ACK! Game Prices to Drive us Crazy

Shall we get off the high horse of being impartial for a moment and talk about something bound to annoy us all? Why not?

So we know the prices for the games of the new generation of consoles are going to hurt our pockets. $60 for a new game? Heck, if you wanted to know why the characters in GTA beat up people for money, they were probably saving up to buy next-gen games. There’s even supposed to be a premium version of next-gen games that add 10 more bucks to the price… and that means a whole lot of nights at the supermarket tending shop.

The critique from Games Industry tell us that there is something rather weird about the high prices of XBox 360 games right now: they’re priced as next-gen, but some of them are really souped-up ports of PS2 games. In general, this is supposed to be the trend for games of the new generation, and it’s justified by those selling games by having a “significantly better experience.” But are they really better experiences?

Think of it this way: Pokemon, the oh-so-wonderful franchise, has addicted gamers worldwide, regardless of the simple graphics involved. You could spend days just killing stuff and becoming obsessed with levels and powered monsters, and the experience would be (depending on the person) much more rewarding than a $60 beat-em-up. You can still find them for a lot less than the asking price for an Xbox 360 game.

It would have been nicer if they just took an honest route and said, “Hey, just so you know, this game machine cost a ton to make, but we’re selling them for cheaper than the price of production and we’re trying to recoup our losses by selling the games for a higher price. Please support our endeavors.” Of course, they’d need to prove that to us first, and even then, we’d still have a tough time wanting to pick up a new game.

Why? Because the bottom line is not everyone can afford to have the kind of fun game developers want us to have in the future. Isn’t that a sad thing to think about? What are your thoughts on the prices and what do you think can be done? Keep the comments civil, alright?

Buy: [Grand Theft Auto]
Buy: [Pokemon]

Via Games Industry

Shall we get off the high horse of being impartial for a moment and talk about something bound to annoy us all? Why not?

So we know the prices for the games of the new generation of consoles are going to hurt our pockets. $60 for a new game? Heck, if you wanted to know why the characters in GTA beat up people for money, they were probably saving up to buy next-gen games. There’s even supposed to be a premium version of next-gen games that add 10 more bucks to the price… and that means a whole lot of nights at the supermarket tending shop.

The critique from Games Industry tell us that there is something rather weird about the high prices of XBox 360 games right now: they’re priced as next-gen, but some of them are really souped-up ports of PS2 games. In general, this is supposed to be the trend for games of the new generation, and it’s justified by those selling games by having a “significantly better experience.” But are they really better experiences?

Think of it this way: Pokemon, the oh-so-wonderful franchise, has addicted gamers worldwide, regardless of the simple graphics involved. You could spend days just killing stuff and becoming obsessed with levels and powered monsters, and the experience would be (depending on the person) much more rewarding than a $60 beat-em-up. You can still find them for a lot less than the asking price for an Xbox 360 game.

It would have been nicer if they just took an honest route and said, “Hey, just so you know, this game machine cost a ton to make, but we’re selling them for cheaper than the price of production and we’re trying to recoup our losses by selling the games for a higher price. Please support our endeavors.” Of course, they’d need to prove that to us first, and even then, we’d still have a tough time wanting to pick up a new game.

Why? Because the bottom line is not everyone can afford to have the kind of fun game developers want us to have in the future. Isn’t that a sad thing to think about? What are your thoughts on the prices and what do you think can be done? Keep the comments civil, alright?

Buy: [Grand Theft Auto]
Buy: [Pokemon]

Via Games Industry