And let there be $59.99 games

bdoughty · Post by **bdoughty** » Tue May 17, 2005 3:28 pm

http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/groups/E3_2005/xbox360.asp

The ship date and retail price have not been confirmed and therefore are subject to change. If the retail price is decreased you will receive the lower price.

Atxj · Post by **Atxj** » Tue May 17, 2005 3:36 pm

Lovely...

Airdog · Post by **Airdog** » Tue May 17, 2005 3:39 pm

It seems to be a wise move from EB's perspective to price games higher than lower in order to not have to deal with people saying, "Well, you guys said the game was going to be $50 and it's really $60, I want a price adjustment."

Seems more like a worse case scenario decision to me. But, who really knows at this point?

bdoughty · Post by **bdoughty** » Tue May 17, 2005 3:41 pm

Well there is the Madden 2006 title that could be the opposite.

At $59.99 for the Xbox 360 version and $49.99 for the Xbox/PS2 version I would preorder ASAP at that price. That way when EA decides to charge you $79.95 for it you can at least get a free gift certificate if you b*tch loud enough.

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Tue May 17, 2005 3:52 pm

As a Madden fan, I would not pay $80 for a game ever. I would have a hard time swallowing the $60 tag, this is the first news to make me reconsider purchasing a next gen system.

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Tue May 17, 2005 3:56 pm

Honestly, people, it's ten freaking dollars. Games have been more or less 49.99 for years now, it's not really a surprise, especially considering how complicated they are to make.

Another ten dollars for Madden, given how much I tend to play it, is no big deal. No $60 for a buggy College Hoops is a different story, but I probably wouldn't pay $50 for it either.

bdoughty · Post by **bdoughty** » Tue May 17, 2005 3:59 pm

Honestly, people, it's ten freaking dollars. Games have been more or less 49.99 for years now, it's not really a surprise, especially considering how complicated they are to make.

Ten Freaking dollars for some people means alot, it does add up. Not everyone works off the same monetary budget. I am happy for you that this is not a problem but I forsee it being a problem for some. I think this will simply keep rental companies growing and more people will be hitting the Used game bins at GS & EB.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Tue May 17, 2005 4:18 pm

Three weeks after release, will it still be the same price?

If gamers exercise a bit of will power, they can break this gambit by publishers. Of course many of us here must have the game as soon as they hit and they count on that.

But to stoke demand after the initial rush, they will lower prices. Or if they see that not enough people are biting on the new higher prices, they will blink. Or they will b*tch that the consoles need to come down in price.

If these are indeed the official prices (the preorder mechanism over the web sure lets them use trial ballons to gauge demand at various price points), people will be quick to blame the exclusive licensing deal.

But several publishers will try to see if people will pay a premium.

Hopefully, the Fry's of this world continue to use loss-leader sales.

jLp vAkEr0 · Post by **jLp vAkEr0** » Tue May 17, 2005 4:18 pm

Mmmm so how long 'till I can mod the hell out of this puppy??

jLp vAkEr0 · Post by **jLp vAkEr0** » Tue May 17, 2005 4:21 pm

BTW, it say Halo 3 will launch at 11/1/05.

Wasn't it going to be launched pararell to the PS3?

bdoughty · Post by **bdoughty** » Tue May 17, 2005 4:31 pm

jLp vAkEr0 wrote:BTW, it say Halo 3 will launch at 11/1/05.

Wasn't it going to be launched pararell to the PS3?

They just stuck a tenative date for all of them. Please leave the modding/piracy crap to other forums. At least out of respect for the users at DSP who work for these companies.

Hopefully, the Fry's of this world continue to use loss-leader sales.

And they will continue to get small amounts of each game from the publishers. Ever wonder why when you order something new from outpost.com it takes forever to get the game? Sure it is great for people who live in cities with Fry's but they are few and far between.

Best Buy tried this years ago and it came back to haunt them. Now they ask the publisher in advance before selling new release items at or below cost.

James_E · Post by **James_E** » Tue May 17, 2005 4:31 pm

I don't understand why people are surprised game prices go up. s*** is harder to make, takes more and possibly better educated people to make, all of whom need to be paid and get raises according to cost of living at a minimum.

Big mac costs more than a cheeseburger... cause there is more to it.

We don't have to like it, but geesh isn't it expected?

