MS and Nintendo Won't Go Budget 62
GamesIndustry.biz reports that Microsoft and Nintendo will not be following Sony into budget pricing. From the article: "Sony's initiative will inevitably force its two console rivals to fall in line sooner rather than later. With price pressure on full price titles forcing the high street to adopt aggressive tactics, older titles are looking disproportionately expensive."
Price Reduction Not needed! (Score:3, Funny)
Gamecube owners get their parents to buy the games.
Re:Price Reduction Not needed! (Score:2)
Re:Price Reduction Not needed! (Score:1)
I wish.. The only reason I have a Gamecube now is to finally heal the psychological scars of never getting a NES for my birthday back then..
With all 3 consoles' successors about a year away (Score:5, Informative)
PC games drop much quicker, which is nice because people who want to play the game on release date get to pay a premium and the rest of us just have to wait a month or two before it drops $10-15. On the other hand, I've been waiting over six months for Resident Evil 4 to drop from $50 to $35 or $40, and it's still only down to $45.
Sony's move is definitely welcome; too bad I don't have a PS2 ;)
With the GBA's successor already here (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:With all 3 consoles' successors about a year aw (Score:1)
Re:With all 3 consoles' successors about a year aw (Score:2)
I don't know if you've ever bought a used 'cube game, but the last one fom EB (Eternal Darkness) was so scratched and thrashed that it wasn't playable. When I buy games, I buy them to play & to KEEP so that I'll be able to play it in the future.
Re:With all 3 consoles' successors about a year aw (Score:2, Interesting)
From your post it seems that game sales in Canada may be done quite differently from the US. Here, major retailers will discount a new title $10-$15 in the first week since that is it's sales peak. Or they may choose not to lower the price but do a value added promotion such as giving away the hint book with it. Not only do they m
Re:With all 3 consoles' successors about a year aw (Score:2)
Re:With all 3 consoles' successors about a year aw (Score:2)
Re:With all 3 consoles' successors about a year aw (Score:2)
Re:With all 3 consoles' successors about a year aw (Score:2)
SSBM not representative. (Score:1)
I don't know what's up with SSBM. Perhaps someone else can clue us in. As for your general experiences with no
Re:With all 3 consoles' successors about a year aw (Score:2)
In the US, SSBM is a $20 title, if that. Pikmin, Mario Sunshine, Mario Golf and other major games are also $20 new, and less used.
So you may be right complaining about Canada for all I know, but I'm routinely pretty shocked b
Nintendo already (Score:3, Informative)
Which looking at the exchange rate , and the average higher price of consumer electronics and software in the EU pretty much means they are about in line with Sony's new US pricing scheme.
I'm not up on the Xbox side of things but I would imagine it would be simmilar
Re:Nintendo already (Score:1)
Re:Nintendo already (Score:2)
Though coming to think about it , Comparatively its still not that bad considering how badly we are ripped off over here (well we also get a load of perks so its not all bad)
Eh, 30 euro is not "budget" (Score:2)
And on the PC, I can think of old games I bought for 5 Euro. Not used, just 2-3 years old.
So Nintendo charging 30 Euro for its "budget" games, sorta makes me wonder what dictionary they used to define "budget". Did they use the government employee definition,
Re:Eh, 30 euro is not "budget" (Score:1)
When I import a game from Lik-Sang, the game costs 60$ and the customs add 16% VAT and 3.5% duty, I still come out with less than retail price. A game sold locally doesn't pay those 3.5% duty and could cost 50$ without tax.
Not just budget, but smaller games too (Score:5, Interesting)
We've had lots of articles on
Re:Not just budget, but smaller games too (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Not just budget, but smaller games too (Score:1)
Remember, in Europe credit cards are a rarity.
Re:Not just budget, but smaller games too (Score:2)
If credit cards in Europe are rare, tough cookies. Doesn't change the fact that MS is the only company trying to go after the casual gamer.
Re:Not just budget, but smaller games too (Score:1)
Besides, the PC shelves are full of 5$ games that are probably knock-offs of some flash game.
Oh and so far all three companies have declared they're going after the casual gamer, especially Nintendo who are building entire systems around that idea. The DS is meant
Re:Not just budget, but smaller games too (Score:2)
Of course, you're still missing the point. The original poster was complaining about how the big 3 were ignoring the casual gamer market. I noted that at least one of them was doing something TODAY.
Re:Not just budget, but smaller games too (Score:2)
Haven't rushes of low quality games caused the game markets to crash in the past?
