60-70$ for nex gen games, Raise in price = fall of game industry??

Mikesta707 · October 2005

I was checking out a list of upcoming games for the x-box 360 at an EB games store, and i saw that they are really raising the price for games to 60- 70 dollars (elder scrolls IV CE was one of the only 70 dollars i saw but i didnt look long). Before, i thought that 50 dollars was pretty steep for a game but now they are raising the prices? i kno all about inflation and how they have to rise the prices because of game production cost, etc. but i just think that they are getting a little out of hand. On another post they are talking about how MMO prices per month are rising too. What i think is this rise will be the eventuall fall of the video game industry. The price will eventually rise so by like 2010 games will be upwards to 100$ which will completely wipe out casual gamers from buying games, and probably some of the hard core gamers that dont have as much money as they wish. The economy (at least in the U.S.) is pretty suck now (cough bush cough), and i think with the price tags for game production going up, they will have no choice in makng th eprice 60 to 70 to 80 dollars etc, thus killing the game industry.

Also, off my original topic, are nex gen consoles gonna kill the pc gaming world. I think so because for game slike BF2, i would have to spend at least 400-600 dollars upgrading my comp just to play it, and is it worth it to do that wen i can just buy an xbox/xbox 360 and get the same game or a better counterpart. Dont get me wrong, i love computer games like BF2 and CS. source, and HL2 etc. but sonce most of those (BF2 and half life) are gonna be on xbox, if i really want to play them, which should i really choose. to spend around 550 dollars to play(including upgrading costs and the game) or like 250 to play (assuming i dont have an xbox already) I just think that playing comp games over their console counter parts is really worth it any more since the hardware is getting so expensive.

Unknown · October 2005

I don't think next gen consoles are going to kill pc games. Consoles and PCs have their own pros and cons, and I don't see either one ever killing off the other.

Regarding video game cost, here's a question. In the 1980s, what did an average NES game cost? I can't remember, and it's hard to have a reference for how much they've gone up over the years.

modjoe86 · November 2005

I'd pay a lot more than $70 for Oblivion...the whole inflation thing really doesnt bother me because I dont game hop...When I buy a game I usually play it for months. That's cheap entertainment even if it was $100 for the game.

anarchyart · November 2005

When super nintendo came out here in canada, I remember a few of the games were like 99.95. This quickly changed though. If people pay more they will charge more, when people stop paying they lower the price.

sidebuster · November 2005

Originally posted by Mikesta707

I was checking out a list of upcoming games for the x-box 360 at an EB games store, and i saw that they are really raising the price for games to 60- 70 dollars (elder scrolls IV CE was one of the only 70 dollars i saw but i didnt look long). Before, i thought that 50 dollars was pretty steep for a game but now they are raising the prices? i kno all about inflation and how they have to rise the prices because of game production cost, etc. but i just think that they are getting a little out of hand. On another post they are talking about how MMO prices per month are rising too. What i think is this rise will be the eventuall fall of the video game industry. The price will eventually rise so by like 2010 games will be upwards to 100$ which will completely wipe out casual gamers from buying games, and probably some of the hard core gamers that dont have as much money as they wish. The economy (at least in the U.S.) is pretty suck now (cough bush cough), and i think with the price tags for game production going up, they will have no choice in makng th eprice 60 to 70 to 80 dollars etc, thus killing the game industry.

Also, off my original topic, are nex gen consoles gonna kill the pc gaming world. I think so because for game slike BF2, i would have to spend at least 400-600 dollars upgrading my comp just to play it, and is it worth it to do that wen i can just buy an xbox/xbox 360 and get the same game or a better counterpart. Dont get me wrong, i love computer games like BF2 and CS. source, and HL2 etc. but sonce most of those (BF2 and half life) are gonna be on xbox, if i really want to play them, which should i really choose. to spend around 550 dollars to play(including upgrading costs and the game) or like 250 to play (assuming i dont have an xbox already) I just think that playing comp games over their console counter parts is really worth it any more since the hardware is getting so expensive.

Wholly crap your right. I had a nice thin layed out to flame you but then I looked at gamestop.com and saw they were all 59.99 HAHAAHH... Im glad I am gonna stick with PCs for a long while.

AHH OHH good news for pc gamers.

Hmm lets see, == King kong for 360 59.99USD
== King kong for PC 49.99USD

Okay so King Kong game was a bad example.

EVERYgame is 59.99FYI

Hmmmmm Looks like pc gamers have something positive to argue about now when kiddy console gamers act like their consoles are better. All the 10 dollars extra for their games, a pc gamer can upgrade their computer.

scaramoosh · November 2005

Well in England we pay £45 anyways for console games!

Thats $80 right there!

