How Much SHOULD a Game Cost?

[Prof. Monkeypox]

I'd say about $45. I don't want to make it to low, since I know that the game maker might not make its investment otherwise, but a nice $15 discount, or some other incentive, might be enough to bring in people who are on the fence about purchasing it to give it a look anyway.

Unless they all decide to pirate it anyway, but there's just no reasoning with some people...

 

[Kiju]

I say...

Professional reviewers should be hired to tell whether or not a game is "Good" or "Terrible"

You know, people who get paid to do this, and it's based on a majority vote instead of just one person.

Then the games should be lumped into specific categories, where the more terrible the game, the cheaper it is. Lets say a price range of...$5 for crappy games all the way up to $60 for really good ones like Okami, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Dead Island, and so on.

Less for hand-held games, of course.

I feel like I should be paying for the quality of the game, not it's age and/or number of previous owners.

 

[Firetaffer]

$60 is fair for a new game.

I mean $120 for MW2 when it was released? How was that fair!

 

[p3t3r]

10 less would be good with me. games are $70 in canada if they were 60 then i would like it more. but if you don't like the price wait a few months it gets lower.

 

[Stammer]

I agree with $60, but I also think the developers should get a larger chunk of that money. I also think that EB/GS should give developers money when people buy used games. Honestly I think used games are screwing up the market even more than piracy is.

 

[Penguinness]

I think there should be fairer prices for those in countries that earn less, therefore games cost more, but for US and UK markets, seems alright to me. Perhaps the cost should be 5 hours of work, no matter wh; the amount of effort required to run this system however would be crazy.

 

[captaincabbage]

Man, I'd give anything for a new console/pc game to cost $60 or under. Hand helds shouldn't be more than $30.

Last time I saw the exchange rate (A few days ago on the news) the Australian Dollar was buying 1USD, so considering americans are still complaining about brand new games being $60, we're charged upwards on $110 for the exact same game over here.
BULL-FUCKING-SHIT.

 

[Infinatex]

I'm pretty happy with how it is at the moment to be honest. A new release game RRP in Australia is around $100 (though most retailers sell them cheaper - $80 is usually then norm). Sure everyone complains that in the USA it's only $60 and that we are getting screwed, but then you got to take into consideration that US avg. min. wage is around $7.50 and that the Australian avg. min. wage is about $15.50.

I'm pretty happy with how it is at the moment to be honest. A new release game RRP in Australia is around $100 (though most retailers sell them cheaper - $80 is usually then norm). Sure everyone complains that in the USA it's only $60 and that we are getting screwed, but then you got to take into consideration that US avg. min. wage is around $7.50 and that the Australian avg. min. wage is about $15.50.

It's more then just exchange rate, cost of living versus how much wee earn comes in to play too as I stated above.

 

[WrcklessIntent]

Everyone can fight on this forever, but I think a new, console release should be about 40 dollars. A Handheld game should be about 20. Your thoughts?

They should stay about 60 and if the market changes they should go up. Out of that 60 dollars only 23 of it is profit.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

Quite possibly around £500or more according to Bobby.

 

[Merkavar]

i think the games should sell for as much as they can sell it for.

but really i think games should be prices based on hours of game play. like games like fallout with 20-30 yours should cost more than games that are only single player and have like a 10 hour campaign.

 

[Callate]

Honestly, they should probably cost more. The price we pay in the U.S. for a new release would barely cover the cost of a QA tester for a single day (if the entire cost went to the company that made it, which it doesn't.)

But I'll accept the present price, and wait a month or two or for a Steam special if I can't bear the price for what's on offer.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

i think the games should sell for as much as they can sell it for.

but really i think games should be prices based on hours of game play. like games like fallout with 20-30 yours should cost more than games that are only single player and have like a 10 hour campaign.

Thats almost like an Activision thought right there /suprised face.

 

[Jaded Scribe]

I think the prices now are good.

^^This. $60 for most titles is perfectly reasonable. 25+ hours on average of entertainment for less than you'll find elsewhere.

Just to put current prices into perspective, (note: movies assume a 2-hour movie, and prices are based on my local area averages) to get 25 hours of entertainment in other places are:

Movies (theatre): $109.38
Movies (DVD): $187.5
Amusement park: $70+ (2 days, not including food, parking, etc.)
Concerts: $291.67 (assuming 3 hour show, $35 cheap seats)
Theatre: $416.67 (assuming 3 hour show, $50 seats)

Wow, does anybody else miss 25+ hour single player games? We get about 6-8 hours now. Also, $70 for a 2 day ticket at an Amusement park is an extremely good deal. Tickets for Six Flags is $60.

Many games are still that long. But even at 6-8 hours, you're still getting more than your money's worth comparatively.

And yes good amusement park price, but then Denver's amusement park is kind of small.

 

[Singularly Datarific]

A decent portion of this cost today is from the distributor's share, so it turns out the majority goes to the stores, while the devs get back only about 40% of the cost. With the advent of Steam and other digital downloads, I suggest a price decrease to $30 or $40, so to attract customers to the store that benefits the game devs better, and doesn't extort you.

 

[gummiworms]

I think a 360/PS3 game should go for about 50-60 bucks, and hand held games should go for no more then 30-35 dollars. I think the prices that are established now for most games are relatively fair, it's only when certain companies try and grab that extra 10 bucks and make their games 70 bucks a pop that it gets absurd

 

[Xman490]

Downloads definitely shouldn't be $50 or more. There isn't even a disc and case, so there's no excuse not to have the price at $40 or less.

 

[Merkavar]

Thats almost like an Activision thought right there /suprised face.

game companies arent our friends. they are a company and their main goal is profits. i wonder if game prices will end up being like console prices. for example a new release costing 200 and after 2 months drops abit in price and keeps dropping till sales try up. price skimming FTW

Downloads definitely shouldn't be $50 or more. There isn't even a disc and case, so there's no excuse not to have the price at $40 or less.

i think they have lots of excuses. the main one being they match or slightly undercut retail versions so they max their profits.

 

[xHipaboo420x]

They should charge more. Much more.

 

[Gammaj4]

I'd say whatever is needed to keep devs together, I guess.
I'd say it'd be nice if we could cut the costs a bit.
One way to do that would be to erase Gamestop from history. Or end Piracy.
Something.