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Games Entertainment

Retail Game Advertising Rises Sharply 19

Posted by simoniker from the the-day-the-discounts-died? dept.
Thanks to Reuters/Yahoo for their report indicating that retail advertisements for video games in newspapers rose almost 77 percent in the second quarter compared to a year earlier. Interestingly, the survey also found that "...more than 40 percent of game ads in the quarter were for games costing $49.99, the usual price for top titles, compared with about 33 percent in the prior quarter. At the same time, the number of ads for discount $19.99 titles declined." Does this show companies are concentrating more on full-price wannabe blockbusters, as opposed to cut-price shovelware? In another intriguing finding, the survey also revealed average GameCube software prices at $26, compared to more than $33 for both PlayStation 2 and Xbox.
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Retail Game Advertising Rises Sharply More

Retail Game Advertising Rises Sharply

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  • Does this show companies are concentrating more on full-price wannabe blockbusters, as opposed to cut-price shovelware?

    It just means that they're charging full-price for shovelware.

  • At this point I don't know that it is fair to label $20 software shovelware. Especially in the case of consoles (with the possible exception of the XBox) many of the $20 titles are simply older software that won't sell as well at a higher price point because all the enthusiasts have already bought it. No point in spending advertising dollars on 1 or 2 year old titles. However for $20 I can't see GTAIII as shovelware, Valusoft on the other hand... Also I note XBox as the exception as it seems that atleast th
    • When Microsoft first announced the Platinum Hits ($19.99 games) there were quite a few really good games. Here is a complete list of original games [gameforms.com]. They have since added quite a few games. The original list included some really good games such as:
      • Max Payne
      • Oddworld
      • Project Gotham
      • Rallisport Challenge
      • Simpsons Road Rage

      All of those games were good. This is a fairly strong collectiong to start with. They are adding new games all the time.

  • This makes sense (Score:3, Interesting)

    by chadlnx ( 686255 ) on Saturday August 09, 2003 @02:25AM (#6653309) Homepage Journal
    There is no doubt a collective concious between all gamers when it comes to pricing. Gamers all know that sooner or later, all games will fall below the 20 - 30 dollar price range. To offset this, retailers are aggressively pushing new product.

    I saw this first hand after recently launching GameFarmer [gamefarmer.com], a service which compares console video game prices and allows users to set price alerts on games in their wishlists. Most gamers purchase preowned or set price alerts on new games right away, many times before they are released in stores.

    I think a lot of it also has to do with the fact music sales are slipping and video games are still growing at a very healthy rate. In many cases bridging the lost revenue gap at places such as Wal-Mart and Target (who has an extensive online gaming advertising campaign).
  • Does this show companies are concentrating more on full-price wannabe blockbusters, as opposed to cut-price shovelware?

    Are you saying these are the only two types of games being produced? Is it possible to mod the original as flamebait? Who is editing this crap before it gets onto the main games page?
    • Busted. Comments duly noted, and I think I agree this story ended up over-editorializing to punch up a dry set of figures.

      On another topic, what do people think the GameCube price difference means? Considering GameCube doesn't really have an official $19.99 greatest hits line (though it does have a Player's Choice line for $29.99), I thought that a little odd.
      • I think a lot of it has to do with built up inventory. Again, going back to my personal experience with GameFarmer [gamefarmer.com], most GCN games start out at the suggested retail price (on average) and after a month or two they begin to fall considerably.

        For example, look at amazing games like Eternal Darkness [gamefarmer.com]. Offline and online, the suggested retail price is still $49.99, and its a GREAT game. However, GameStop has SO MUCH inventory, they discounted the game to $14.99 [gamefarmer.com]. Last time I checked, the game has sold less
  • "Does this show companies are concentrating more on full-price wannabe blockbusters, as opposed to cut-price shovelware?"

    Heh. In my experience, it's more likely concentration on full-price shovelware.

    Enter My Ass The Matrix. Psh.
  • I think there is some reasoning behind this. It costs the same to manufacture a $19.99 game as a $49.99 game. However, the $49.99 games bring more profits and count as two $19.99 games. So when they sell say 100 copies at $49.99 they make $5000 while selling a 100 copies at $19.99 only yeilds $2000. The ratio of production cost to sales is greatly different.
    • Most games that are released as shovelware, were produced at a much lower cost,less than 500k, whereas a full price game will have cost millions to have made...I would say this is also why the big budget title get more advertizing, the publisher is trying to make some of the dev costs back, and the budget games will do ok with little to no advertizing...
    • There is a considerable amount of up-front costs [thinkgeek.com] for developing, testing and packaging a game. Nearly all of the developer's costs occur before the release of the game and a good portion of the publisher's expenses as well. With that in mind, both need a large infusion of cash to cover the costs of the release and to pour funds back into other projects.

      It is also interesting that retailers like Best Buy and Walmart don't seem to be using games as lost leaders in the same way that they do for music and mov

  • Wacko stats.... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by eclipsemgp ( 533543 ) on Saturday August 09, 2003 @09:02AM (#6654147)
    Those numbers are skewed a little. There were two games advertised to death, mainly because their movie was coming out the same time. You could not go anywhere without seeing "Enter the Matrix" or "Tomb Raider" ads. I would wager a bet these two games had a lot to do with the inflated numbers.
  • Most blockbusters ARE shovelware (Enter the Matrix, for example). Sure, there are GOOD games that succeed, but the industry has, by and large, abandoned quality for flash.

    Don't agree? Explain how Sega had to go third party and Nintendo's first party titles aren't doing as well as hoped while Sony rakes in the cash with substandard stuff.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

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