You min wage is £2.5 though and ours is around £4-5

If our console games go up in price i can't afford to buy a console, i'm not spending like £50-60 on a game when i have bills to pay.
PC games are only £20-30 ($55)

Rikimaru_X · November 2005

I would pay more than 80 bucks for oblivion. I'm still not done with Morrowind. That kinda sucks but I guess that is what it's coming too. Have you guys ever noticed the increase price on magazines too? I swear, demos for the next generation better be out there.

Oh yeah sidebuster, don't worry, PC games are going to get like that too so don't start. Trust me on this one. PC to Console industries do affect each other, they pretty much need each other (you got to think past the ignorance on that comment...way past it).

Phoenixs · November 2005

Console games are expensive. They have always been. That is why I don't own a console. Yes, my pc requires updates now and then, but I can afford it because I don't pay as much for the games. I recently ordered Oblivion for my Pc. It cost me £25.52.

Enigma · November 2005

This isn't natural for video games...at least in the U.S.

Ever since the NES, games had always been 49.95. XBOX is literally the first to mark their games at 60 bucks a piece. There are a few PC games that are like this (such as Doom 3, Halflife 2, etc) but nowhere near the amount as XBOX.

Honestly? Its a Bill Gates thing. I guarantee you if PS3 came out first, xbox would not have done it for 60 bucks.

HOWEVER

Bill Gates knows people will buy a game for 60 bucks. And it will be those people who buy the games for 60 bucks that will set the trend for 60 dollar games from now on. I guarantee you, Sony will be looking at their sales carefully. If a mass of people do buy xbox games for 60 bucks then I bet you anything, the PS3 will follow.

But, it's a Bill Gates thing. He knows people will buy the games for that much. Hey, he's gotta make a profit somehow. Loosing 250 bucks for every xbox360 sold, Microsoft has to figure out someway to jab it to the little folk.

Rikimaru_X · November 2005

Originally posted by En1Gma
Ever since the NES, games had always been 49.95. XBOX is literally the first to mark their games at 60 bucks a piece. There are a few PC games that are like this (such as Doom 3, Halflife 2, etc) but nowhere near the amount as XBOX.

Now I don't remember this becuase it was on the day of my birth, but didn't Zelda (the gold one) for NES was over 50 bucks?

n25philly · November 2005

if it's too much, don't buy them. Whining about it won't help if you still pay their price. Buy them later when the price goes down, or not at all. When they can't sell games at that price they will sell them for less.

Enigma · November 2005

Originally posted by Rikimaru_X
Originally posted by En1Gma
Ever since the NES, games had always been 49.95. XBOX is literally the first to mark their games at 60 bucks a piece. There are a few PC games that are like this (such as Doom 3, Halflife 2, etc) but nowhere near the amount as XBOX.Now I don't remember this becuase it was on the day of my birth, but didn't Zelda (the gold one) for NES was over 50 bucks?

No, the Zelda gold cartridge was 50. I remember because i got it for christmas and my father kept on bi***ing about having to spend 50 bucks on it. i remember picking it out at Toys R Us. When I later found out it cost only 4 cents a cartridge to make I was alitte peeved but soon found out about capitalism

To bad Nintendo got so bad. They took Mario Brothers and took it WAY to far. 80% of every GCube game has something to do with Mario. Nintendo brings a whole new meaning to the phrase overkill. Buts that's another thread ::::02::

gargantroo · November 2005

I dont game on console ever since I realised how far behind it is compared to PC.

PC was online since Quake 1 if I remember correctly.

gargantroo · November 2005

-_- this is like my 60th double post

Edit: Oh well, might as well make use of it.

Think about it though, Ultima Online was $10, then it went to $12.99, then companies had a base cost of $12.99 and $1.00 for every extra character.

Now we are paying $15 base cost, soon we will pay $1.00 per additional character, then we go to $20 a month

Thats just monthly fees. The cartridges and games themselves have always maintained a nice $50 upfront cost with no additional charges. Well, up to $60? The industry is getting annoying with money

JelloB2000 · November 2005

Originally posted by gargantroo
I dont game on console ever since I realised how far behind it is compared to PC.
PC was online since Quake 1 if I remember correctly.

the nintendo (NES) had online stuff in japan ::::06::

. Also pc was "online" in the 60:s with DarpaNet.

Games always cost more when the console has its premi

zeboath · November 2005

I order games from Play.com

Almost all Xbox games(including Oblivion) costs 39.95 £

Here in Denmark all news PC games cost about 400 Kr which is 35-40 £ and for the lazy americans it's about 65 bucks!

So don't whine. If you knew how much we pay in tax, Vat and other necessary stuff you would drop dead.

