Vital Parts of Games As DLC? 446
Epic Games president Michael Capps did an interview recently with GamesIndustry, and he had some interesting things to say about the future of downloadable content, and how it will affect the retail games market. He also discussed the trend toward social gaming, and Epic's plans in that regard. Quoting:
"I'm not sure how big it is here [in Europe], but the secondary market is a huge issue in the United States. Our primary retailer makes the majority of its money off of secondary sales, and so you're starting to see games taking proactive steps toward that by ... if you buy the retail version you get the unlock code. I've talked to some developers who are saying 'If you want to fight the final boss you go online and pay USD 20, but if you bought the retail version you got it for free.' We don't make any money when someone rents it, and we don't make any money when someone buys it used — way more than twice as many people played Gears than bought it."
That would be like getting people to pay for sex (Score:3, Funny)
Never gonna happen
Re:They're insane. (Score:5, Funny)
This article got me thinking. We should really shut down sites like Ebay and Craigslist. It's unfair that people are able to sell their assets without generating any profit for the manufacturer.
Re:They're insane. (Score:2, Funny)
But then we'd have to go outside.
Re:WTF? Seriously. (Score:3, Funny)
30% off? Lolwut?
Per Gamestop.com:
Fallout 3 (New): 59.99
Fallout 3 (Used): 54.99
Expect to save $5 to $7 (paying 89-92%) on used games these days, and only get 10-30% trade-in (high end only if EVERYONE wants the game, and then expect to pay 95-97%
I don't think "New prices are too high" is really the deciding factor here...
Re:They're insane. (Score:3, Funny)
I think we can safely say that looking at for instance EA, their customer base is composed of sheep, who have no idea how to hurt any of these massive companies. If customers had the intolerance you think they do, EA would have been bankrupt, by 2001 or so.
Re:That would be like getting people to pay for se (Score:5, Funny)
Dear Lifelong Gamer (Score:5, Funny)
We only sold 5.3 million copies [vgchartz.com] of Gears of War. At $60 a piece, that's a mere $300 million, give or take, in gross receipts. Our top executives can barely afford the maintenance costs on their exotic Italian sports cars. Please, think of the execs!
Regards,
Greedy Assholes
Possible Scenario (Score:5, Funny)
Kid "Mom, I need your credit card to pay Blizzard $20 so I can defeat the final level boss Cement Head in Worlds of Warcraft Junior: Adolescence Rage"
Mom "What? You need my credit card for what? A video game?"
Kid "I also need $15 more to buy a magic sword +5 against cement."
Mom "But that's extortion, who does Blizzard think they are to charge money to get to the final level and buy a weapon to help you defeat a boss, and what kind of name is Cement Head anyway?"
Kid "But moooooooom, all the kids in Junior High are playing it, and if I don't beat Cement Head, I'll be laughed at lunch by all of my friends because my family is too poor or too stingy to pay for unlocking those parts of the game."
Mom "Well if they laugh at you dear, then they aren't your friends. I am not paying $35 for you to finish some stupid video game."
Kid "But Mom, G4 'Cheat' gave it five out of five stars, the highest rating they can give it."
Mom "I don't care who gave it five stars, I am not giving you my credit card and that is final!"
OT: Heh (Score:5, Funny)
It's exactly like that (Score:5, Funny)
...except here Epic is fucking you.
Re:They're insane. (Score:4, Funny)
At least, being game developers, the fact that unicorns only associate with virgins isn't an issue.
Re:Killing used/rental (Score:1, Funny)
Ironically, the "Irony 101" class at your high school apparently taught something that wasn't actually irony.