.
If that sale magnitude doesn’t happen, I won’t buy the game.
It’s really not difficult. You don’t have to buy the game. You can just choose not to play it.
Not if you wait enough
Please understand how percentages work, because that’s quite literally not true.
If you wait enough the sale % will drop ex: from a 50% sale to 70% a sale
Many ganes are 80€ in Europe, some even in digital format, they can fuck right off
I mean, let them try? I, for one, basically stopped buying new games (with the occasional exception for an indie dev). By the time the worst bugs are fixed, it’ll be on sale for 50% off anyway.
Yeah, I don’t see any reason to buy (or pre buy!) any game at all. At launch you’re paying double for a beta version basically. Like you said, wait for the actual game to be released a few months later at a good price.
Yup. If it says $60 or more that’s just beta pricing.
Hey, Pokemon never goes down in price and is that much!
…Wait that just supports your argument
Did Game Freak ever bother fixing the performance issues of Scarlet/Violet?
No. No they did not
Sounds about right…
Good call mentioning pre-orders as well. I never did it back in the age of physical media, but there was at least a reason for it then. Now the only reason to do it is to get some bonus skins or other garbage with your buggy game.
I just picked up Fallout 2 at GOG for $2.49. There are so many games you can get for less than the price of a coffee. The best way to fight against these prices is to simply not buy.
My backlog contains way too many games, and most of the games I really want day 1 are produced by indie devs.
Embracer won’t see me buying a game at full price, $70 or more.
Yes
At this point I see anything above $40 as a red flag. Free games or $60 games and I’m almost guaranteed to be treated as the product instead of the other way around.
Cassette Beasts was 13 bucks on Steam the other day. Sales happen 24/7 this guy is huffing his own farts.
Bitch please. I ain’t buyin nothin till it’s on sale 60% off on steam.
“Hey dude, did you try this new game?” Nope. I don’t have a six figure salary.
I’m old enough to remember when Doom 64 for the N64 was $74.99. In today’s money that’s around $145.
I’m not saying that’s reasonable, I’m just saying it used to be a lot worse in the cartridge age.
Back then the market was also minuscule in comparison. If you ask for 150 bucks for a game, go for it. Just don’t be surprised if the sales stay low, because I can buy 5-10 other games for that money.
Absolutely.
I haven’t seen a single developer that thinks the current price of a game is high enough. They always cite how much it costs to make the game as the reason why they should be more expensive to buy.
And yet… Hollywood spends about the same to make a blockbuster film and movie tickets aren’t $70 nor do people in the film industry say they should be higher.
They always cite how much it costs to make the game as the reason why they should be more expensive to buy.
They’re not wrong, but the audience just isn’t swallowing higher upfront prices. The only way they’re squeezing more out is with DLC, battle passes, mtx etc. which only work in specific types of games that have already saturated the market. It’s kind of an impossible situation atm.
Also…like…who needs an ultra realistic videogame? Cel shading and other techniques usually age better anyways. I want games to be fun first and foremost. Eye candy is just candy without substance.
Some games like Elite Dangerous benefit from ultra realistic, but I’d hardly call that a mass market game, it’s more for simming.
The Coors Light of shooters could probably be cel shaded and be just as fun in 2024 as the next release 9-12 months later. And they could save a lot of overhead costs.
The Coors Light of shooters could probably be cel shaded and be just as fun in 2024 as the next release 9-12 months later. And they could save a lot of overhead costs.
Heck, take these two screenshots as an example:
The first is XIII (Gamecube), the second is Metal of Honor: Rising Sun (PS2). Both were released in 2003. I’d definitely say XIII holds up better visually.