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That's right. Apparently, during the period 1991 to 1998, Nintendo kept prices artifically high, and have now been fined £92.1m. That's the Eternal Darkness marketing budget gone. See the full story at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/ business/2375967.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/ business/2375967.stm
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Mendax Bartender wrote:
> Price fixing indeed. Nintendo have always charged a little more, but
> then, their products have always been of greater quality.
*laughs*
Not for me. PSX and PS2 have always been better, and cheaper.
> Price fixing indeed. Nintendo have always charged a little more, but
> then, their products have always been of greater quality.
*laughs*
Not for me. PSX and PS2 have always been better, and cheaper.
Slaveunit wrote:
> Stop whining about £60 and think of the germans paying
> £180.
Yeah, good isn't it?
:-)
> Stop whining about £60 and think of the germans paying
> £180.
Yeah, good isn't it?
:-)
Yeh, sorry, I wasn`t defending Nintendo, I was just saying that each game has a lot of costs, other than just creating a CD. Nintendo by the sound of things took that too far, and paid the penalty.
I understand that Nintendo have to make money. I understand that the cost of the game has to share the cost of that games development (wages, overheads, hardware & software tools). You can try and hide the reasons for the higher prices by saying things like, "they were all top quality games - that's why they cost more".
But at the end of the day, Nintendo went to far. They did it because they could and it was as simple as that. Now that it has been on the main News, it could do a lot of damage to Nintendo - and Christmas is not that far away - could have an effect on Christmas sales.
But at the end of the day, Nintendo went to far. They did it because they could and it was as simple as that. Now that it has been on the main News, it could do a lot of damage to Nintendo - and Christmas is not that far away - could have an effect on Christmas sales.
They still ripped off the consumer however you say it.
Totoro wrote:
> It was £250-£300??? when it launched, yet they could
> reduce the price so quickly, meaning that the price was fixed higher
> than it should have been in the first place.
They reduced the price... but don`t make a profit from it. I remember a story saying this about PS2's as well. They sell at a loss, and then the company gains money back from the game licences. Reducing the cost of a console isn`t down to whether they can or not, but because they have to in order to stay competitive.
> It was £250-£300??? when it launched, yet they could
> reduce the price so quickly, meaning that the price was fixed higher
> than it should have been in the first place.
They reduced the price... but don`t make a profit from it. I remember a story saying this about PS2's as well. They sell at a loss, and then the company gains money back from the game licences. Reducing the cost of a console isn`t down to whether they can or not, but because they have to in order to stay competitive.
All games companies do it internationally, charging as more than the Americans.
The only difference here is that Nintendo overstepped the line doing it within the EU where it's illeagal.
MS have created a storm for trying to do the same thing in Australia and have threatened to pull the Xbox out of there if the Aussie government don't make the "multiregion" chips illeagal.
The only difference here is that Nintendo overstepped the line doing it within the EU where it's illeagal.
MS have created a storm for trying to do the same thing in Australia and have threatened to pull the Xbox out of there if the Aussie government don't make the "multiregion" chips illeagal.
Will_MÅÐmÃñ wrote:
> did you know? that it cost £60 to make the first copy of games
> like VC and the rest cost £3 JUST £3 why dont they put
> people out there misery and charge £20 or even £15 it only
> arvragely cost £4 for each copy that is skank why cant they be
> fair o be fair.
Could it possibly be because the people who make the game spend months or even years of their life working on a single game project, each requiring enough money to live on. On top of that, they`ll need an office to work in, and all the tools necessary to make a game. They need to be trained up and part of the team. There are many other considerations that need to be taken into account, including all the designs for advertising etc... which all bring the cost of production up.
To simply cover those costs would probably mean a fairly high price, but of course there needs to be profit as well for the retailers, and for the expansion of games companies (we want them bigger and better obvsiouly).
I admit this probably doesn`t quite bring the cost up to £40, but it certainly takes it a lot closer than simply the cost of producing a CD.
Also, why is it that PS2 games are always said to cost £44.99 when ever anybody is having a go at prices. I have never bought a PS2 game for more than £40. If you go into a decent shop today, you`ll see most of the games £39.99 or less, and if you go for mail order its even better - SR's prices are down nearer £30 than £40.
> did you know? that it cost £60 to make the first copy of games
> like VC and the rest cost £3 JUST £3 why dont they put
> people out there misery and charge £20 or even £15 it only
> arvragely cost £4 for each copy that is skank why cant they be
> fair o be fair.
Could it possibly be because the people who make the game spend months or even years of their life working on a single game project, each requiring enough money to live on. On top of that, they`ll need an office to work in, and all the tools necessary to make a game. They need to be trained up and part of the team. There are many other considerations that need to be taken into account, including all the designs for advertising etc... which all bring the cost of production up.
To simply cover those costs would probably mean a fairly high price, but of course there needs to be profit as well for the retailers, and for the expansion of games companies (we want them bigger and better obvsiouly).
I admit this probably doesn`t quite bring the cost up to £40, but it certainly takes it a lot closer than simply the cost of producing a CD.
Also, why is it that PS2 games are always said to cost £44.99 when ever anybody is having a go at prices. I have never bought a PS2 game for more than £40. If you go into a decent shop today, you`ll see most of the games £39.99 or less, and if you go for mail order its even better - SR's prices are down nearer £30 than £40.
It's not even really a problem exclusive to Nintendo, look at the Xbox for example.
It was £250-£300??? when it launched, yet they could reduce the price so quickly, meaning that the price was fixed higher than it should have been in the first place.
It was £250-£300??? when it launched, yet they could reduce the price so quickly, meaning that the price was fixed higher than it should have been in the first place.
i cant belevie it... gutted.
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