@Itaintamystery Honestly, price is the least of our worries. If you're prepared to wait a while the game is available at a heavy discount anyway. If anyone is like me, they have a backlog of games to play/finish anyway so what's the rush? Also, games are actually fairly cheap these days relatively. An average cinema ticket is around £8 let's say for a 2 hour film. If a game gives a solid 20 hour playtime (often more) then that would be £80 equivalent time wise. I think we're doing fine price wise. It's about quality, story and execution. They have to make those 20+ hours count and be as engaging as a film would.
A lot is said about the price of games these days, but to be fair when I buying triple A original PS1 games around 1999 they went for about £45, yes some ranged from £30-45 but big titles even went up to £50. Now, given the rate of inflation directly from the Bank of England, a game costing £45 in 1999 would cost £84.93 today. So in that respect game prices haven't actually increased that much in line with inflation so we're actually doing rather well in comparison to many other products! Although in real terms wages have stagnated and the overall cost of living has increased way above inflation so games, as a luxury, have had to remain somewhat competively priced or else sales would be a lot worse. What puzzles me (also regarding the film industry), is given the economic climate, why have companies exponentially increased their development and marketing budgets. They should be focusing on core gaming principles and what works and what sells while remaining smart and frugal with their time and money. Look at Claire Obscur: Expedition 33 (awesome game, really enjoying it), it has shown that going back to core gameplay values, focused with a clear vision, does not require bloated megastudios wasting money to achieve success. I love old school fps shooters, they are basic by today's standards but they are so compelling. Doom 2016 was actually really enjoyable as it encompassed a large part of this feeling with beautiful visuals. It still kept it relatively simple. I think newer interpretations sometimes try to be bigger, badder, all things, far too much, they forget the core simplicity that makes them feel good to play. Recent modern takes on retro 'boomer shooters' get it though. Gamespass is no doubt handy for many, but at what cost? The deliberate march towards the Netflixation of games isn't good. We are willingly giving away what ever influence and control gamers had. At the end of that path, derivative slop will be stream served and we'll be happy, so we are told.
Comments 2
Re: Inquiry Already Underway Over Lacklustre DOOM: The Dark Ages Opening
@Itaintamystery
Honestly, price is the least of our worries. If you're prepared to wait a while the game is available at a heavy discount anyway. If anyone is like me, they have a backlog of games to play/finish anyway so what's the rush? Also, games are actually fairly cheap these days relatively. An average cinema ticket is around £8 let's say for a 2 hour film. If a game gives a solid 20 hour playtime (often more) then that would be £80 equivalent time wise. I think we're doing fine price wise. It's about quality, story and execution. They have to make those 20+ hours count and be as engaging as a film would.
Re: Inquiry Already Underway Over Lacklustre DOOM: The Dark Ages Opening
A lot is said about the price of games these days, but to be fair when I buying triple A original PS1 games around 1999 they went for about £45, yes some ranged from £30-45 but big titles even went up to £50. Now, given the rate of inflation directly from the Bank of England, a game costing £45 in 1999 would cost £84.93 today. So in that respect game prices haven't actually increased that much in line with inflation so we're actually doing rather well in comparison to many other products! Although in real terms wages have stagnated and the overall cost of living has increased way above inflation so games, as a luxury, have had to remain somewhat competively priced or else sales would be a lot worse. What puzzles me (also regarding the film industry), is given the economic climate, why have companies exponentially increased their development and marketing budgets. They should be focusing on core gaming principles and what works and what sells while remaining smart and frugal with their time and money. Look at Claire Obscur: Expedition 33 (awesome game, really enjoying it), it has shown that going back to core gameplay values, focused with a clear vision, does not require bloated megastudios wasting money to achieve success.
I love old school fps shooters, they are basic by today's standards but they are so compelling. Doom 2016 was actually really enjoyable as it encompassed a large part of this feeling with beautiful visuals. It still kept it relatively simple. I think newer interpretations sometimes try to be bigger, badder, all things, far too much, they forget the core simplicity that makes them feel good to play. Recent modern takes on retro 'boomer shooters' get it though.
Gamespass is no doubt handy for many, but at what cost? The deliberate march towards the Netflixation of games isn't good. We are willingly giving away what ever influence and control gamers had. At the end of that path, derivative slop will be stream served and we'll be happy, so we are told.