Square Enix Exploits Western Gamers With Crazy DLC

[dtgenshiken7]

Funny, I never bothered with iOS or android games, mostly because I can't afford a phone good enough to play them, but still, it seems pretty damn stupid that you would pay more than $5 total for a game you only intend to use as a filler between car trips or something. I just can't imagine a demographic of hardcore phone gamers.

Still, Square Enix should probably try and at least keep their target markets from country to country as separate as possible, so this kind of thing has less chance of destroying their now-rather-precarious reputation.

 

[Tippy]

As long as the westerners don't realize this, they will be happy to pay because they'll be thinking that's just how it is.

Which makes me wonder how many other DLC/microtransaction-based games are portrayed as being "just how it is".

Hmmmm.

 

[Callate]

It's not impossible that someone did some market research and found that the Japanese market would play a rhythm-action iOS game for a certain length of time at a certain price point, but that the North American audience would stop playing before they felt they had gotten their money's worth at that same price point, or balk at paying that price at all from the outset.

Yeah, the DLC price is probably too high, but I wouldn't automatically leap to the assumption of some kind of deep and insidious evil on S-E's part on that basis. That's the reason for FF XIII. Apparently. (At least if the EE panel talks are to be believed...)

 

[Evil Smurf]

I want FF1-3 on IOS but is $13!

 

[purifico]

I think it's high time EA gave up it's Evil Corporation title in favour of Squenix. Or maybe they can share it, I don't know.

 

[Twilight_guy]

THIS IS WHY WE CAN"T HAVE NICE THINGS!

Yeah.... that about covers it... Also... blah blah blah, ignorance of pricing or we'd never stand for this, language and cultural barrier, yadda yadda, you all know what I'm going to say already.

 

[Karadalis]

Well the japanese are kinda known for looking down on everything non japanese.. atleast when it comes to the business world. So why not make their great products more expensive for the dirty barbarians outside of japan eh? That will teach em to protest about japan killing of the whales for sure!

 

[Monsterfurby]

Every time I read a rant about game pricing, I wonder: What IS the game actually worth?

 

[Smooth Operator]

Meanwhile you are all buying Xbox/PSN/Steam cosmetics up like crazy at same or higher prices
People really need to start thinking where they stand.

 

[Zeckt]

I would like to say something mean about square enix like the rest of you, but I actually BOUGHT ff dimensions for the 30$ so I could not write it without smirking at how much of a hypocrite I would be!

 

[FoolKiller]

I'd rather swim buck naked across the Ganges river with a paper cut on my nipple and die a slow, agonizing death from a viral infection than buy those games.

I'm gong to steal that for the next time someone recommends something I find unpleasant; if you have no objections that is. *sips tea and adjusts monocle*

Sure. Yuval stole it from elsewhere so I don't think it would be an issue. I've also added the remainder of that quote.

I think that the it's sad that game companies are treating their customers like idiots. Before we all had access to the internet there was a chance that this would work, but now you are pointing out to people how you plan on treating them differently based on region. That is obviously going to anger some people.