Are games over-priced?
Discussion
It all depends how good the game is 
If it's a real good'n, which you will play over and over again £40 is a bargain. If it's a pile of crap then it ain't even worth the effort of 'evaluating' a copy off Kazaa 
That reminds me - saw some games for the Nokia NGage in Game the other day. Can't believe they're charging full price (£35) for poor conversions of very old games to be played on a very tiny screen. No wonder these things have bombed...
>> Edited by judas on Saturday 3rd January 22:56
If it's a real good'n, which you will play over and over again £40 is a bargain. If it's a pile of crap then it ain't even worth the effort of 'evaluating' a copy off Kazaa That reminds me - saw some games for the Nokia NGage in Game the other day. Can't believe they're charging full price (£35) for poor conversions of very old games to be played on a very tiny screen. No wonder these things have bombed...
>> Edited by judas on Saturday 3rd January 22:56
I dont think they are overpriced.
10-15 years ago, games for the Nes/Snes were £40-60. Games today have much better sound and graphics (note: i'm not saying the games themselves are better) and a produced by sometimes hundreds of staff as opposed to just a few people 10 years ago. I think thats good value for money.
If games had gone up with inflation, we should be paying something like £70.
Compare other forms of entertainment:
Media Cost Duration
CD Album £12 1 hour
Cinema £5 1.5-3 hours
DVD £15 1.5-3 hours
Book £5 10-15 hours (ish)
Video Game £40 10-60 hours
Video games are also interactive compared to the other entertainment forms.
I've played Halo, Gran Turismo 3 and Perfect Dark more than any other games. I've probably totalled up several hundread hours of play for each of the games (maybe even 1000's for GT3). If i had payed £100 for these games it would have been worth it.
However, there are some games that simply are not worth £40. The sort of games that score really badly in magazines. But then i only buy games if they get a good review in Edge.
10-15 years ago, games for the Nes/Snes were £40-60. Games today have much better sound and graphics (note: i'm not saying the games themselves are better) and a produced by sometimes hundreds of staff as opposed to just a few people 10 years ago. I think thats good value for money.
If games had gone up with inflation, we should be paying something like £70.
Compare other forms of entertainment:
Media Cost Duration
CD Album £12 1 hour
Cinema £5 1.5-3 hours
DVD £15 1.5-3 hours
Book £5 10-15 hours (ish)
Video Game £40 10-60 hours
Video games are also interactive compared to the other entertainment forms.
I've played Halo, Gran Turismo 3 and Perfect Dark more than any other games. I've probably totalled up several hundread hours of play for each of the games (maybe even 1000's for GT3). If i had payed £100 for these games it would have been worth it.
However, there are some games that simply are not worth £40. The sort of games that score really badly in magazines. But then i only buy games if they get a good review in Edge.
you have forgotten to factor in the inflated prices, companies impose due to it being a new technology!
my first portable mini-disc player cost me £500. the original playstation cost £500.
would anybody be willing to pay £700-1000 for a Ps2? (if we accept the inflation argument)
i doubt it. did it cost £500 to make? if so, how come they were selling it for around £100 at death? and then bring out the PSone (smaller) despite the Ps2?
it costs peanuts to produce, and inflation is a misnomer.
some games can be completed within a few hours aswell. although i agree with you on this point.
my first portable mini-disc player cost me £500. the original playstation cost £500.
would anybody be willing to pay £700-1000 for a Ps2? (if we accept the inflation argument)
i doubt it. did it cost £500 to make? if so, how come they were selling it for around £100 at death? and then bring out the PSone (smaller) despite the Ps2?
it costs peanuts to produce, and inflation is a misnomer.
some games can be completed within a few hours aswell. although i agree with you on this point.
the only problem with games being so overpriced are that there a few to no good games as of late that are worth $40-50. especially IMO, console gaming has really gone down in quality over the past few years. Computer gaming is the way to go. Games are generally better, and you can pirate almost all of them.
unlicensed, that's simply not true.
There are some amazing games out there - but you have to know what which ones. I recommend Edge magazine.
Games such as Halo, Mario Kart, Legend of Zelda: The WindWaker, Gran Turismo 3, Super Monkey Ball, Project Gotham Racing 2, etc, etc are incredible games.
