Why Buy Games?

[geldonyetich]

([Blog link removed at moderator request])
I examined a fundamental aspect that comes to mind lately.

To give you the short version, I'm hoping to be a game developer some day, and I have to wonder why: games are pretty much free these days. I can get a ton of games for pennies a day over GameTap or GameFly, or I could just play one of the thousands of free web games out there.

If MMORPGs are my poison of choice, I don't even need to pay a subscription fee. There's pleanty of good fair-quality MMORPGs out there that use an optional micro-payment system.

Are we reaching the point where buying games is obsolete?

 

[Dechef]

No. The good games will always cost money. These free MMO's you speak of are hardly good quality, unless you really really like to grind.

 

[geldonyetich]

In terms of MMORPG quality, I?m not sure there?s such a thing as shelling out more money for higher quality. I?ve played just about every MMORPG of consequence, and I can tell you that, strictly speaking, a grind is a grind. I have a hard time saying with a straight face that my time spent in $15/mo City of Heroes was an inherently better game experience than micro-payment-optional Cabal Online (which features a cool Combo System) or Ace Online (which is a pretty neat air-vehicular MMORPG).

 

[brunt32]

Hello, well to start i dont buy games because my sponser do, but it is fairly true the comments you make, people are now creating games for a small fee, but we have to remember most of these free games do earn money it just your not paying it, lets take "www.miniclips.com" for an sample, Miniclips Is a company what will buy games to host on it website and other companies who want to appeal to that audience will pay to advertise, so in thorey games are getting paid for by other companies, but for some games like "World of warcraft" and console game you pay to get rid of that advertising.
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Brunt32-Ledgends are not risen nor born but when the time comes ledgends will unfold.
Brunt32-I have met many men faster then me but have yet met a single man faster then my bullets.

 

[OnlyWonderBoy]

In regards to downloading games I personally like to actually own things. I don't know why but I'd much rather have a physical copy of a game in my hand then a file on a hard drive. Sure it might get scratched or something but it feels more "insured" then it being a file that could be erased, same goes for music. Also services like GameTap and Steam are cool but at the moment they have a "limited" selection of games. I know there might be 600+ games but not necessarily the new stuff I want.

As for renting, again I like to own things. This time it's more for replay value then anything. I like to beat a game, do what I want with it, play something else but still know I can come back to it whenever I want. Also I like to let my friends play the games so they can experience it too.

Finally while I do enjoy my online flash games It really is hard to find ones with great depth, most turn out to be short (but enjoyable) diversions from other things. Granted there are some quality freeware/flash games out there but they are more often then not below the quality of big budget production games.

Anyway that's my thoughts. I hope that may have answered the question you posed.

 

[Combined]

Money is basically to support the developer that made the game, help keep servers online, pay the bills and so on.

Naturally, huge, many-server MMORPG games will often cost a lot, but often they will look a little better, possibly play a little better than free games, due to professional programmers, designers, etc. And other games, while overpriced, still help to support a developer you like, (Or in some cases dislike), thus allowing them to create more, possibly good games.

Renting might give you a faulty game, you might get no refund for that, you may have to wait, you may have to pay fees, etc. Why control yourself with renting offices, when you can own something?

Also, with every game, you get a box, a book and some other goodies (maybe) that you can own. Which might make you feel a little bit different.

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Brunt32-Ledgends are not risen nor born but when the time comes ledgends will unfold.
Brunt32-I have met many men faster then me but have yet met a single man faster then my bullets.

Also, what the hell is that?

 

[wilsonscrazybed]

Hi, if you'd like to advertise your blog, please do so in your profile.

 

[BallPtPenTheif]

I buy games because they cost money and I want them. Those free games I've played... I don't want them.

 

[Ago Iterum]

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Brunt32-Ledgends are not risen nor born but when the time comes ledgends will unfold.
Brunt32-I have met many men faster then me but have yet met a single man faster then my bullets.

Uhh... What's that?

 

[TheBluesader]

If I pay for a game, I'm paying to support the hard, skilled labor of programmers with families, in addition to all the people at various levels of manufacture. They give me a quality product, and have incentive to keep it up because it's their career. I know I'm fueling the industry, so I feel good because I know that will keep quality games coming. If devs don't get paid, I lose my guarantee of quality. And that is baaaaaad.

What is happening now with the downloadable games is that older PC games no one would probably buy otherwise can still make a trickle of money for the studio and/or publisher. Which is good, because before they had to rely on bargain bin sales of discs that wouldn't work on new systems. Steam gets them set up to run on new rigs, and now great old games can be enjoyed by the nostalgic and newbies looking for classics.

What I wonder is, if people can play Civ III or C&C: Red Alert 2 for $10, are they going to bother getting the brand new versions when they realize that the game play is virtually unchanged? It may hurt sales of new games, and will encourage devs to release something more than the same old game with new graphics.

Which is bad for them, but good for us. Ideally it would all balance out, and we'll all be happy.

Especially EA and Valve.

 

[Cahlee]

I like to see the games I own. So I'll always purchase games.

 

[Xpwn3ntial]

People mainly buy games now so they can get achievements and such that renting for any reasonable amount of time wouldn't allow. Also, they could just be that much fun.

 

[Fightgarr]

Because some people are computer retarded and so buy games instead. Also, because some games on consoles are exclusive to consoles (I am aware that there are emulators etc, so don't go on at me about that) and some people (emphasis on SOME) like to play local multiplayer with their friends on a console (and there are no really easy ways to get free games for consoles short forking out extra cash on an illegal game-copier, in which case you may as well just buy the fucking games).

 

[Omnidum]

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Brunt32-Ledgends are not risen nor born but when the time comes ledgends will unfold.
Brunt32-I have met many men faster then me but have yet met a single man faster then my bullets.

Uhh... What's that?

Imitation of a Signature.

 

[zoozilla]

No. The good games will always cost money.

Pretty much.

Games produced by a dedicated game development studio will usually be of a higher quality than free games made by gaming enthusiasts in their free time.

We support devs, they give us games. That's how it works, man.

 

[Frizzle]

Why have sex?

But will we still have to *pay* for it in the future?

I buy games to own them as some others have said, and because if i find a game that's located totally online and i love it, what happens if that server goes down? That's a lot of the appeal, for me, for single player games. Better to own on your own machine where you have some sort of controll over it's life.

 

[Quaidis]

I enjoy the solid feeling of having a game in my hands that I purchased. It is much like buying an apple: Yes, you could download an apple on the computer, I'm sure someone out there has made a flash game about eating an apple, but you will never have the same sensation as actually holding the apple and enjoying the full value that that apple represents in your dinner or snack.

Downloading a game on a computer will never hold the same quality and experience as going to the store, getting the game, unwrapping the package, popping in the new cd, and sitting at your couch to play it on the tele. I could almost understand your question towards computer games specifically, however bad things can easily happen to your fragile computer. If you downloaded the game it could, with a crapped out fan, bad hard drive, power surge of an unexpected storm, virus, or any number of things, go away forever and your money would be gone. If you purchase the game cds, you will have a backup in case this happens.

Renting cannot compare due to the time restriction. If you owned the game you could very easily reach over to the nearby shelf and pop it in whenever you want, sitting on the sofa to enjoy it with friends. One rental option you would have to wait a handful of days for said game, and it's very hard to enjoy a game with friends that you rent off of a computer.

Some game owners wish to beat and achieve everything in a game, which is hard to do with a quick rental. Other game owners look for the harder to fine games that aren't at easy game rental locations that they can play multiple times and, when not, enjoy on their shelf as a hunting quest gone right.

 

[brunt32]

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Brunt32-Ledgends are not risen nor born but when the time comes ledgends will unfold.
Brunt32-I have met many men faster then me but have yet met a single man faster then my bullets.

Uhh... What's that?

Imitation of a Signature.

It the one i use on purepwnage Fourums and others, im just use to it.

 

[brunt32]

soz bout spelling of Forums.

 

[Joeshie]

You must have some pretty damn low standards for games.

Probably 99% of all free games, MMOs included, are complete and utter trash. You get the occasional gem like Dwarf Fortress or a good tower defense game, but that's about all it amounts too. You won't ever find games like Fallout 3 or Fable 2 that are completely free.