Now I bet a bunch of people will somehow use this as justification to start, or increase their level of, software piracy.

bdoughty · Post by **bdoughty** » Tue May 17, 2005 4:37 pm

James_E wrote:I don't understand why people are surprised game prices go up. s*** is harder to make, takes more and possibly better educated people to make, all of whom need to be paid and get raises according to cost of living at a minimum.

Big mac costs more than a cheeseburger... cause there is more to it.

We don't have to like it, but geesh isn't it expected?

Now I bet a bunch of people will somehow use this as justification to start, or increase their level of, software piracy.

Well we have already seen that above and on other threads related to price increases. I hope this is something that Jared does not want on his forum. I still stand by the "if you can't afford it then wait philosophy". Or rent it, etc, etc.

But

Raising prices is not ALWAYS expected. To use you Big Mac theory how do you explain the Whopper being 99 cents for the last year +? They used to be $2.00 w/o cheese and were in that price range back in the 90's and possible the 80's. Not everything goes up.

Fshguy · Post by **Fshguy** » Tue May 17, 2005 4:40 pm

James_E wrote: Now I bet a bunch of people will somehow use this as justification to start, or increase their level of, software piracy.

Oh no, don't start that...

It'll be interesting to see if those prices go down, I'm sure they'd like to find a new price point for games. You know how like we're paying over $2 for gas now.

I don't see myself even considering a preorder for a game 6 months before it could even potentially come out.

matthewk · Post by **matthewk** » Tue May 17, 2005 4:40 pm

Brando70 wrote:Honestly, people, it's ten freaking dollars. Games have been more or less 49.99 for years now, it's not really a surprise, especially considering how complicated they are to make.

Another ten dollars for Madden, given how much I tend to play it, is no big deal. No $60 for a buggy College Hoops is a different story, but I probably wouldn't pay $50 for it either.

Think of it as a 20% increase and see how good you feel about it. Still not a big deal? Ok, now imagine every industry raising prices up 20%, now where are you?

I don't care if games have been $50 for a while now. personally, I think $50 is too much for annual updates of Madden. I am so glad I have managed to find the willpower to resist getting most games the day they come out. The only game I've paid $50 for so far in 2005 has been Forza.

Please don't bring up the argument that they need to cost that mcuh in order to recoup the development costs. For the past 4 years games like Madden have been "updates". They have more than made up for any initial development by charging $50 every year for a game that costs a fraction of that to produce. Smaller companies will have a harder time due to selling fewer games, but then again it seems like the smaller titles are actually cheaper than $50, or get discounted real quick.

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Tue May 17, 2005 4:42 pm

bdoughty wrote:
Honestly, people, it's ten freaking dollars. Games have been more or less 49.99 for years now, it's not really a surprise, especially considering how complicated they are to make.
Ten Freaking dollars for some people means alot, it does add up. Not every works off the same monetary budget. I am happy for you that this is not a problem but I forsee it being a problem for some. I think this will simply keep rental companies growing and more people will be hitting the Used game bins at GS & EB.

I am not happy about a price increase, don't get me wrong. But in reality, instead of buying six games for $300, you can buy five. That doesn't seem like a big deal. I'm not rolling in dough, so I will just get a little more discriminating about what games I buy.

In a lot of ways, I think it was worse to charge $50 for PS1 games a few years ago than to charge $60 for new games in the coming generation.

bdoughty · Post by **bdoughty** » Tue May 17, 2005 4:46 pm

Madden is kind of the exception to the rule. With Madden 2006 you are not just paying for development costs, next generation costs, but you are going to help pay for the NFL exclusuve Deal they signed. Which I would think most people here were not in favor of to begin with.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Tue May 17, 2005 4:49 pm

Brando70 wrote:I am not happy about a price increase, don't get me wrong. But in reality, instead of buying six games for $300, you can buy five. That doesn't seem like a big deal. I'm not rolling in dough, so I will just get a little more discriminating about what games I buy.

In a lot of ways, I think it was worse to charge $50 for PS1 games a few years ago than to charge $60 for new games in the coming generation.

I agree. Plus, hopefully the resale values on Ebay go up as well so the "net loss" on a purchase/resale will be close to the same amount. If the resale values *don't* go up then it will be cheaper to just buy them off Ebay in the first place. I really don't see a big hit to my bottom line at all.

jLp vAkEr0 · Post by **jLp vAkEr0** » Tue May 17, 2005 4:50 pm

bdoughty wrote:Please leave the modding/piracy crap to other forums. At least out of respect for the users at DSP who work for these companies.

