Game Prices: Now and Later

[blank0000]

I walked up to gamestop today, and bought myself my full priced game of the year. I was taken aback by how much they actually cost these days. Usually I buy from steam and save myself a little change, and its very strange to me, knowing that it is common for members of the game community to buy fresh releases at these prices frequently. I wanted to read other takes on this. How much do you expect to pay for a game? What is your budget annually? Do you feel its healthy to price games in this way?

 

[tippy2k2]

These days? It's been $60 a game for probably a good decade at this point...

If it's a game worth getting, I will gladly throw $60 at the cashier with a big stupid grin on my face. I subscribe and follow so much in gaming that it's almost impossible for me to buy a shitty game at that price.

Granted, I don't buy at that price often. I have no problem waiting for a price drop but what I'll pay for a game always depends on the game itself.

CoD: $60, big stupid grin
Mass Effect 3: $60, big stupid grin
FIFA 20XX: $60, big stupid grin

That's about it. There are very few games that I'll jump at for $60 but that price is perfectly reasonable to me. This stuff is expensive to make. If the game doesn't deserve to be at $60, the market will force the games price down. How often do we see a B-list game start at $60 and then drop down a few months later? It happens all the time and people just need to be a bit patient if they don't want to pay $60.

 

[ResonanceSD]

Hah! In Australia a AAA game release is, without fail, $99.99. Even though it's on Steam and therefore there's no shipping. Also our dollar is stronger than most currencies in the world. You people have it easy.

 

[blank0000]

@tippy2k2:
I guess I just don't remember when we went from 50 to 60. I understand the time and money that goes into making a game, I also don't know any other media that has such a large entry fee. A new DVD or a book or an album is generally priced at around 20 dollars for a new release, a "B-list" game might get knocked down to that price after a few months, I feel that it's almost dangerous to price things as such.

 

[Lionsfan]

I rarely buy new games, but yeah its been 60 bucks for a while now

 

[blank0000]

Hah! In Australia a AAA game release is, without fail, $99.99. Even though it's on Steam and therefore there's no shipping. Also our dollar is stronger than most currencies in the world. You people have it easy.

Damn! see, that seems insane to me!

 

[Lucem712]

Well, 65 with tax (Depending on your state). Besides, Aussie users will quickly inform you they play 100 (if not more) USD for no damn reason other than publishers will charge that.

I stay pretty informed and I usually don't drop it on launch day unless it's a favourite series or it looks really fantastic. (Besides, games have always been around that price, if you account for inflation; in the US at least)

 

[tippy2k2]

@tippy2k2:
I guess I just don't remember when we went from 50 to 60. I understand the time and money that goes into making a game, I also don't know any other media that has such a large entry fee. A new DVD or a book or an album is generally priced at around 20 dollars for a new release, a "B-list" game might get knocked down to that price after a few months, I feel that it's almost dangerous to price things as such.

All other mediums (besides movies) don't cost millions of dollars to produce and are marketable to a much larger audience.

A brand new Stephen King book would cost you about $35. Brand new hardcover for most books are around $20-30. In terms of length of entertainment, books are at least near gaming times, unlike these next two...

A brand new album by just about anyone is $10-15. You get about a hour (shit, a hour if you're lucky in today's releases) of new content.

Now movies are the only one that have budgets near gaming but they also get to double/triple dip. You start with the movie theater ($5-15 depending on location and time). Then it comes out on DVD and Blu-Ray ($20-40). You get about two hours here of entertainment here.

If anything, games should probably bump themselves up at this point. They've stayed at $60 a pop for a long time now while their budgets have jumped considerably. You don't want to pay $60 a game; wait for the drop. Even AAA titles, normally games that would be immune to price drops for a few years, are dropping with sales a few months after release.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

These days?

Dude, games are cheaper now than they've ever been.

Want to know how much a brand new copy of Final Fantasy 7 cost, back in the day?

50-60 GBP

Now, with the exception of CoD, a new console game will set you back no more than £40.

 

[Catfood220]

Games in Britain cost between £20 and £45 but if the game is not a huge seller, the price will drop dramatically in the first couple of months.

Though I do remember when SNES and N64 games were about £60 each.

 

[Rawne1980]

And people wonder why used games sell.

Browse Amazon. You can usually find some pretty cheap games on there. That's where I do my shopping.

 

[Aussie502]

Hah! In Australia a AAA game release is, without fail, $99.99. Even though it's on Steam and therefore there's no shipping. Also our dollar is stronger than most currencies in the world. You people have it easy.

Actually with brick and mortar stores, depending on where you live, I usually find a AAA game release to be about 70-80 bucks brand new. Still not quite 60, but not as bad as everyone believes it to be.

Are you serioius? At GAME or EB, or even Target a AAA console game can easily be $119. It's usually about $10-20 cheaper for PC games and JB Hi-fi generally have cheaper prices also. I remember when Halo: Reach was first released, the price was $119 for months.