PS3 Game Pricing : $99.99?? (WTF)*

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 3:46 pm

Is there any game anyone would pay $100 for? Assuming we're just talking a game, not something like Guitar Hero which requires extra hardware.

I can't think of one. I think the most value I ever got out of a game was Star Wars: KOTOR, which took me about 40 hours to finish and was a great gaming experience. Resident Evil 4 was also in the same boat. I've probably played 60-80 hours of MVP 2005. And Oblivion is pretty impressive and well worth the $60 price. But none of them would be worth $100.

I really don't mind paying $60, but like SFZ said, I'm just more choosey. Since getting a 360 in late January, I've bought 6 games -- 4 games for me on the 360, 1 for my wife on the 360 (Tomb Raider), and 1 PC game (Head Coach). Last year during that time, I probably bought around 10-11 games.

Even $70 would not completely stop me for a game that offered a long gaming experience (30-40 hours) and/or something really immersive or unique. But I think $60 is stretching the value limit for gamers. Pushing past that would be incredibly risky for Sony.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 3:57 pm

A game worth $100? None.

OK, maybe F355 on Xbox Live expanded to include many worldwide circuits and Ferraris from throughout the ages, including F1 cars since 1950. But it MUST have the driving model from the Dreamcast or arcade game by Yu Suzuki, and it MUST have a proper damage model.

I also might pay $100 for an upgrade to Test Drive Le Mans with vintage Le Mans cars from throughout the ages, a vastly improved driving and damage model, a detailed setup model, and the ability for us to play an actual 24-hour race online, saving at any point we wanted and resuming at that point during our next session.

I might pay $100 for those games. That's about it.

Take care,
PK

WillHunting · Post by **WillHunting** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 4:42 pm

pk500 wrote:A game worth $100? None.

OK, maybe F355 on Xbox Live expanded to include many worldwide circuits and Ferraris from throughout the ages, including F1 cars since 1950. But it MUST have the driving model from the Dreamcast or arcade game by Yu Suzuki, and it MUST have a proper damage model.

I also might pay $100 for an upgrade to Test Drive Le Mans with vintage Le Mans cars from throughout the ages, a vastly improved driving and damage model, a detailed setup model, and the ability for us to play an actual 24-hour race online, saving at any point we wanted and resuming at that point during our next session.

I might pay $100 for those games. That's about it.

Take care,
PK

Did you try F355 for PS2? Now that you mention it, I want to play it but I just can't get into it with the analog pad.... I might get the driving wheel or something.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 4:58 pm

Will:

Nope. I already had sold my PS2 for an Xbox when it was released on the PS2. I can't imagine the Dual Shock provides the kind of precision that the DC triggers did. That control is essential for success in F355.

Take care,
PK

sfz_T-car · Post by **sfz_T-car** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 5:07 pm

pk500 wrote:A game worth $100? None.

OK, maybe F355 on Xbox Live expanded to include many worldwide circuits and Ferraris from throughout the ages, including F1 cars since 1950. But it MUST have the driving model from the Dreamcast or arcade game by Yu Suzuki, and it MUST have a proper damage model.

I also might pay $100 for an upgrade to Test Drive Le Mans with vintage Le Mans cars from throughout the ages, a vastly improved driving and damage model, a detailed setup model, and the ability for us to play an actual 24-hour race online, saving at any point we wanted and resuming at that point during our next session.

Take care,
PK

I'd pay $100 for the three-screen arcade cabinet of F355. In fact, I probably already have paid for it in quarters.

There are many games that have brought me $100 in enjoyment. If I was assured of getting this level of fun, I'd pay this much reluctantly. But even with trusted reviews, there's always the risk that the game will leave me "meh". And at a $100 price point, the risk-reward ratio is pushed pretty far in the industry's favor.

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 5:32 pm

I'd pay $100.00 for a version of Madden that didn't suck.

reeche · Post by **reeche** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 5:45 pm

I've never bought a game worth $100 and I love games the same way I love music, books, or movies. Perhaps that's just the cynic in me speaking.

If Sony thinks I'm regularily going to be spending $69.99 on games then they have a surprise coming. But then they already outpriced me with their console alone so I suppose I'm not the consumer they are targeting.

EDIT: Actually a number of years ago I bought a cocktail mame cabinet but that counts as hardware not software.

kevinpars · Post by **kevinpars** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 5:54 pm

I'd pay $100 for an excellent NCAA football game - especially if it had a playoff option.

I would say that Oblivion would have been worth the money. I have played at last check - over 130 hours with 1 character. It has been my game of choice for 3 months. It is the game that has made the 360 a great purchase for me.

vader29 · Post by **vader29** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 6:54 pm

If games reach the 100 dollar plateau then definitely count me out, I've been very frugal with games purchases with the 59.99 price tag of the 360 games and like others have said I too would have taken chances with a few other games but the high price point have kept me away.

Inuyasha · Post by **Inuyasha** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 7:03 pm

The only sports game that possibly could sell at $100 would be madden. But I am sure EA would not be that dumb to price their game for that much unless they knew it would make a killing.

The only other game probably they could get away for $100 would be a GTA. They could justify it by saying it's filled with total non stop sex and violence and that's why its so highly priced.

Kazuya · Post by **Kazuya** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 7:16 pm

Inuyasha wrote:The only game that possibly could sell at $100 would be madden. But I am sure EA would not be that dumb to price their game for that much unless they knew it would make a killing.

Man dude, I gotta give you credit... you somehow got people actually talking about the prospect of a $100 game with your tabloid style subject line.... even though Hirai clearly just pulled $100 out of his ass as a ridiculous number that the games clearly *won't* be. You could have just stuck with the original article title, "PS3 Games Not Necessarily $59.99" but you showed your genius with the one you chose. Methinks you have a future with the "Daily Star"...

Keeping with the subject, I have paid not one but TWO hundred dollars for one Xbox game: the infamous Steel Battalion. So far I have mostly balked at the $59.99 Xbox games, waiting for price cuts. I did feel compelled to shell out the dough for Oblivion of course, and Call of Duty so I'd have something to play at launch. Nothing I can see on the PS3 horizon at the moment is compelling enough for me to spend $60, much less $70.

GameSeven · Post by **GameSeven** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 9:50 pm

Kazuya wrote:Man dude, I gotta give you credit... you somehow got people actually talking about the prospect of a $100 game with your tabloid style subject line.... even though Hirai clearly just pulled $100 out of his ass as a ridiculous number that the games clearly *won't* be. You could have just stuck with the original article title, "PS3 Games Not Necessarily $59.99" but you showed your genius with the one you chose. Methinks you have a future with the "Daily Star"...

I was thinking the same thing. Software companies would be thrilled with this thread for even the mere discussion of what *would* justify a $100 price tag much less the $70 price point that is more likely being considered.

-G7

Boom · Post by **Boom** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 10:02 pm

What's funny is a few of us already pointed it out that he stated it would NOT be 100, yet the thread never skipped a beat.

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 10:17 pm

Boom wrote:What's funny is a few of us already pointed it out that he stated it would NOT be 100.

He sure did...it was Sonys way of softening the $69-79 blow...Seeing what they can get away with.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 1:38 am

Do the system makers set game prices or is it the game publishers?

Sure the system makers could double their per-game licensing fee and pretty much force publishers to raise prices but in the end, it's the publishers trying to set a price the market will bear.

You'll notice that first-party publishers set their prices $10 lower than the third-party publishers. I distinctly recall companies like Activision saying they deserved $60 a game.

In the current generation, Average Selling Prices of games have been creeping downwards. Even though which start at $50 see price cuts in a few weeks, unless it's a stupendous hit.

Are the ASPs of those $60 X360 games holding up? I seem to see a fair number of them advertised for less. I don't remember game discounting in the first year of the PS2, Xbox, GC.

Anyways, if the publishers are going to complain about systems being too expensive and needing price cuts to stimulate volume sales, they should get hit with the hypocrisy stick.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 3:36 am

Boom wrote:What's funny is a few of us already pointed it out that he stated it would NOT be 100, yet the thread never skipped a beat.

Right. And your post added another beat per minute, which also is ironic. I also think most of the responses on this page were answers to Brando's hypothetical question.

Take care,
PK

bdunn13 · Post by **bdunn13** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 7:44 am

I have yet to pay 59 for a game... NCAA will be the first. I used gamefly and gamesandflix for a while. But then there were no more games out there that I wanted to play so I even canceled my rental subscription. Games at 59 are not costing me more money, they are saving me money b/c I buy alot less. I think game companies will see the price hike is costing them more money as well. I would go nuts if I would have payed 59 for a game like College Hoops. Hell, that bug filled pile of poo is not worth 30 bucks.

Boom · Post by **Boom** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 6:24 pm

What's wrong with College Hoops? I didn't play a dynassty (or whatever they call it) but I had tons of fun with it online.

Jimmydeicide · Post by **Jimmydeicide** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 7:43 pm

$60 is too high , its taken the die hard out of me for sure, i used to get games for the hell of it with the thought "if i dont like it the lad will" attitude. Not now, 60 bucks just makes buyers remorse more prominent for me, especially with all the bugs in the early release 360 games.

NHl2k6 is only been saved by a sim online league ,as a single player game its a steaming pile o' shite.

I have nhl2k6, COD and graw (traded free for tiger woods 06 and tony hawk)

Thats it since weve owned a 360 in december the only other purchase has been BIA earned in blood for pc at 29 bucks.

So they have already priced me out of impulse purchases, that and the lack of innovation for sure .

bdunn13 · Post by **bdunn13** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:12 pm

Boom wrote:What's wrong with College Hoops? I didn't play a dynassty (or whatever they call it) but I had tons of fun with it online.

The bugs that prevent you from playing the game online.... or formating your HD.. whichever you choose.

nyisles16 · Post by **nyisles16** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:41 pm

pk500 wrote:Even $60-70 is absolutely ridiculous when you can buy a new CD or DVD for less than $20. Not that I've done either of those in the last few years even though I've listened to a lot of new music and seen a few new films ...

My Strat-O-Matic Hockey brochure arrived in the mail while I was in Indy for the USGP. The prospects of me returning to my sports board game hobby are becoming greater and greater.

Hopefully the Wii will have a respectable price tag and some funky games along with that interesting controller, or it's looking like I'm taking a pass on the next generation. Nothing excites me at all in the "next generation" so far, outside of the Wii, like the PSX, DC, PS2 and eventually Xbox jacked me up.

Even the new football games aren't exciting me at all for the first time in a while. I've seen nothing about Madden or NCAA that screams "NEXT GEN!" other than graphics. Nothing about the game play seems to be a significant step forward.

Maybe it's the hobby; maybe it's me. But I'm almost singing the B.B. King standard: "The thrill is gone ... "

Take care,
PK

ahhhh... SOM.. loved that game.. used to play the hockey, football, & baseball games like religion... funny too is that SOM is a big sports board game maker, yet they are in a tiny, dingy office (been there in person several times to pick up the new baseball cards)...

Boom · Post by **Boom** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 9:13 pm

bdunn13 wrote:
Boom wrote:What's wrong with College Hoops? I didn't play a dynassty (or whatever they call it) but I had tons of fun with it online.
The bugs that prevent you from playing the game online.... or formating your HD.. whichever you choose.

guess I was lucky because I had no problems with playing online at all.

Jimmydeicide · Post by **Jimmydeicide** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 9:20 am

Boom wrote:
bdunn13 wrote:
Boom wrote:What's wrong with College Hoops? I didn't play a dynassty (or whatever they call it) but I had tons of fun with it online.
The bugs that prevent you from playing the game online.... or formating your HD.. whichever you choose.
guess I was lucky because I had no problems with playing online at all.

Boom , Just curious but are you talking 360 and if so do you have premium system with Harddrive ?