Yeah, beacuse people who work on those companies never use pirated software/music etc etc. And no one on DSP either...

Don't lecture me BD, I'm not your kid.

BTW, if you keep it up, Jared may actually let you be a official moderator. I'm sure that will make your day.

matthewk · Post by **matthewk** » Tue May 17, 2005 4:51 pm

James_E wrote:I don't understand why people are surprised game prices go up. s*** is harder to make, takes more and possibly better educated people to make, all of whom need to be paid and get raises according to cost of living at a minimum.

The cost of living is approx. 3% per year. This is a 20% increase over the next year.

Ok, so games are more complex than before. They should also have better tools in order to streamline development, bringing the cost back down. Of course a lot of companies also seem to be saving a ton of money on QA lately.

The video game industry is also at a high point in terms of revenue. More sales per game brings overall cost down.

The bottom line is, I really don't care what the developers make or how hard it is to make the games. I am NOT paying $60 for a freaking video game, even though it is something I can afford. They are just not worth that much to me. I COULD do it, but I WON'T do it.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Tue May 17, 2005 4:56 pm

matthewk wrote:More sales per game brings overall cost down.

This isn't true as more sales could do nothing but increase overall costs, but hopefully more sales would bring the average cost down.

bdoughty · Post by **bdoughty** » Tue May 17, 2005 4:57 pm

jLp vAkEr0 wrote:
bdoughty wrote:Please leave the modding/piracy crap to other forums. At least out of respect for the users at DSP who work for these companies.
Yeah, beacuse people who work on those companies never use pirated software/music etc etc. And no one on DSP either...

Don't lecture me BD, I'm not your kid.

BTW, if you keep it up, Jared may actually let you be a official moderator. I'm sure that will make your day.

No and I am glad for that. I would raise by child better and hope they would never steal and brag about doing so in the internet. This is a video game forum, I was only concerned about video game piracy. I have said my peace on MP3 and downloading copyrighted music but never once said it was something that should not be discussed at DSP.

I have absolutely no desire to ever moderate a forum. I have said as much to Jared and PK when I first came over here from OS. I only wanted to contribute by posting news, etc.

Sorry but you have to put those days of me moderating anything behind you.

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Tue May 17, 2005 5:03 pm

matthewk wrote:
James_E wrote:I don't understand why people are surprised game prices go up. s*** is harder to make, takes more and possibly better educated people to make, all of whom need to be paid and get raises according to cost of living at a minimum.
The cost of living is approx. 3% per year. This is a 20% increase over the next year.

Ok, so games are more complex than before. They should also have better tools in order to streamline development, bringing the cost back down. Of course a lot of companies also seem to be saving a ton of money on QA lately.

The video game industry is also at a high point in terms of revenue. More sales per game brings overall cost down.

The bottom line is, I really don't care what the developers make or how hard it is to make the games. I am NOT paying $60 for a freaking video game, even though it is something I can afford. They are just not worth that much to me. I COULD do it, but I WON'T do it.

Matt, that's your choice. Everybody has to do their own cost/benefit analysis when these things happen. For me, I always look at it from a per hour enjoyment ratio. I get a lot of entertainment hours per dollar spent from video gaming, probably only bested by CDs in that regard. Another $10 for Madden doesn't really change that very much.

jLp vAkEr0 · Post by **jLp vAkEr0** » Tue May 17, 2005 5:09 pm

bdoughty wrote:
I have absolutely no desire to ever moderate a forum. I have said as much to Jared and PK when I first came over here from OS. I only wanted to contribute by posting news, etc.

Perfect. You do a great job of that, and I appreciate it.

Now get of my back, it's not like I post threads about modding and that kind of s*** here. I know this ain't the place for that.

Thank you.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue May 17, 2005 5:17 pm

No big deal to me, honestly.

First, I've cut WAY back on games I purchase. I no longer buy the new releases in genres I MAY like. I'm pretty much down to buying sim racing, a sim military shooter, Madden, ESPN NHL and Winning Eleven. So I may buy six new games per year now, tops.

Plus I'll just buy on eBay or wait a couple of weeks for brick-and-mortar sales for all but the most anticipated games, buying the title for be able to buy the game at $40-45.

The big winners with this new pricing will be eBay, game rental chains and stores and services like Gamefly. If Gamefly was smart, it would use a "Pissed about $60 new games? Rent all of them you want from us for $22 per month" ad campaign.

Take care,
PK