GetDotted Domains

Viewing Thread:
"Greed"

The "General Games Chat" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.

Wed 19/02/03 at 21:02
Regular
Posts: 787
Most games out excluding platinum are above the £30 price tag. Well, why? £39.99 is the most common price I see, and I have even saw Onimusha 2 in Woolies for £50. Why so expensive? The answer is simple - Greed.
I give Greed a capital g because it's a major factor in the pricing of games.
Let's go through the factors concerning production.

1) Raw materials.
Plastic and platinum. Platinum is the most expensive between the two, so obviously it's going to cost more. Lets say it costs £5 for the raw materials.
2)Labour Force.
Obviously those who extract the raw materials are going to get paid, and the few people that work in the game producing companies get paid too. Lets say another £5.
3)Transport Costs.
To and from the companies. Alot of discs, so the cost is balanced out. Another £5
4)Developers.
Obviously they are going to be paid more than everyone else. Lets say £10 shall we?
5)Shops
Finally, the shops that sell the finished product. Most shops get about £5 out of every game that they sell. Some goes to owners, the rest to staff.

This brings the grand total to £30. So why are most games on retail for £39.99 - an extra £9.99 than is needed. The answer is simple -
Developer's Greed.
Thanks for reading.

Feedback would be very much appreciated.
Wed 19/02/03 at 21:02
Regular
"Not a Jew"
Posts: 7,532
Most games out excluding platinum are above the £30 price tag. Well, why? £39.99 is the most common price I see, and I have even saw Onimusha 2 in Woolies for £50. Why so expensive? The answer is simple - Greed.
I give Greed a capital g because it's a major factor in the pricing of games.
Let's go through the factors concerning production.

1) Raw materials.
Plastic and platinum. Platinum is the most expensive between the two, so obviously it's going to cost more. Lets say it costs £5 for the raw materials.
2)Labour Force.
Obviously those who extract the raw materials are going to get paid, and the few people that work in the game producing companies get paid too. Lets say another £5.
3)Transport Costs.
To and from the companies. Alot of discs, so the cost is balanced out. Another £5
4)Developers.
Obviously they are going to be paid more than everyone else. Lets say £10 shall we?
5)Shops
Finally, the shops that sell the finished product. Most shops get about £5 out of every game that they sell. Some goes to owners, the rest to staff.

This brings the grand total to £30. So why are most games on retail for £39.99 - an extra £9.99 than is needed. The answer is simple -
Developer's Greed.
Thanks for reading.

Feedback would be very much appreciated.
Wed 19/02/03 at 21:06
Regular
"Festivus!"
Posts: 6,228
Everyone needs to make money? Would you like to be paid £10,000 a year or £20,000. Developers are people too you know, and they want money just like everyone else.
Wed 19/02/03 at 21:08
Regular
"Not a Jew"
Posts: 7,532
Yes but they are greedy people. Anyway, they'll be selling tens of thousands of games, with £10 each. You do the math.
Wed 19/02/03 at 21:18
Regular
Posts: 16
I've got to say that I agree!
I'm only an ikkle gurl! (15 years actually!) and I don't get paid ever so much from the parents! And I don't feel much like working, so...well! Boo hoo hoo! Do I have to make do with somebody elses garbage, from the Game Pre-owned bin? I wanna buy Kingdom Hearts! I wanna Buy FF10 - but no! I've other things 2 buy also, the prices should be lowered! Hey! I know let's all go to Japan, at least things are cheaper there!
Wed 19/02/03 at 21:21
Regular
"Just Bog Standard.."
Posts: 4,589
PROFIT.
Wed 19/02/03 at 21:22
Regular
Posts: 4,142
The developers hardly make any money from the sales, the retailers are the ones that are cashing in.
Wed 19/02/03 at 21:27
Regular
"Not a Jew"
Posts: 7,532
Profit eh? Well, say 10,000 games are sold. Times 10,000 by £10 = £100,000. Is that not enough profit? Add on the extra £9.99 and you get approx. £200,000. It's Greed I say, Greed.
Wed 19/02/03 at 21:33
Regular
"Just Bog Standard.."
Posts: 4,589
But with that profit, and the little extra they get, they can develop even more games which then result in more profit, for yet more games. Its just to keep them in business.

Plus I bet there are a lot of expenses we dont know about. Also, VAT plays a major factor too.
Wed 19/02/03 at 21:43
Regular
"Max Power"
Posts: 2,196
with Vice city being really good and selling way over 1,000,000 copies charging £40 for each copy thats £40,000,000 thats more than alot if you had that much you wouldn't need any more money so why wont rockstar sell the next GTA at £20 they would still get about £20,000,000 and with it cheaper they will sell more. games are well over priced
Thu 20/02/03 at 19:43
Regular
"Just Bog Standard.."
Posts: 4,589
Well, say for example you had something you knew would sell for £100 with no problem at all, would you accept £50 for it?

Games are expensive, I admit that, and I would like to see them becoming cheaper, but we dont know the half of what developers must go through to make games, and the expenses they may occur in the proccess.
Also, the demand for games is very high, as you will know, the games industry is becoming one of the most poular. So the developers are willing to supply the goods, but they will have done their research into pricing, and will have given games their prices according to the results. So they basically find an equilibruium in the market which allows them to make as much profit as possible whilst keeping supply relevant to demand.

Do you buy games for £40? If you do, then you shouldn't really be complaining, because it obviously doesn't bother you that much.

Freeola & GetDotted are rated 5 Stars

Check out some of our customer reviews below:

Very pleased
Very pleased with the help given by your staff. They explained technical details in an easy way and were patient when providing information to a non expert like me.
Wonderful...
... and so easy-to-use even for a technophobe like me. I had my website up in a couple of hours. Thank you.
Vivien

View More Reviews

Need some help? Give us a call on 01376 55 60 60

Go to Support Centre
Feedback Close Feedback

It appears you are using an old browser, as such, some parts of the Freeola and Getdotted site will not work as intended. Using the latest version of your browser, or another browser such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Opera will provide a better, safer browsing experience for you.