Braid Creator Responds To PC Pricing Questions - UPDATED

[CanadianWolverine]

I think the problem here is that we see $10 bargain bin games that have far more work into them (and that might have been top notch games 2 years ago) yet here is a game that wants to be $20 for really no other reason than greed.
As for "Well don't buy the game then" yeah I don't plan too... but I'm still going to play it >

I really don't understand this at all. Greed? Considering the effort that goes into making a good game, especially "independent" games, calling $20 greed is bizarre. Hell, IMHO, there are a ton of free mods for existing games out there that are easily worth $20 a pop.

I don't know about the rest of you, but going out to dinner or ordering in costs more than $20 for my family of three. And then when I consider I used to pay around $70 CDN at retail for my PC games, I can't bring myself to scoff at games that are $20 USD or less on Steam, its like buying some junk food to me, only more healthy. Wait, more like buying a precious jewel far below its long term value.

And who cares what they pay on Xbox, really? I'm not playing it on the Xbox. If it starts to sell for different prices in PC distribution, then you might have something to ***** about - only I'll tell ya to go find that cheaper price from a source you trust *shrug*

Khell said it best: "mew mew mew"

 

[lacktheknack]

And now the PC gamers look like brats.

But... Yay! Braid is coming to PC!

 

[Signa]

I think the problem here is that we see $10 bargain bin games that have far more work into them (and that might have been top notch games 2 years ago) yet here is a game that wants to be $20 for really no other reason than greed.
As for "Well don't buy the game then" yeah I don't plan too... but I'm still going to play it >

This. It really boils down to overall value. All games these days are not only competing with each other, but also all releases ever. Older games may not have the same market value, but they can have a higher overall value. I could find myself a copy of Thief for $10 or less, and that could last me hours. Braid can be beat in one sitting for a smart player. They added all those nice extras like the stars, but that still doesn't equate to even $15 IMO. The overall value for the game is pretty low, because once you beat it, you really are done. Thief, on the other hand, has secrets galore, harder difficulty modes, and even offers players ways to make up their own methods of playthroughs if they are desperate to play the game more (never knock out guards, never get spotted.. ect). Braid will be beat, and then be done.

 

[Vim-Hogar]

Why would he charge more? Maybe because porting a game is extra work.

Maybe because seeing a lot of games able to charge $20 and sell well, he makes a reasonable decision that this is a price point the market will bear.

What pisses me off is that now he's lowered the price by 25% and I expect it'll make maybe a 5% difference in sales. Those who were going to buy it aren't going to buy extra copies for the $5 savings, and lets be honest most of those who weren't going to buy at $20 aren't going to buy it at $15 either.

Khell wins.

I expect you're right, but I for one am certainly more likely to buy it at $15 than at $20. When I saw it was going to be 20 bucks, I thought, "Hey, that's finally coming to PC, I've been wanting to try it for a while. Maybe I'll wait for it to go on sale, though, I've got a bunch of other games to play right now..." At $15, though, I'm a bit more likely to just get it when it comes out, depending on what I feel like and how much I've got going on at that point.

 

[Andy Chalk]

I said it in the original post and I'll say it again here: 20 bucks is cheap for any kind of half-decent PC game. If you have a problem with that price, there can only be one of two explanations: Either Braid really isn't your kind of game, or you're just cheap as hell. Both are perfectly legitimate reasons for not buying the game. Neither justify calling the man names, particularly after he responded to all the whining by giving you what you want.

Although to be quite honest, I suspect that the most vocal bitching about the price is coming from people who have absolutely no intention of paying for the game anyway.

 

[Al_]

Could much of the fuss be caused by it being a reversal of the usual situation? I'm making a bit of an assumption that this applies globally, but generally full price PC games, at least in the UK, are and have always been cheaper than console games, something always explained by the slice that the console manufacturer takes for allowing the game on their platform (this is, after all, how you turn a profit on a console).

 

[BIGpanda]

It's not about extra $5 being or not being a lot of money. The issue is, why the fuck should I be paying extra for an almost year old game.

because part of making games comes from profiting from sales to make more games like braid or better? if blow can instantly make millions by farting on a sofa, otherwise I would have purchased all of london by now re-vamped it into a utopia of skate-boards, comics and alternative rock-bands whose main talent come from disgusting sexual innuendos.

my twisted mind aside; the port is coming out for 20$. might as well go to charity to cancer research.

 

[Aardvark Soup]

Now it's even cheaper? Awesome! I've been waiting a long time for the PC version of Braid and I would easily be willing to pay even more.

 

[Eagle Est1986]

HA! What a chump, he caved. And apparently threw a hissy fit at the same time.

FINE! PAY $5 LESS, SEE IF I CARE! BUT MY NEXT GAME WILL BE CRAP AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! *Throws rattle out the pram*

 

[Radelaide]

It's not about extra $5 being or not being a lot of money. The issue is, why the fuck should I be paying extra for an almost year old game.

This. Exactly this. When 2K ported Bioshock, they had the decency to upgrade the visuals and give us the challenge rooms.

Are you done?

How can't it be about the money? You basically said "I don't wanna pay that much for a game that's a year old". Quit yo' bitching.

EDIT:

snip

You good sir, are a complete winner. You may have my virginity

 

[Abedeus]

IN AMERICA

Maybe, yes.

But here, $5 is almost 20 PLN. That's a good pizza, one-person dinner in a restaurant (meal + a drink) and many more things. It's also 2/3 of a Terry Pratchett's book and it's just the cost of a Dungeons and Dragons book.

Try thinking about something except your country for a moment there.

 

[Abedeus]

IN AMERICA

Maybe, yes.

But here, $5 is almost 20 PLN. That's a good pizza, one-person dinner in a restaurant (meal + a drink) and many more things. It's also 2/3 of a Terry Pratchett's book and it's just the cost of a Dungeons and Dragons book.

Try thinking about something except your country for a moment there.

Abedeus, first and foremost don't manufacture quotes. Not only is IN AMERICA found anywhere in the post quoted, but I'm actually Canadian, and my pricing was based on that currency.

Secondly, it doesn't matter how many złoty $5 US/CDN is, because pricing is based on the North American marketplace. Why? Because the US Dollar is the world's standardized currency at the moment. Whether the game costs 15.70 Euros, 116.91 Kroner, or 1944.62 Yen, it's still $20. Your own country's current economic situation may be vastly different than the US's, for the same price of this game in Ethiopia you could feed yourself for a month or two. But the price is based on equivalent value in an American market. All those items I listed that $5 will buy, can you get all that for 20 PLN? No. Some will be cheaper, some will be more expensive, and a few will be equal.

Lastly, mew mew mew!

I did not manufacture quotes. It was just a summary of your post.

And the second paragraph doesn't count if an Indie game doesn't have a distributor for a LOONG time. World of Goo, cough cough.

Still, $5 isn't something I would throw out of window.