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A discussion on the price increase in the industry
- Thread starter jman1954goat
- Start date
Usually what I do in a lot of cases is whenever I've cleared a game or find that a lot of my titles are no longer in use, I bring them to a trade-in shop for money. Now granted, things are different here in Japan on how games are handled, but I know that even thrift shops or pawn shops take games for money in a lot of places around the world.
So instead of hoarding things you don't really need, sell them and make your money back somehow. Ebay, Yahoo auction, etc.
I do get the argument though and to be fair with the OP, a lot of countries simply don't have the luxury to sell games, let alone purchase them. It is unfortunate to say the least. But as most others have stated already, it's best to wait for a price drop and avoid trying to buy day one.
So instead of hoarding things you don't really need, sell them and make your money back somehow. Ebay, Yahoo auction, etc.
I do get the argument though and to be fair with the OP, a lot of countries simply don't have the luxury to sell games, let alone purchase them. It is unfortunate to say the least. But as most others have stated already, it's best to wait for a price drop and avoid trying to buy day one.
Good thing about gaming is that you don't have to buy games at launch. You can wait for the price you are actually willing to pay. Sony's games thankfully drop down in price after a while and can be picked on sale. Even when games were $60 I rarely bought them at launch. Even on PC where games are even cheaper than on consoles I rarely buy at launch. Look for the price you are willing to pay and stick with it. All this requires is a little patience, and thankfully there's no unwritten rule that states that everyone has to buy games as soon as they launch.
Imagine complaining about $70 games in 2021 when in 1994 you had to pay $144 (adjusted for inflation) for measly 16-bit 2D games like Chrono Trigger.
Cry me a river.
Cry me a river.
As these corporations invest more money, they also expect more return. It is how it is.
If it's not profitable, they will find other business models to squeeze more money out of their customers. I'd rather support single player games that are 10€ more expansive than GaaS laden with micro transactions.
If it's not profitable, they will find other business models to squeeze more money out of their customers. I'd rather support single player games that are 10€ more expansive than GaaS laden with micro transactions.
OP
OP
I was not alive in 1994.
I am currently living in the year 2021 so yes I will discussion things as they affect 2021
This is straight up bullshit. The vast majority of people in this thread are advocating for waiting on a sale, which *Breaking News* is bad for these billion dollar companies.
You don't need to buy these games at full price on day one. Thinking that you do is defending the billion dollar companies.
This. It's an argument that should take 5 seconds for anyone to figure out why it's ridiculous. That $400 is for a single purchase that's expected to last 5+ years. That 5-year 'investment' is also a fraction of one months worth of rent for many, or one dentist visit. You can definitely afford a single $400 purchase that you'll keep for years and balk at $70 game prices, it's really not a 'gotcha' at all.
This is besides the arguments that it's necessary or in it of itself is a bad value (I think the PS+ Collection makes it quite good, even if you already had a PS4 as the enhancements bring some of those old games a new life). It's just the "If you can afford this thing than they you can afford these things" argument that ignores timescales and ongoing costs that help you actually use the $400 purchase is incredibly weak, for the same reasons that old Fox news graphic of "Poor people have a computer!!!" is stupid - it's a fraction of your monthly expenses and at least for the console itself, it's a one-time purchase that you'll keep for half a decade or more.
If anything, the price you pay for games today relative to their quality has never been so low.
There will always be people excluded regardless of the price point for any product, so it's not a question of what price is fair - but at what point you stop worrying about the price because it doesn't affect you. Economic disparity is a reality that we don't seem to have a great answer for. It's a healthy thing to talk about because it shapes the world we live in, but if you're going to start from a position of "I can afford $60 so it's really the $70 price point that's the problem" then you're not demonstrating a whole lot of awareness. You're just saying that so long as you get yours, you don't care about how it affects others.
No, I don't have a solution. It's a profoundly fundamental subject grounded in economic theory that I haven't studied enough to understand beyond knowing that there aren't easy answers.
No, I don't have a solution. It's a profoundly fundamental subject grounded in economic theory that I haven't studied enough to understand beyond knowing that there aren't easy answers.
I have to make a stand somewhere. I refuse to purchase games at $69. Whenever I see these new games come out at that price, I'm still in awe. Genuine awe.
I'm sure it's been said 100 times already, but the best advice I can give you is to wait for a price drop. By that time the game will already have been patched multiple times, new features probably added, etc. All at a cheaper price.
I can't keep up with my backlog anyway, so I have no problem waiting for games to hit $20 and under, but for the ones I really, really want to support, I will only buy them when they're $59. The ratchet and clank's, the horizon for bidden west's, the god of wars, and so on.
I'm sure it's been said 100 times already, but the best advice I can give you is to wait for a price drop. By that time the game will already have been patched multiple times, new features probably added, etc. All at a cheaper price.
I can't keep up with my backlog anyway, so I have no problem waiting for games to hit $20 and under, but for the ones I really, really want to support, I will only buy them when they're $59. The ratchet and clank's, the horizon for bidden west's, the god of wars, and so on.