Oh. Anyways. I wouldn't worry to much, Console games has always been more expensive... only time will tell if PC games will cost more. Besides as you all know, it's MS who owns Xbox, and he is a greedy, greedy man.

Console will never take on the PC. First of all. Pro-gaming requires mouse and keyboard. It also requires that you're in front of the screen.
Pro gaming requires perfection for each gamer. This means all must be customized for his liking(mouse speed, keyboard and computer of course)

You would need an OS for that stuff. Because people wouldn't settle with 1 or 2 mouses and 1 or 2 keyboards. That will cost extra.

If consoles want to take on PCs they will have to become more like PCs and because of that also more expensive. Then why not buy the PC?

Dis_Ordur · November 2005

Originally posted by En1Gma

To bad Nintendo got so bad. They took Mario Brothers and took it WAY to far. 80% of every GCube game has something to do with Mario. Nintendo brings a whole new meaning to the phrase overkill. Buts that's another thread ::::02::

I am a die hard Nintendo fan (but haven't played one in years), you should start that thread En1gma, then we can argue how Nintendo has and will yet again revolutionize the gaming world... No other console has the originality or success of video game characters as Nintendo...

Mikesta707 · November 2005

Originally posted by n25philly
if it's too much, don't buy them. Whining about it won't help if you still pay their price. Buy them later when the price goes down, or not at all. When they can't sell games at that price they will sell them for less.

i wasnt really whining about the price raise. Like most people, i would gladyly pay 60 - 70 bucks for oblivion, but what i am saying is that people who dont easily pay 50 bucks now just to be entertained. I think that the rise in price will kill sales from those people. I am not sure, but from what people do the bulk of video games sales come from. Whether or not the casual gamers who may not wanna pay alot of money are a big or small part of the percentage, they are still loosing that percentage. Sooner or l8ter they will keep cutting out bigger and bigger percentages of gamers out of their profits. You also have to consider how to economy isnt that great right now (or last time i checked)

onto the computers. As some people said, they would gladly, now and then, upgrade their pc so they can play the latest games. But i still think that the prices for upgrading are getting insane. Like 100 + dollars for a video card that will last for a few years which will allow you to play alot of the great games assuming you have the 600 + dell/hp/w/e pc's or you build your own for however much. Thats good, but like i said about the raising price, this is also gonna kill sales from casual gamers. Why pay however much over a few years on a cpu and w/e upgrades you get wen you can just pay like 400- 500 dollars (now) for the consoles and get great games either way.
Lets use BF2 as an example. To play the cpu version (which some say is better) you need to have had a pretty good computer. So lets say in 2003 or 2004 you spent 600 dollars on building a pretty good gaming machine. Now bf2 comes out and you want it. You buy some more ram to total about 1 geg of ram, and you get a new video card. How much would that cost, + the cost of the computer. Now its today. Instead of paying 700 + dollars to just play like HL2 and BF2 you could have paid like 300 for the xbox and waited a little. now you have both on the xbox (though the pc versions of both are probably better) you still get the game experience. Which do you think a casual gamer would pick. That is my point.

But dont get me wrong. I love computer games alot. We couldnt have (good) MMORPGs without computers, and other stuff. I just think that the upgrading thing will kill a good percentage of sales from casual gamers

Xexima · November 2005

I think that we should all blame it on jack thompson, i didnt say it was his fault, but we should still blame him.

Raist_Pker · November 2005

I think that the rising prices of console games won't kill the PC as a gaming console, only help it. Making a game on the PC isn't anywhere near as expensive as it is on the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3. PS3 or X-box (PS 3 I think. Not sure) uses Bluetooth discs which are MUCH more expensive than a DVD disc or CD-ROM. Thats one of the main reasons that console game prices are going up. The PC can use DVD and Cd-rom discs right now and can be extended to play any other kind of disc is you buy a drive for it. PS3 and Xbox 360 can only play one kind of disc.

Also, with the consoles making a game is a hard and frustrating process. Your game has to be a certain appropriateness for the Nintendo consoles and Sony makes you sign papers after papers before you make a game for their consoles. Lets not get started on Billy Gates and his Xbox. With the PC, anyone can make a game. You don't need to sign any papers at all to make a game for the computer. You can make a crappy game of Tetris or a great MMORPG if you want.

The universalness of the personal computer as a gaming console is something that none of the gaming consoles can match. When you have a pc you never have to buy a game if you don't want to. It can play tons and tons of different games and its easy to make a game for. The console isn't and will never be quite the same thing.

brostyn · November 2005

Well, no I don't think it will kill gaming. Parents will throw the money away just to keep their kids occupied, so they do less parenting work. I don't even buy 50 dollar games. I wait until they are $20-25 on ebay or at the game shop. 70 dollars for a few weeks of enjoyment is absurd, but I believe parents will pay just to keep their kids out of their hair.

