Computer games are too expensive
14-May-2008
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Computer games are too expensive

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My gripe is with the computer games industry and how they have us over a barrel these days.  They can basically get away with charging whatever they like for games and we just carry on and buy them!  Cheap PC games are a thing of the past and I personally think that games are way too expensive.  If they seriously want to combat piracy, they should reevaluate their over-inflated profit margins and sell PC games at a more reasonable price.

Online gaming in particular is a growing industry and I feel that consumers are being taken advantage of.  I'm not a particularly serious gamer myself, but I like to play occasionally and feel that forking out somewhere between £20 and £50 for a game that I may get tired of or play only occasionally is a bit much.  I'm referring to PC games here because that's what I play but console games are just as expensive if not more so.  I've seen the price of the boxes in the shops, although that doesn't seem to deter the teenagers.

Cheap PC games needed, Battlefield 2142 screenshot

Why are the games so expensive then?  Is the inflated cost because of the marketing, packaging and distribution?  I know that a great deal of effort goes into developing games these days, but surely costs can be cut in other areas?  Like many people who play games, even those of us who only play occasionally I hear about them on various web sites and discussion forums first.  If they are good enough, the games will practically sell themselves. 

Download rather than leave the comfy armchair

As for the distribution - with the advent of convenient online systems such as Steam and EA-Link, surely the more tech savvy gamer would be inclined download rather than leave the comfy armchair and brave the crowds down at the game store?  There again, maybe that's their only contact with the real world!

The bottom line is I think way too much money is spent on tackling piracy and the excessive promotion of games.  How about in-game advertising as an extra revenue stream?  I'm sure most gamers would be okay with this as long as they can still shoot stuff.  If done cleverly, this interface with the real world could in fact make the game more interesting.

If they could just sell them a bit cheaper, especially for copies of the game that are downloaded directly, then surely the target audience would increase proportionally and the money would roll in!  It would either eliminate or seriously reduce the problem of piracy.  An additional bonus would be more players online, a better gaming experience and of course more serious players queuing up to rent game servers.


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Games have stayed around the same price level pretty much since the beginning. It's only recently, with development costs rising to tens of millions of pounds have the prices risen and stayed up at around the £40 - £50.

I remember The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time being £60 when it came out on the N64. Streetfighter too was £60 when that was released on the SNES!

Don't get me wrong, I still think games are a little too expensive, but I'm glad the prices haven't gone up too much...
*irononreverse  12-Mar-2008 00:03

 
Some games are a bit pricey for example the games that are low rated get a lower price not a usual 30-40 price range. I see that some are sucking for to much profit and some are just making those prices right when the game is a big hit. I don't know much about pricing but only that certain games that have been sent back to the store more than any other should get a drop of price on the second week. Not hard that is what computers are good at. Pricing can change in an instant and computers can read really fast to the point that the human mind is getting tired of getting these high priced down the toilet games. Bahh!!
*Kytost  27-Dec-2007 08:03

 
Game Quality Control: Right on. As soon as a film comes out ie. Pirates of the Caribbean, Surfs Up (please insert film of your choice). There immediately follows a low quality PC and console game to milk the consuming public. It all stinks!
*Moffat  03-Oct-2007 10:42

 
If you think videogames are bad in Europe or the States, try south Africa! R500-600 (about £45), no second hand games, most are crappy rugby or cricket games anyhow. Besides, if you buy secondhand (like any sane person should if capable) you'll only pitch about £10-£20. Pc games, however, are THE BIGGEST CORPARATE SCAM IN LIVING HISTORY. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that's including enron, big cement and artifical fertilisers. You pay £500-£600+ for a decent-ish rig, another £30 for each (expletive removed) game AND NEXT YEAR THE DAMN THING'S OBSOLETE! Do manufacturers think we're capable of shelling out that kind of money every few years just for the privilidge of buying another one of their games.This enrages me a great deal, although I personally recognised their little scheme several years back, and have simply decided to subsist on old, classic games untill its absolutely neccesary to upgrade. Consoles are slightly less evil, as they maintain a steady performance level that developers have to work to, rather than continually altering the requirements. Though that may change (if it does, I will cave to preassure and simply take up rugby full-time). We cannot stand for this flagrent, heinous and crude abuse of our rights as consumers, indeed, we must organise to protect ourselves from this. Gamers worldwide! Unite against this malevolant, vampiristic corporate entity that seeks to pander to the elites and parasites of society, and so disregard the very community that created videogames as they are known!

