The Price Is Right?

[Shino]

OK so you think the time scale for price drops should be greater but also you say ''Man I can't wait for digital distribution to be the standard.'', what on earth for, that means A)Less options for purchase and no chance of any price drop (IE everywhere seems to have a January sale but Wii VC shop did not) Is a price drop such a bad thing to you? B) at moment you dont need to have/pay for the internet to play most games, but you will if that becomes the norm. You must love spending money man.

 

Great end to the thread IMO .

 

I think its basically shitting on someone's work when prices get dropped in less than a month. It wouldn't be as bad if it were the occasional game, but know its rule and not the exception.

 

Digital distribution has price drops too and many promotions if steam is anything to go by. And your point that having internet is an added expense with digital distribution is absurd, since it could be argued that many people already have internet and don't take advantage of it buy their games.

[ThePigMarcher]

I think its basically shitting on someone's work when prices get dropped in less than a month. It wouldn't be as bad if it were the occasional game, but know its rule and not the exception.

 

Digital distribution has price drops too and many promotions if steam is anything to go by. And your point that having internet is an added expense with digital distribution is absurd, since it could be argued that many people already have internet and don't take advantage of it buy their games.

 

If price cutting is a consequence of tough economic times , which it appears to be , then surely it is still better to have those games being sold (even at a reduced cost) than risk them being left on the shelf due to customers not wishing to pay those prices. Leaving them unexperienced by players would be shitting on someone's work to a greater degree.

 

An example would be something like de Blob. I would never have considered this game at full price , but soon as it was available on release day for a reduced price I picked it up and was subsequently blown away by it.

 

If the recent price cutting measures continue for an extended period of time , then yes , there could well be a long-term consequence for the industry , but only time will tell on that , but it doesn't look too positive. A point that David would have perhaps initially raised more successfully had it not been for the dismissive attitude in his last paragraph.

 

A lot of these games would have started development prior to people/companies getting shafted by the banks so at least getting them on the shelves now (at whatever retail pricepoint) would be preferably to extending development time just to ensure that the product gets what the developer decides is a fair price. At least this still ensures the short-term survival of those developers.

 

Personally , I also wouldn't be a fan of exclusive digital distribution. Part of the joy of owning a game is getting the physical product with the proper packaging , manuals etc. You could argue that a digitally distributed only product wouldn't inspire the same kind of passion than a fully packaged could. You only have to look at how the music industry has changed , arguably for the worse, since the rise of digital downloads.

Edited April 6, 2009 by ThePigMarcher

[Ramar]

OK so you think the time scale for price drops should be greater but also you say ''Man I can't wait for digital distribution to be the standard.'', what on earth for, that means A)Less options for purchase and no chance of any price drop (IE everywhere seemed to have a January sale but Wii VC shop did not) Is a price drop such a bad thing to you? B) at moment you dont need to have/pay for the internet to play most games, but you will if that becomes the norm. You must love spending money man.

 

Great end to the thread IMO .

 

Steam has some awesome digital distribution offers. ie Left 4 Dead weekend.

 

I wouldn't source Nintendo as a form of decent Digital Distribution, Nintendo are pretty much tight fisted with any kind of price drop.

[Pete]

Steam has some awesome digital distribution offers. ie Left 4 Dead weekend.

 

I wouldn't source Nintendo as a form of decent Digital Distribution, Nintendo are pretty much tight fisted with any kind of price drop.

 

I see, and some interesting points of view in general after mine.

[Hero-of-Time]

Personally , I also wouldn't be a fan of exclusive digital distribution. Part of the joy of owning a game is getting the physical product with the proper packaging , manuals etc. You could argue that a digitally distributed only product wouldn't inspire the same kind of passion than a fully packaged could. You only have to look at how the music industry has changed , arguably for the worse, since the rise of digital downloads.

 

I couldn't agree more. Opening a new game and smelling that new game smell is awesome...maybe I should seek help.

[Ganepark32]

^ why? It's such a satisfying feeling opening a new game and taking in that smell (although I've had a few smelling like petrol which wasn't nice). They can try all they like, but nothing will ever get rid of the physical medium of games, at least for the foreseeable years.

[spirited away]

I couldn't agree more. Opening a new game and smelling that new game smell is awesome...maybe I should seek help.

 

I second this fully. This is mainly the reason why I've resisted the Virtual Console; I'd just much rather buy the original consoles and own the orginal copies for the tangible pleasure.

[darkjak]

I buy games instead of pirating, that makes me hardcore.

Back in the N64 and GC days I'd buy AAA games on release, then I'd buy games that are almost AAA when they drop in price.

 

When the Wii was launched I was doing military service, so I didn't buy any games. When I came out I wanted to buy Mario Galaxy and Metroid 3, but they were still expensive, so I waited. And then I waited some more. Nintendo's titles used to drop in price, even though they still were selling, but not nowadays. Right now I'm a university student, so I can't put much cash on gaming, since I'm 50euro over budget the moment I pay my rent!

 

What Nintendo need to do is to launch a Player's Choice range for the Wii. If the prices would drop by 1/3, I'd deffo be buying more games.

[darksnowman]

Add me to the list of people who like to smell new games.

[S.C.G]

Add me to the list of people who like to smell new games.

 

Nothing to be ashamed of, t'is the guilty pleasure of the gaming world... wait, that made it sound wrong :/ ah well maybe we should all form a new support group, 'GSA' (Game Sniffer's Anonymous).

 

"My name is Sam and... I liek teh games... I liek teh way they smell when newly opened" *runs off into a corner with a freshly unsealed Wii game* "ahh my prrrreciousssss!" >>

[Zechs Merquise]

Personally , I also wouldn't be a fan of exclusive digital distribution. Part of the joy of owning a game is getting the physical product with the proper packaging , manuals etc. You could argue that a digitally distributed only product wouldn't inspire the same kind of passion than a fully packaged could. You only have to look at how the music industry has changed , arguably for the worse, since the rise of digital downloads.

 

Too right, I love knowing I'm gonna be the first in the game, unwrapping the plastic, the smell of the game inside and the perfect booklets, untarnished by other hands!

[RedShell]

 

I couldn't agree more. Opening a new game and smelling that new game smell is awesome...maybe I should seek help.

Sign me up too then.

 

^ why? It's such a satisfying feeling opening a new game and taking in that smell (although I've had a few smelling like petrol which wasn't nice). They can try all they like, but nothing will ever get rid of the physical medium of games, at least for the foreseeable years.

Yeah, the collectors edition of Overkill is one of those. The comic absolutely reeks!

[tapedeck]

 

Awesome lol.

Brucies chin would make an incredible weapon!

 

I too confess my nostril love-in for new games. I can also never resist the feel of a fresh controller - there's something so sensual about that untouched plastic...

[david.dakota]

I feel like I should respond to some points.

 

spend £40 every week or so on a new title. For some, it's just not feasable.

 

Do you have to? Really? Honestly, you have to buy a game a week?

 

 

Whether I pay £40 or £20 for a new game makes no odds to the developer or publisher; the retailer has already paid for that copy of the game.

 

But herein lies a problem. Say GAME buys 10,000 copies of HOTD and MadWorld and fail to make a profit after paying X amount per copy. When purchasing time comes round for Conduit or whatever, GAME will be crazy not to put pressure to reduce the wholesale prices. Knock-on effect is devs and publishers get less profits. Its not sustainable.

 

 

If you, as a hardcore gamer — perhaps regular gamer is a better term — find yourself discussing sales numbers and misguided company allegiances more than the games you don't have time to play because you spend so long posting on internet messageboards, you're a fan of the industry, not the medium; you're an armchair analyst, not a gamer.

 

Perhaps? But these are discussion forums - which it seems you frequent too.

 

 

Would you pay an extra few thousand pounds on top of the price of a new car to support the car industry? No!

 

Seems Gordon Brown is quite happy to do that for me. Something he's yet to do for a valuable UK games industry.

[Sheikah]

I think its basically shitting on someone's work when prices get dropped in less than a month. It wouldn't be as bad if it were the occasional game, but know its rule and not the exception.

 

Digital distribution has price drops too and many promotions if steam is anything to go by. And your point that having internet is an added expense with digital distribution is absurd, since it could be argued that many people already have internet and don't take advantage of it buy their games.

 

I'm intrigued as to why you think digital downloads are the way forward. Why is it great to have a single company dictating the price of a game through their digital download service? Let's face it, if digital became the standard, the console companies themselves would be selling game titles via their console-specific stores, meaning no middle man. And with the middle man gone, there goes the competition.

 

I can't stress this enough, but life is all about yourself, and your family. You can't stop to think about fueling the publishers when we are ourselves suffering the economic crisis. If games are being sold at half price within a couple of weeks, ask yourself; why is this? Because, as you may have realised, the middle men are competing with one another. The publisher has already sold the games to the retailer, so they are not suffering a loss. As someone has quite rightly pointed out, preowned games are what damage the games industry.

 

But again, I say, so what? It's incredibly selfish, but I value my own well-being above that of people who are for all intents and purposes, strangers to me. I may enjoy their products, but I also enjoy the products at my local supermarket. In both cases, I would always wish to obtain the same quality goods for the cheapest price possible. And let me tell you; someone who says that they would happily pay more for games rather than less, who is not well off, is outright lying.

 

 

Seems Gordon Brown is quite happy to do that for me. Something he's yet to do for a valuable UK games industry.

 

When UK companies make games consoles, and when said console manufactures are on the brink of extinction through production line closure, you could bring that point up. But not as it is.

Edited April 9, 2009 by Sheikah