Games should get cheaper over time. Lots of my friends enjoy the sports games (Madden football for instance). They intentionally buy the year old version for $10 -$20 around the time the newest latest greatest comes out for $50 - $60. I was impresse
It's not "budget" enough... (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:It's not "budget" enough... (Score:2)
Video games are more expensive in Europe...
Re:vote with your wallets (Score:1)
Console games are overpriced (Score:2, Interesting)
A smarter pricing scheme, IMHO, would be $30 new, then down to $20 after a year, and $10 after three. To me, that sounds about right for proper game pricing. But that's just me, and I haven't done any real market analysis. (Then again, it seems that most game companies don't bother with market analyses anyway.) All I know is,
Re:Console games are overpriced (Score:2, Insightful)
"I'd buy MORE shitty games if only they were cheaper" is not the message I want to send developers.
We should reward their good work with a surrogate form of ours... ($$)
Re:Console games are overpriced (Score:1)
Re:Console games are overpriced (Score:1)
Re:Console games are overpriced (Score:1)
Re:Console games are overpriced (Score:1)
Neither do I. But it's so rare today that a game is sufficiently fun and fresh to warrant a high price.
While it would be nice to see lower priced games, I don't want to sacrifice innovation and creativity to save a few bucks.
IMHO, innovation and creativity are not exactly commonplace in the gaming market today. In fact, many developers seem to have incredible difficulty even including the bare minimum require
Re:Console games are overpriced (Score:1)
However, past attempts at this have met resistance.
How many of you remember when the N64 Launched, the "Star Wars: Shadow of the Empire" game retailed for US$90. That was intended to be the average for most new titles.
And let's not forget the Ne
Re:Console games are overpriced (Score:1)
I've kind of wondered about that, too. But then I think about how many more systems games are available for and how many more copies of each are sold. Does this inflation adjustment take into account the increase in the total number of sales?
Re:Console games are overpriced (Score:2)
Game companies like to tell you these things so you feel "SPECIAL". Like your product took the efforts of thousands, and you feel great. In reality, some intern highschool kid added a 1 line of comment, and he could have been considered +1 to the headcount.
Look at the game credit for ANY GAME, that's where the real count usually is. Marketers always tell you this game is bigger, badder, had a huge workforc
Re:Console games are overpriced (Score:1)
Re:Console games are overpriced (Score:2)
Re:Console games are overpriced (Score:2)
The key work is "crashed." As in, the games were worthless and retailers would do anything to dump them because no one was buying. When the Atari-Intellivision-Coleco-etc. craze was in its heydey, games went for $25-$60... Same as now, and that's in early 80's dollars.
Re:Console games are overpriced (Score:1)
Mars Matrix is still the best shmup ever, Ikaruga doesn't compare. There were other great games for that system that I got for $5-$15, some never released for anything else.
I am at a loss (Score:1)
Who cares (Score:1)
Sony blowing smoke (Score:4, Insightful)
MS and Nintendo "won't go budget?" Go look at a game rack, buddy. Nintendo's been acquainted with budget pricing longer than either of the other Big Three, and Microsoft has its own Platinum Hits campaign from several years back. We're supposed to be siding with Sony for cutting the high-end budget price by a fiver? Give me a break.
Re:Sony blowing smoke (Score:2, Informative)
It's of more intrest to European games, but it does illustrate how overpriced games in Europe are.
Re:Sony blowing smoke (Score:1)
Re:Sony blowing smoke (Score:1)
The fact that they have been running virtually non-stop "2 for £30" offers on the entire range for what feels like a good year or so means that this isn't really much of a change anyway, however.
$17.99 (Score:2)
Now the a few weeks ago I saw Burnout 3 for $18 and picked it up immediately even though it's only a measly 2 bucks cheaper. I'll bite easier that that price point. Probably has to do with knowing that $19.99 is actually $20 that turns my impulse buying off. $17.99 turns into $18 which nicely removes that '2'
Re:$17.99 (Score:2)
I bought Burnout 3 for $50 about one month before they dropped the price to $20. I hate my life.
Microsoft are using Xbox live to sort of do this (Score:2)
Check out the games - arcade classics and games developed on the Torque engine for $10.
Admittedly you need to be on X-Box live to get this, but nonetheless MS are using their online service to enter the low priced market.
It's inevitable. Paying full price for a AAA that has graphics better than anything you've seen before is kinda worth it, but most games are merely slight improvements over previous incarnations. The back catalogue will catch up with the
Fry's Got It Right (Score:1)
Re:Fry's Got It Right (Score:1)
Nintendo games are worth more anyway... (Score:2)