A lot of people in this thread are just horrible, it seems. Don't even understand there is no single concept for poor and that it's a spectrum where some are more or less well off than others. Very "true poors" all up in here which is a divide and conquer tactic of the oppressors who maintain the wealth to keep everyone down.
OP
OP
I don't pay 80€ for games. I just end up waiting for the price to drop or I get them used. I'd prefer if I could just afford everything on day 1 but playing a game after the hype died down has plenty of advantages.
also people saying to buy it used or borrowing it from a friend, both which companies fucking hate
Whether people can afford it or not is basically irrelevant anyway. If a publisher was selling games for $100 million, which had exactly 1 buyer, I mean it would still be fine even though no one could afford it, as long as the one buyer and the publisher were fine with the arrangement and there was no fraud or anything.
It's a massively larger market overall than 1994, and in 1994 you could actually rent games from Blockbuster.
Cry me a river.
Famous last words for any industry.
People will stop buying, then we shall see who is crying a river...
Guess we're gonna get one of these threads every time Sony releases a PS5 exclusive, that is until other publishers start releasing next gen only games I guess.
And today you can buy used games or find good deals on physical releases and most importantly digital store sales and discounts makes it much much easier to have access to games today.
And today you can buy used games or find good deals on physical releases and most importantly digital store sales and discounts makes it much much easier to have access to games today.
I mean this entire thread has people explaining how you can make a console "properly work," without buying premium one-off $70 releases.
The same reason why a lot of people can't adequately save nowadays: Because you gotta have money to save it.
Fear of Missing Out
Or basically the phrase primarily used to pin the effects of capitalism on the lower classes instead of the capitalists themselves.
I wonder if game prices would have had to be raised at all if CEO's and executives weren't paid 300-800 times the average developer's salary.
and it's easier than ever to buy and sell games nowadays. you don't even need to leave your house to find any discounts or deals.
Yeah I can't justify paying $110AU for a new release game at all anymore. I'm not saying people shouldn't but everyone is in a different situation. That's why gamepass is so appealing to me, I get all those games for a monthly fee and then I buy the 3rd party games I want when they are a reasonable price.
Fear Of Missing Out
It's a pretty basic idea, sounds like you got it. These days it's usually referring to the social media/forum/discord zeitgeist that makes us think we have to get the latest thing as soon as it's released. Hype is out of control and it makes people think they have to buy the thing on day one.
You do not have to "keep up" with new releases. People are addicted to hype, addicted to the belief that buying everything day one means they're in some kind of insider's club and it's all meaningless. Wait for a sale, pick up games that are cheap that came out last year, buy bundles, use gamefly. You have all sorts of ways to play stuff that means you aren't paying max price. If you're international I'm sure they have other methods for getting cheaper games over time as well.
Okay, I thought it was just me wondering who is doing that since it felt like the people that poster was talking about were advocating on not giving them money which is a weird way to say they're defending them.
If you lowered salaries they'd still raise prices but probably theyd just pay out more dividends. You shoot for revenue growth regardless of what your execs make if you are a for profit company. Capping exec salaries would not change pricing incentives in any way, I mean how could it?
It may be a mental thing, but even though it's only $10 more than we've been paying, $70 w tax feels much closer to $100.
Im older and FOMO isnt much of a factor nowadays. Id love to play the new Ratchet and Clank, played them since the original, but money is tight, and with so many games that keep getting supported like R6Siege and Apex Legends, budget games like Chivalry 2, and the wonderful Gamepass, I just cant justify $70+.
Ill get it one day, looks amazing, and wish I was playing it with the other Day 1 folks here, but no biggie, Ill get to it down the road when it becomes a Playstation Hit.
Im older and FOMO isnt much of a factor nowadays. Id love to play the new Ratchet and Clank, played them since the original, but money is tight, and with so many games that keep getting supported like R6Siege and Apex Legends, budget games like Chivalry 2, and the wonderful Gamepass, I just cant justify $70+.
Ill get it one day, looks amazing, and wish I was playing it with the other Day 1 folks here, but no biggie, Ill get to it down the road when it becomes a Playstation Hit.
How the industry has convinced folks they need to be buying tons of new releases, full price, on day one in order to feel like they're participating in the hobby blows my mind. I get that it sucks if you can't buy as many as you want and I'm not defending it but I think it's toxic to link participation with "spending lots of money on the newest games". There's tons of options out there that are cheaper, I got like 3 highly praised games for 40 bucks at the PSN Indie sale..
I'm sorry if this has been asked already, but are there any actual members of the game industry in here who makes games? I would love to hear your opinions about the price increase and it's relation to game development costs and wages.
User Banned: (5 days) Hostility towards other members
Wait for discounts. Only stupid unintelligent people buy games at full price.
Fear of missing out
In games, it's the feeling that you NEED to be there day 1 to discuss the game with everyone else
They most certainly won't. Have you seen the sale numbers of PS5 games? The mass is more than willing to pay that kind of price for top-of-the-line entertainment.
I also got pissed when seeing the price increase but I don't go into threads of games I don't care or plan to buy day 1 saying stuff like "this game shouldn't be 80€".
