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"Are games too expensive?"

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Tue 22/05/01 at 12:48
Regular
Posts: 787
Tony will probably lynch me for this but, here goes:

Are games too expensive? I believe they are. The games industry is bigger than film now, and games cost far less to produce than films, but still, we spend £40 on a game we get to keep forever, but you only need to spend £5 on a film you see once. Even if you buy a film, it’s only about £12. I am not blaming the retailers for this situation, as they have to make a profit on what they buy. I blame the publishers and the Government. In my eyes, a CD costs 50p to make. You pay developers £10,000 a month, and there’s a team of 20 for 7 months. That’s $1,400,000. You sell, say, 1 million copies of a game, at say, £30. That’s £30,000,000. WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO???

I think Tony should clear this up for me, or am I right? Are we paying way over the odds for games?

Discuss:
Wed 23/05/01 at 16:33
"High polygon count"
Posts: 15,624
I just posted this in the PS2 forum...

-----

I've just gone through SR's list of PS2 games, and clicked on 'Buy' for every title that I know for sure that I want.

Eleven games, and it only including the ones I can remember at this time, and also only the ones SR have listed; so for example 'Run Like Hell' isn't included, and probably some others.

Even at SR prices, that totals over £400 !!!

And it also (obviously) doesn't include the twelve that I've already bought since getting my PS2 last November.

Expensive hobby, isn't it? It's be cheaper to have a drug habit!
Wed 23/05/01 at 13:17
Regular
"everyone says it"
Posts: 14,738
In my opinion the prices of games aren't high, because they always have been this price, ok so you can compare them to the prices abroad but then again compare any electronical good abroad to its price take over here, the price is noramally fifty percent or more, the british are used to this, its not because we are thick, but because electronical goods are not renouned for being produced and manufactured in good old England, and then again why should we be paying more than the Americans?

On a different note the effort that goes into making games nowadays is extensive, people are working over-time on the first night of development just so we can get the games 6 months later, testers are working one game for months on end, leading to them being sick of it, even if it is a great title, with this is mind maybe we aren'y just paying for the game, but for the jobs of the people who gave us the game...

...every title that is released nowadays is either going to do extremely well, or going to become a disaster not just for the game, but for the people behind it, these companies keep up the price so they can invest more into the later games on the later consoles, most companies go into dept even after a huge success with a title (cough WWTBAM/EIDOS cough).

Maybe before you complain about the prices of games next time you should take into consideration that nobody is making you buy 'Simpsons Wrestling' and that for the time and effort that goes into games such as 'Perfect Dark' you are actually paying for something that is well worth the money...

..stop complaing, start thinking about what you are buying.

Thanks
er-no
Tue 22/05/01 at 20:25
Regular
"---SOULJACKER---"
Posts: 5,448
Hmmm.... I have always said that one of the best ways to reduce piracy is to reduce the cost of games. Although there are people that will always copy games, most people I know would happily pay £10 for any quality game...

The problems with this are huge though. To begin, less money will go to retailers (game developers already get a tiny proportion of profits, so they won't get any less money!). If retailers get less then they will close stores and enter other businesses, thus reducing the games market... after all, these people push games sales.

Sonic
Tue 22/05/01 at 19:58
Regular
"smile, it's free"
Posts: 6,460
I seem to have written 'gem' instead of 'game'.

Damn.
Tue 22/05/01 at 19:58
Regular
"smile, it's free"
Posts: 6,460
I posted some info on what percentages of the cost of a gem went to the distributers, producers, retailers, etc a few months ago. I can't remember how exactly it split, but the reatiler gets about 20-30% of the cost of a game at full price.

You know, if we had a search facility for these forums, I could find the post and get the rest of the details....

*cough*
Tue 22/05/01 at 19:35
Posts: 0
khazar wrote:
>If you want cheap games I suggest you buy a
> megadrive. £1 or £2 are the usual price.

I can remember the time when even megadrive games used o cost 30-40 squid! Yes they are over-priced, they have been,m and I assume they always will be as long as people like us keep buying them at those prices. I remember working out how much I spent on my playstation once, it came to over £1000, I doubt if I'd get even half of that now for all the things I got!
Tue 22/05/01 at 19:27
Regular
"Jim Jam Jim"
Posts: 5,626
Alot of games these days, well Shenmue and the Final Fantasy games cost millions to make. I think Shenmue cost £70 million. I bought it for £33.99 from SR. At this price over 2 million copies need to be sold. I think that the pices in SR are good. e.g £30-£35 but the £45 games are bit over priced.
Tue 22/05/01 at 19:00
Posts: 0
Most definatley. And some games aren't even worth the money. I have to say that N64 have to lower they're prices, i think PC prices are just right. Gameboy games are even over £20 now! Lower the prices!!
Tue 22/05/01 at 19:00
Posts: 0
I wouldn't call 37.99 cheap but it is not bad for the latest games to be released!

You have to make sure it is a good game before you spend that amount of money, whereas if it only cost a tenner you don't really care how good the game is.
Tue 22/05/01 at 18:52
Regular
"CYA GUYS"
Posts: 1,218
The ps2 games are very cheap.

£37:99 for mgs2 and the same for any other good ps2 game.(from Sr that is)
They are at a good price and even if some people do think sony are ripping us off, they won't do nowt.

If you want cheap games I suggest you buy a megadrive. £1 or £2 are the usual price.

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