How Much SHOULD a Game Cost?

[TheNedKelly]

It should certainly be cheaper to buy games digitally. Without the costs of producing the physical package and transport, and the middle man, I'm thinking ?30 for a console game would still provide manufacturers a significant profit.

Won't happen until the consumer base starts demanding (with their wallet) these sorts of price changes.

 

[ImpofthePerverse]

Games will and always have varied in their prices, depending on where you buy them from. I got Fallout: New Vegas for the PC for £12 new of Amazon a few months after release, but I paid £40 for Fallout 3:GOTY for Xbox 360 on the day it was released.

I'll pay what I think is a fair amount for a game, I thought £40 was good for Fallout 3, I played it and I got my money's worth, but I got even more of my money's worth out of New Vegas. I've bought games at full price which I've thought were a rip off and I've also bought games at less than £5 and still had the same feeling.

Games cost as much as they do because people are willing to pay for them, if people didn't buy them at the higher prices then they'd have to come down. Question shouldn't really be how much games should cost, but how much you're willing to pay for certain games.

 

[Murmillos]

$35-$40 USD - and that price should be fixed for a year.

I hate deciding to buy a game at $60 and then have it drop to $55 in a week, $50 in two weeks, $45 in another 2 weeks.

Only the few rare AAA+ titles stay $50+ for months.

 

[Thurmer]

This is where I get to whinge about being an Australian, average release title is atleast $100 AUD........ this is why I feel completely justified in pirating video games, unless they're on steam, i get all my games through steam these days because I'm not paying $80 instore for a game thats 5 years old and I can buy and digitally download for $10 in the comfort of my own home................. EB should die

 

[Jesus Phish]

Prices of new games over here are about the same as they've always been. Between 40-60 euro depending on the title/platform.

What I dont agree with on pricing is older titles constantly staying at their original price. Unless a game gets a classic/platinum stamp (something that's incredibly rare these days than years before) it will stay at its 50e release price.

I also miss 3 for 2 or 3 for X euro offers. Those were brilliant ways to pick up old games cheap.

 

[OniaPL]

I think that a new game should be 50 euros (Currently 65-70 in my country). It's a price that doesn't seem so high, but isn't still cheap.

 

[USSR]

I still think $50 was just fine.

 

[SinisterGehe]

30-40 euros, a nice number, keeps them in their category of day to day luxury. A double the amount a CD, movie or a B price level book, they would then cost as much as A price level book 30-40 euros.

 

[OniaPL]

I found that 15 ? is an okay price for a good game. That's what one-year old games often cost around here, so the price is quite right I think - but it should be valid for new games too. If I spend 20 ? for a game, I feel I should rather be spending on something more useful.

Where the hell do you live at? Over here they are still selling Red Faction: Guerrilla for 45 euros... At least digital distribution comes to the rescue on PC...

 

[Blitzwarp]

I'm okay with the prices they retail at now...so long as they're translated properly through some sort of currency exchange. They ought to be the same value worldwide. Activision, I'm looking at you. $39.99 is not the same as £39.99. :|

 

[THE_NAMSU]

£30 for a very good new released console game, and probs ~£25 for rest. PS2 games costed like £20 in the good old days.
DLC should be worth no more then £5 and CoD DLC should be worth £2, because they've all been shit lately.

 

[Shycte]

In Australia, new release for about $60. Why?

BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT THEY ARE IN THE FUCKING US

You know? An Australian Dollar is about 6,5 Swedish Crowns. A new console game here goes for about 600 Swedish Crowns. So basiclly, we pay about 90 dollars for a game.

Shit blows.

 

[thom_cat_]

In Australia, new release for about $60. Why?

BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT THEY ARE IN THE FUCKING US

You know? An Australian Dollar is about 6,5 Swedish Crowns. A new console game here goes for about 600 Swedish Crowns. So basiclly, we pay about 90 dollars for a game.

Shit blows.

He's kinda lying, most console games cost $100+ on release.
PC games are usually lighter off, hence why I buy everything off steam

 

[StormShaun]

Handheld: 30 - 40
Console: 50 - 80
PC: DITTO

 

[Siris]

I'm not sure if I think there should be a different price between PC and console price. If anything though, PC SHOULD be cheaper

 

[GeorgW]

It's fine the way it is now. It would be nice if it were cheaper, but it's fine. Consoles need to be cheaper though. The real problem is that some are worth more, some less. (Some I would pay waaay more than $60 for. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.267405-How-much-would-you-pay-for-your-favourite-game])

In Australia, new release for about $60. Why?

BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT THEY ARE IN THE FUCKING US

You know? An Australian Dollar is about 6,5 Swedish Crowns. A new console game here goes for about 600 Swedish Crowns. So basiclly, we pay about 90 dollars for a game.

Shit blows.

I find a lot of games for 700 SEK. But everybody seems to forget about the fact that there are different standards of living for different countries.

 

[Hexenwolf]

$60 is generally too much for me. I can't say that the price should be lower, since I haven't done any real research on the economics on the other end.

DLC prices are ludicrous. DLC is barely advertised at all and charging someone a quarter of the cost of a game for four multiplayer maps is just ridiculous.

lets put it this way......its been $50 forever now...if its at 60 now (which it might be idk)...think about it..something went up 10 bucks over how many years.....where everything else went up how much over that same amount of time...everyone STFU and leave it alone before someone trys to charge us more

The problem with this is that the manufacturing costs went way down in the mid 90's, when companies switched from cartridges to discs, but the companies pocketed the difference, instead of passing on the savings like they promised. I'd imagine that $50 per game now would still net them more profit than it did in the cartridge days, even accounting for inflation. The only reason they charge $60 is because they can get away with it, and it makes the shareholders happy. It has nothing to do with rising costs.

http://www.halfhill.com/inflation.html

Accounting for inflation price has gone down. Just fyi.

 

[S_K]

I can tell you what it shouldn't cost, £40 after being out for months *cough* COD *cough*

 

[The Youth Counselor]

With the current retail model, singleplayer campaign games should be charged 5-6 dollars for every hour of average playtime. Most great games abide by this.

The average game lasts 8 to 12 hours and costs 39.99 to 69.99 new.

Unfortunately we're now commonly paying 15 dollars per hour. Many recent games I have completed in 3 to 6 hours, but these cost as much as the 8 to 12 hour games.

 

[bam13302]

full games(multiplayer + singleplayer) should top at 50 absolute max and in those cases should be ****ing gold
dlc 0
any game that features one over the other (either a whimpy singleplayer like MW2 or mulitplayer like Dead Space 2) should top at 35-40
dlc 0
stricktly one or the other (lots of replayability in single player or long ass single player, like in RPG games (assuming its not just a giant grind quest through the same dam area and was actually decently made), good upgrade system and ranking system in mulitplayer), 25-30
dlc 0
one time straight through sp game, 15
dlc 0
decent online only game, 15
dlc ****ing 0

Spoiler: slightly off topic

every game should allow for mods, and (ESPECIALLY RTS games here, im looking at you supreme commander 2) custom maps
the reason i have over 800 hours in the command and conquer series is because of the custom dam maps