Ahem. Now I feel less angry. Good day to all
*Socialism in one country  13-Sep-2007 16:33

 
I would like to abolish, burn, destroy, remove completely all references in the world to

Dungeons and Dragons
Lord of The Rings
Star Wars

and every game ever produced and made based on a book or film or so-called Adventure game.

These genres have produced some of the worst games in the computer industry. They sicken me.
*Game Quality Control  11-Sep-2007 21:24

 
If you take into account the sheer amount of work and development that goes into top class games, the prices are very reasonable.

It takes roughly around 3 years (or longer) to develop and release a top title, which is a LOT of work. Programmers and game designers aren't cheap to employ either.

I think if a game is truly remarkable, innovative and has fantastic gameplay, I would quite happily pay £30-40 for it!

...shame about the cost of having to upgrade your system every few years :(
*Edd  10-Sep-2007 17:29

 
You're paying for how new it is. If you don't wana play loads wait 6 month after release and get it off e-bay. Then when your tired of it sell it back on e-bay. I do this and I can honestly say it works out cheaper than my friend who buys pirated CDs!
*game ebayer  30-Jun-2007 12:57

 
in my humble opinion computer games should be in the region of about £10-30. but are they? no there £35-50 which is just insane. how are children able to afford these unless their fathers a millionaire fist off the console and then the games you have to buy!!!! crazy...
*jamie  19-Apr-2007 11:14

 
Ok, Im a serious gamer and im always paying between £20-£40 for a new pc game, they are abit expensive but it does take alot to develop, the only thing I have the problem with, with pc in particular, is the games get better and better, but then you have to spend hundreds on upgrading your pc to be able to play the things. Not right really, so the average gaming rig to play games with the intended graphics these days is around £600.. And thats a cheap one, Alienware systems start around £1200..

Good games, good price, overpriced hardware..

Done!!!
*John, London  16-Apr-2007 09:52

 
Prices for computer games haven't changed in a very, very long time. Games ahve always cost about $50 and only recently have gone to $60 since the 360 came out. You can buy them online for a little cheaper, but look at how much money is spent to develope a game these days and you will see that you are getting a great deal.

3D artists, graphics designers, programmers, now even full motion actors and voice talent are hired to create characters for games. Then add in the marketing costs, legal fees, testing and production costs and you will see that it takes more money to introduce a new game then it does to produce a blockbuster hollywood film.

If you paid 50 pounds for a game, you've lost your mind.
*Morrownc  05-Apr-2007 22:20

 
Fascist, a bit over the top don't you think? This debate is about the price of computer games, not whether or not they are good for your soul. I personally think gaming once and a while is good for you, but I have seen people take it a bit too far - In other words... it is gaming and nothing else, almost to the point of excluding friends in the real world. Some people can't actually have a proper relationship because they hang out in the gaming scene and to me that is worrying.

But to describe it as "majority mindless drivel for morons" - that is a bit much. Loosen up and live a little, before you die a sad old person!
*More gaming for you  05-Apr-2007 00:37

 
Computer games are in the majority mindless drivel for morons. In my regime, they would be banned. Overpriced? If people are stupid enough to pay for such rubbish they deserve to be fleeced. The same philosophy applies to people who harm themselves and others by paying large amounts of money to poison themselves and others with carcinogens.
*Fascist  04-Apr-2007 11:42


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