8hammer8 · November 2005

Originally posted by Raist_Pker
I think that the rising prices of console games won't kill the PC as a gaming console, only help it. Making a game on the PC isn't anywhere near as expensive as it is on the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3. PS3 or X-box (PS 3 I think. Not sure) uses Bluetooth discs which are MUCH more expensive than a DVD disc or CD-ROM. Thats one of the main reasons that console game prices are going up. The PC can use DVD and Cd-rom discs right now and can be extended to play any other kind of disc is you buy a drive for it. PS3 and Xbox 360 can only play one kind of disc. Also, with the consoles making a game is a hard and frustrating process. Your game has to be a certain appropriateness for the Nintendo consoles and Sony makes you sign papers after papers before you make a game for their consoles. Lets not get started on Billy Gates and his Xbox. With the PC, anyone can make a game. You don't need to sign any papers at all to make a game for the computer. You can make a crappy game of Tetris or a great MMORPG if you want. The universalness of the personal computer as a gaming console is something that none of the gaming consoles can match. When you have a pc you never have to buy a game if you don't want to. It can play tons and tons of different games and its easy to make a game for. The console isn't and will never be quite the same thing.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I am in the disc replication/printng/packaging industry, and to let you know, the difference in price between a DVD-R, CD-R and the new BlueRay discs are pretty negligable. Here are some example prices just for CD and DVD to give you some basic cost differences. I was shocked when I first go into the industry as to the actual manufacturing costs compared to the retail pricing.

CD replication (profession disc creation) @ 50K = $0.19/pc USD that is with standard 4 color printing
DVD replication (profession disc creation) @ 50K = $0.30/pc USD " "

CD packaging (jewel cases, insertion, etc) @ 50K = $0.20/pc USD
DVD packaging (dvd "amaray" case, insertion, etc) @ 50K = $0.25/pc USD

CD Print Material (booklet / tray card) roughly $0.20
DVD Print Materials (boolet / wrap) roughly $0.24

So you see it is not the manufacturing price causing the raise in prices. BlueRay discs will probably be in the $0.50-.70 range but nothing that will break the bank. So for a total CD job @50K not including distribution you are looking at $0.59 total and are buying it for $20.00. A DVD style game is $0.79 while selling at $50-60.00 each. Again these figures would drop slightly for the kind of quantities these companies use.

Any noticable raise in pricing will come because of the intellectual property side of things (rights, salaries of people involved, profit/greed, etc), physical costs will have very little to do with it. Also remember that console games are usually a little bit harder to pirate so the costs are going to be a bit more. PC companies know that if they end up charging too much in the consumers eye's, the consumer will use other means to get the game they want. PC games will probably not overtake console games in pricing..thankfully.

Like stated previously game companies in general will continue to charge "outrageous" sums of money for their games why,........because they can. They can because they know there are people who are going to be willng to spend no matter the costs. Those who dont buy right out the gates at $60-70 will wait until in goes on sale and drops to a more "reasonable" price $49.99 and then buy it. So in the end, the gaming companies are not really going to lose too many customers. They will rely on the "Jone's Effect" [my neighbor has it so I must get it] and societies need for instant gratification to make sure they dont lose to much in the beginning and they will pwn our wallets all the way to the bank.

Have fun playing your games.....you most likely paid for them
::::20::

Vampir · November 2005

Originally posted by 8hammer8

Originally posted by Raist_Pker
I think that the rising prices of console games won't kill the PC as a gaming console, only help it. Making a game on the PC isn't anywhere near as expensive as it is on the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3. PS3 or X-box (PS 3 I think. Not sure) uses Bluetooth discs which are MUCH more expensive than a DVD disc or CD-ROM. Thats one of the main reasons that console game prices are going up. The PC can use DVD and Cd-rom discs right now and can be extended to play any other kind of disc is you buy a drive for it. PS3 and Xbox 360 can only play one kind of disc.

Also, with the consoles making a game is a hard and frustrating process. Your game has to be a certain appropriateness for the Nintendo consoles and Sony makes you sign papers after papers before you make a game for their consoles. Lets not get started on Billy Gates and his Xbox. With the PC, anyone can make a game. You don't need to sign any papers at all to make a game for the computer. You can make a crappy game of Tetris or a great MMORPG if you want.
The universalness of the personal computer as a gaming console is something that none of the gaming consoles can match. When you have a pc you never have to buy a game if you don't want to. It can play tons and tons of different games and its easy to make a game for. The console isn't and will never be quite the same thing.