And the fact that people pirate games probably adds to the cost of the genuine games.
There are some amazing games out there - but you have to know what which ones. I recommend Edge magazine.
Games such as Halo, Mario Kart, Legend of Zelda: The WindWaker, Gran Turismo 3, Super Monkey Ball, Project Gotham Racing 2, etc, etc are incredible games.
And the fact that people pirate games probably adds to the cost of the genuine games.
jsr said:
unlicensed, that's simply not true.
There are some amazing games out there - but you have to know what which ones. I recommend Edge magazine.
Games such as Halo, Mario Kart, Legend of Zelda: The WindWaker, Gran Turismo 3, Super Monkey Ball, Project Gotham Racing 2, etc, etc are incredible games.
And the fact that people pirate games probably adds to the cost of the genuine games.
agree 100%
I've just finished working on a 2.5 year project. 3 months into that project we were working our r'ses off from 9.30am - 7pm Mon to Fri, plus occasional Sundays.
1 Year into the project, Sundays were the norm. Towards the end of the project, hours were 9am - 10pm (often later) Mon-Fri, then Sundays plus Bank holidays.
As there were so many changes in direction from the publishers side (which we had to cater for), the game ran over schedule and we were granted a few extra months of hell to finish it. We worked our arses off, and were thanked by the withdrawing of bonuses due to the fact "we" ran over
...so, no I don't think they're over priced, but would agree that they are over-pirated. It's a catch 22 I'm afraid!
>> Edited by BPH on Monday 5th January 18:42
1 Year into the project, Sundays were the norm. Towards the end of the project, hours were 9am - 10pm (often later) Mon-Fri, then Sundays plus Bank holidays.
As there were so many changes in direction from the publishers side (which we had to cater for), the game ran over schedule and we were granted a few extra months of hell to finish it. We worked our arses off, and were thanked by the withdrawing of bonuses due to the fact "we" ran over
...so, no I don't think they're over priced, but would agree that they are over-pirated. It's a catch 22 I'm afraid!
>> Edited by BPH on Monday 5th January 18:42
jsr said:
unlicensed, that's simply not true.
There are some amazing games out there - but you have to know what which ones. I recommend Edge magazine.
Games such as Halo, Mario Kart, Legend of Zelda: The WindWaker, Gran Turismo 3, Super Monkey Ball, Project Gotham Racing 2, etc, etc are incredible games.
And the fact that people pirate games probably adds to the cost of the genuine games.
yes there are SOME amazing games out now. But they are no where near as amazing as they used to be. The have rerally downgraded in quality by taking away from the story and intrigue of the game by focusing on making the graphics really good.
and gt3, mario kart, and PGR2(thought ive never played it) are good. but halo-most overrated game ever. Zelda, the original 33d one for n64 was better. and super monkey ball, nothing special.
jsr said:
unlicensed, that's simply not true.
There are some amazing games out there - but you have to know what which ones. I recommend Edge magazine.
Games such as Halo, Mario Kart, Legend of Zelda: The WindWaker, Gran Turismo 3, Super Monkey Ball, Project Gotham Racing 2, etc, etc are incredible games.
And the fact that people pirate games probably adds to the cost of the genuine games.
yes there are SOME amazing games out now. But they are no where near as amazing as they used to be. The have rerally downgraded in quality by taking away from the story and intrigue of the game by focusing on making the graphics really good.
and gt3, mario kart, and PGR2(thought ive never played it) are good. but halo-most overrated game ever. Zelda, the original 33d one for n64 was better. and super monkey ball, nothing special.
Speaking of over-priced games. How is this for over-priced? I walked in to my local GAME shop and i saw Halo (which was one of the first games on the XBOX and must be 2 years old now?) Guess how much it was? £40 
that's the same amount as GTA double pack and any new game available. Surely £40 for a 2 year old game is expensive, it must be worthy of being a "platinum" game - reducing it to £20.
that's the same amount as GTA double pack and any new game available. Surely £40 for a 2 year old game is expensive, it must be worthy of being a "platinum" game - reducing it to £20.Gassing Station | Video Games | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff