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Topic: Greed Will Be Their Downfall - US vs UK game prices

Posts 21 to 26 of 26

Kidfried

I have said what I'm going to say many times before, but it bears repeating.

I will gladly pay a few euro's more for a video game to live in a country in which everyone has basic healthcare, healthy food is cheaper, gaps between rich and poor aren't as big, public transit and roads are better, there are better regulations on animal rights and environment care, having a less terrible government.

You have to take all of those kind of things in account too. Pricing is about way more than simply going "IN U.S. PAY 5 HERE PAY 10 I CRY".

Kidfried

Rudy_Manchego

@BAMozzy Great comment and very very true.

Even if we ignore regional price and tax differences (because I am simples and can't do maths) the fact is that a decision has been made to push game prices up and beyond what has been standard. Sony are the first to do it but we know and can see that other major publishers WILL follow suit. They've been making these noises for years now.

I dislike the time vs cost argument. I mentioned it in a comment on the Jim Ryan news story but value for money is not based on cost alone. I spent £45 on tickets to see Tenacious D a year ago, plus travel costs, drink etc. That lasted 3 hours. Arguably, I spent £45 on AC:Odyssey and spent 80 hours on it. I couldn't tell you what I did in those 80 hours - mostly fetching things. However, I have a crystal clear memory of the gig. Media and value are subjective.

It also flies in the face that many games 'DON'T' just cost their base price at launch. They are sold in special, ultimate, penultimate, steel book, super shiny versions. Then they have mtx, DLC, season passes etc.

My argument is that yes games are more expensive to make, yes the risk is high. We've already seen the immediate fall out that studio game turnover is lower due to this. However, publisher profits have been increasing year on year. This extra £10 is not going to be invested in increasing studio size, output, quality or anything. It is going to make profits higher.

I bought Demon Soul's and Spiderman for PS5. These two games cost about £120 for launch titles. Let's compare similar games of the PS4 era pricing. Ghost of Tsushima cost approx £54.99 rrp at launch and I'd say a fair price for Spiderman last gen would have been £35.99. I think I even payed less for GOT however let's say total £90.98 with a difference of £29.02. That is almost, not quite, but almost, the cost of another PS4 standard launch title. If I had spent say an extra £20, I could of bought another brand new game title - probably Sackboy which I like the look of. Or maybe some indie games that are out at launch.

Right now, I am not going to buy that game at launch. I only bought Demon Soul's and Spiderman because those are two games i really wanted the PS5 for. I was sort of held hostage by wanting to be an early adopter. I saved for it for months and I want to play some new releases on it. I will not be buying any other games at launch at that price. I'll probably wait for price drops.

I love Sony games but it is dumb for them to be the leader on this because it just makes Gamepass all that more appealing, especially at a time when the world is going through recession and cash is tight.

Edited on by Rudy_Manchego

Now I may be an idiot, but there's one thing I am not sir, and that sir, is an idiot

PSN: Rudy_Manchego | Twitter:

Mega-Gazz

So I literally spend $45 every time I get fast food for dinner. I find it hard to argue that a AAA game worked on by hundreds of people over several years - plus distribution and retail cut - is not worth the cost of two fast food nights.

That said, just to be a hypocrite, I usually wait for sales before buying, but the extra $10 won’t alter my decisions at all.

Mega-Gazz

LCDean

Mega-Gazz wrote:

So I literally spend $45 every time I get fast food for dinner.

USD? How does fast food cost you so much, surely that's not just for you? Sorry if that sounds rude, not sure how else to put it. $45 wow..

In the UK I'd be looking at around four takeaway 'nights' (full meals with some left over for next day) here for the price of a new PS5 game. Fast food as in Mc Donalds, KFC etc. eight to twelve times for the cost of a single game.

Edited on by LCDean

LCDean

johncalmc

@LCDean Gamepass could have all kinds of horrible side effects. It's not sustainable in its current form so something will have to change, and what that change is could have pretty serious implications.

johncalmc

Twitter:

LCDean

johncalmc wrote:

@LCDean Gamepass could have all kinds of horrible side effects. It's not sustainable in its current form so something will have to change, and what that change is could have pretty serious implications.

Currently Gamepass has Microsofts financial backing. Once they've changed the landscape and removed their competition, BANG! Price hike. Isn't that what Sky attempted to do with UK television 20 or so years ago? Just goes to show nowadays, TV was bigger than Sky. Gaming is bigger than Microsoft no matter how many companies they buy out.

LCDean

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