Comments on: How Much Would You Pay For a Video Game?

By: DarkPassenger29

DarkPassenger29 — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 14:20:29 +0000

I had a Neo-Geo and about 6 games. Question answered.

By: Scurvy Lobster

Scurvy Lobster — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:55:33 +0000

Matthew: the reason console games are more expensive is that console developers take a cut of the games price. The difference in price between pc and console games represents this cut. It’s how console developer make money.
The reason why Rock Band is an expensive game compared to a console (if you buy the full band edition) is that consoles usually are heavilly subsidised by the console developers. A PS3 for example is sold cheaper than it’s production cost. This is because console makers earn their money from sold games – they need to sell consoles if that is going to do well. So your claim is unfair to the game developers since they can’t control how much console developers artificially lower the prices of their consoles.

By: yell

yell — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:32:32 +0000

It depends of the kind of game and its game hours.
I’ll pay not more then 6$ for hidden object game, I can pay 10$ for the good education game for my 5-year child and I can pay even 60$ for my lovely big game, as Heroes, Kings Bounty etc.

By: psycho

psycho — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 07:19:14 +0000

“If a BOOK is quality, and provides fun hours – how much would you be willing to pay for it?”
I think the price of games and books should be similar – simple casual games/books cost 5-10 $, more advanced but still just books cost 10-25 $, and encyclopedies and other huge valuable books (masterpiece games) might cost from 25 to 50 $. [very rough numbers..]

Price shouldnt really much matter. You should make money by selling higher amounts, not by higer prices.
Learn from Paulo Coelho: http://piratecoelho.wordpress.com/

Anyway game is just a book, it’s your problem when you spend lot of time reinventing the pencil and paper (engine) ;). It’s the content that should be valued, not the implementation of common technology.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 05:21:03 +0000

$60 + tax is pushing where it should be. Definitely no higher than $75.

The current $60 price point is high enough that several things happen

1) I do not impulse buy new games. When I walk into a game store, I know exactly what I want. I get in and I get out. $60 is too high for an impulse buy.

2) I will not buy a game day 1 if I am at all concerned that it will not be an extremely good game. For example, I will be getting titles such as Assassins Creed 2 for sure this year because I loved the first game and will definitely get my money’s worth, but there are some titles (Lost Planet 2 comes to mind) that I want to try out, but I am unwilling to pay such a high price for.

3) I buy more games used. To continue my example from above, I am planning to grab Lost Planet 2 used when we hit the summer dry run next year. By that time, a used copy should hit around $20, a price I am perfectly willing to pay.

What does this mean for publishers?

If a game increases beyond the current price point, expect dramatically reduced sales. For a game to be over $75 it had better be good, real good. I am talking GOTY good. In recent memory, only Fallout 3, Halo 3, Mass Effect, and Assassins Creed fall into that category. This comes from someone who buys 12 new games a year on average. I will just wait for the price drop or grab it used.

Games that are slim on content or do not meet the quality bar of a AAA games should not be considered equal in price. I am sure the price point of $60 hurt Tomb Raider: Underworld last year. It was a game that was a skimpy 8 hours of average content. It should have debuted in the $45-$50 range.

A warning to publishers: 1) I am getting sick of PC games being priced lower than comparable console games. There is not difference in the versions, price them the same. I prefer console gaming, but I am getting sick of getting shafted. 2) Some games are getting dangerously closer to being more than the entire console(coughGuitarHerocough). That is WAY too much. No game should cost more than the hardware to run it.

By: Katherine

Katherine — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:22:43 +0000

Depends. I put $50 (based on a VERY rough conversion from my native currency). But that doesn’t take into account that I may subscribe to a game, and pay more over time. I probably spent $400 or $500 on WoW over the years that I played it, but it isn’t the same as paying a lump sum at the outset.

By: Scurvy Lobster

Scurvy Lobster — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:05:50 +0000

[divided]

By: Scurvy Lobster

Scurvy Lobster — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:05:23 +0000

For the game of my dreams / diveded by two (you can’t have it all) I would gladly pay 50$

As I am a Xbox 360 owner I am actually paying 60$ at the moment ;-)

By: Lumooja

Lumooja — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:22:21 +0000

I would pay up to 1000 USD for a really good game, but then it has to be of graphical quality like Crysis or better, and from the game length as long as System Shock 2 or longer, and from the game repeatability interest as good as Delta Force or better (you can play the same game in many different ways, snipe, sneak, SAW attack, basic US soldier, etc…).

By: Sargon

Sargon — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:53:38 +0000

That also doesn’t mean I am willing to pay 100$ for every game. I am willing to pay 100$ for a game that I would want badly.