That this unquestionable trolling as far as I'm concerned. We saw a shit ton of that in Returnal threads which served no purpose besides derailing.
If people don't think a game is worth 80€ or aren't confortable in giving that much money for one then just wait for a price drop, that's what I did for 90% or more of the games I bought "last" gen.
And Sony is actually one of the best publishers at that because you usually can get their games new for like half the price a year after they release. You could get TLOU2 and Ghost of Tsushima for 30€ and 40€ respectively in April for example (PS Store sale). It'll probably take a bit longer at the start of the gen when there's less competition but I assume this will be the case soon enough.
That this unquestionable trolling as far as I'm concerned. We saw a shit ton of that in Returnal threads which served no purpose besides derailing.
If people don't think a game is worth 80€ or aren't confortable in giving that much money for one then just wait for a price drop, that's what I did for 90% or more of the games I bought "last" gen.
And Sony is actually one of the best publishers at that because you usually can get their games new for like half the price a year after they release. You could get TLOU2 and Ghost of Tsushima for 30€ and 40€ respectively in April for example (PS Store sale). It'll probably take a bit longer at the start of the gen when there's less competition but I assume this will be the case soon enough.
I know for me personally, I can't justify spending £70 on new games on PlayStation. Especially having a series x and gamepass, then are just so many games at my finger tips for free.
Does it suck that I still haven't played RE Village, kinda yeah, but its not like I'm short of a ton of other games to play.
Does it suck that I still haven't played RE Village, kinda yeah, but its not like I'm short of a ton of other games to play.
There's nothing wrong with not wanting (or not being able) to pay £70 for a brand new game.
However there's also nothing wrong with a company pricing a purely luxury product at whatever price point they see fit. If it ends up being too expensive then their business will be impacted and they can either chose to lower prices or suffer.
The simple fact is you're not entitled to get a game day 1 for less than the company want to ask, you do however have the option of waiting for a price drop or somebody to sell you a second hand copy.
I didn't have the disposable income to buy pretty much whatever game I wanted on release until my early 20's and I still managed to have fantastic gaming experiences.
However there's also nothing wrong with a company pricing a purely luxury product at whatever price point they see fit. If it ends up being too expensive then their business will be impacted and they can either chose to lower prices or suffer.
The simple fact is you're not entitled to get a game day 1 for less than the company want to ask, you do however have the option of waiting for a price drop or somebody to sell you a second hand copy.
I didn't have the disposable income to buy pretty much whatever game I wanted on release until my early 20's and I still managed to have fantastic gaming experiences.
Convenience is one of the major drivers of technological advancement in a market-based economy. Humans have been paying more for convenience for hundreds of years. As I have gotten older, I value convenience more than ever as it allows me to spend more time on the things that I deem more important. Game Pass and digital sales are terrific for me and I chose to spend my money on those services, understanding what I was gaining at the expense of the loss of a physical copy. None of this is a right, nobody is entitled to any of this and it has nothing to do with more or less power.
Complaints about $70 would be taken more seriously if they didn't deliberately try to make Sony the face of it.
It just comes across as trolling and platform warring thinly veiled behind a legitimate issue.
$70 is an industry trend. NBA 2K was the first game to announce the $70 price tag.
For ways of mitigating the cost, only buy the games you absolutely want on day 1. Not every game has to be a day 1 purchase. I personally want RE8, but I will wait for sale. Ratchet on the other hand, I know I absolutely want and I am willing to pay full price to play at 11PM CST on Thursday.
Try your best to estimate how many games are coming out that you will desperately want, and start setting aside a dollar here or there today. Within a couple of months, you will have the funds if you save smartly.
It just comes across as trolling and platform warring thinly veiled behind a legitimate issue.
$70 is an industry trend. NBA 2K was the first game to announce the $70 price tag.
For ways of mitigating the cost, only buy the games you absolutely want on day 1. Not every game has to be a day 1 purchase. I personally want RE8, but I will wait for sale. Ratchet on the other hand, I know I absolutely want and I am willing to pay full price to play at 11PM CST on Thursday.
Try your best to estimate how many games are coming out that you will desperately want, and start setting aside a dollar here or there today. Within a couple of months, you will have the funds if you save smartly.
I'm very guilty of getting games day 1. I love the fresh new feel of the latest and greatest, I love knowing everything about it before anyone of my friends, I like beating it quickly, I like not having to worry about seeing any spoilers on the internet, I like keeping up with all the new things I want to play so I don't have a backlog, and overall I just want to play new games damn it lol
I'm with you OP, and your weird capitalisation.
Sony can frankly get stuffed at $125AUD for the BASE EDITION of Ratchet on the PS Store. I'll be waiting for first party titles to hit $80AUD; just like they were at launch only a year or two ago. I'm going to be buying dramatically less games unless the market corrects this absurd increase.
Sony can frankly get stuffed at $125AUD for the BASE EDITION of Ratchet on the PS Store. I'll be waiting for first party titles to hit $80AUD; just like they were at launch only a year or two ago. I'm going to be buying dramatically less games unless the market corrects this absurd increase.