Why we pay top $ for games.

Stefan9 said:
I see you only qoute western developers there. Here's the opinion of cd projeck and stardock. Piracy is an issue but its often used as a scapegoat for developers/publishers who produce poor games who wouldn't sell as much as they wanted to even if there wasn't piracy.
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I agree.
They use it as a scapegoat!!
Well said Stefan9
 
Um, that's a separate argument Stefan9: how does blaming poor sales on piracy relate to piracy driving game prices up?

I wouldn't mind seeing this put up as a poll: how many people here actually pay for their games, and on which platform?
 
RustPuppet said:
Um, that's a separate argument Stefan9: how does blaming poor sales on piracy relate to piracy driving game prices up?

I wouldn't mind seeing this put up as a poll: how many people here actually pay for their games, and on which platform?
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Because since the previous game sold badly and its blamed on piracy they try and recoup those perceived lost sales with their new project by driving up prices of the new project.
 
Steam actually highlighted recently that game prices need to come down, because every time they lower a price or have a special sales just sky rocket upwards!

I would say below R200 for a game will be reasonable, that will widen the market to more people and increase sales.
 
Nictron said:
Steam actually highlighted recently that game prices need to come down, because every time they lower a price or have a special sales just sky rocket upwards!

I would say below R200 for a game will be reasonable, that will widen the market to more people and increase sales.
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Steam is hardly innocent in this whole price war. There US prices are good but the prices they charge the european consumers are pathetic. They have a policy of $1=1 euro which is totally illogical since the euro is stronger than the dollar. Hence many europeans do not use them because they local european direct download services are cheaper.
 
WOW Someone that's on the gamers side!!
Thanx Stefan9!!
As for people to come..Please read below!!
Please don't assume the role of the game companies defender!!
 
EA has every right to charge what they want for there intellectual property. Stop complaining and pay the R800 for Mirrors Edge. It may only be 5 hours long, but that's 5 hours of EA's blood sweat and tears. Go buy EA games, and be sure to add in a R100 tip for a job well done.

/sarcasm off
 
The Joker said:
Ok if you say so!!
Piracy is not to blame for the insane prices we pay for games.
Yes im against piracy but not everyone can afford to spend R1000 on a game!!
Gaming companies charge those insane prices cause they know we'll just keep buying.
There is no law telling them how much to charge for a title so they charge whatever they like!!

Its because of people like you and me and I dare say most of the proper gamers out there that game prices will keep clmbing because we'll keep buyng at the insane prices. Our morals get in the way of pure logic, so we spend R1000 on a game to make ourselves feel better.

"The rich keep getting richer"
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I'm sorry, but that's not me. I don't pay insane prices for games. I wait for the prices to drop.
I don't need to buy a game straight on release and pay insane prices for it. It's not going to increase my quality of life or make me 'feel better' by doing so, or affect me in any way at all, so why should I.
If people are indeed doing what you say, then that would be a bit sad and in all honesty, dumb, to do that.

The game companies will never learn their lesson with such a mentality.
 
I don't mind paying the full price, whatever it may be (up to a limit!).
Software developers and programmers still need to put beans in their family's mouth every night.

The price of PS3 games generally offset the investment in PC hardware upgrades.
 
What I really enjoy about PS3 sports games is ur not paying top $ for them compared to games with story lines and I only payed R320 for GT5 and like R300 for Tony hawks now thats how much games should cost and not such outrageous prices....
 
The Joker said:
Its because of people like you and me and I dare say most of the proper gamers out there that game prices will keep clmbing because we'll keep buyng at the insane prices. Our morals get in the way of pure logic, so we spend R1000 on a game to make ourselves feel better.
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lilDeath said:
I'm sorry, but that's not me. I don't pay insane prices for games. I wait for the prices to drop.
I don't need to buy a game straight on release and pay insane prices for it. It's not going to increase my quality of life or make me 'feel better' by doing so, or affect me in any way at all, so why should I.
If people are indeed doing what you say, then that would be a bit sad and in all honesty, dumb, to do that.
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Agreed lilDeath. No one is forcing people to fork out these 'insane prices.' Game companies capiltalize on overhyped marketing and fanboy greed and rake in a fortune from inflated launch pricetags.

Joker: how is buying a game (as opposed to pirating it) on launch date any more morally right than buying it a month or two later?

I really don't see the point about crying over these 'R1 000' games when a couple of months of patience will score you the game for far less. Take MGS4 as a good example: I saw it going for R900 during its first week after release yet you can pick it up now for less than half that.
 
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Spot on, RustPuppet.
If you feel unhappy about the price of a game, then do something about it - you have a choice - buy it at the high price, or don't.

BUT - It starts with you! You do have the power!

/end motivational speech
 
Just bypass the local suppliers and you won't ever need to pay those R900 prices. You may have the odd battle with customs like the last week but you will pay 50% less even with delivery costs included. If I was a ps3 or console gamer I would certainly not support the local retailers/distributors. Also if you wait a few weeks/months you will save even more by importing,the overseas retailers drop prices much faster then the greedy ones over here.
 
I think there are two, possibly 3 aspects to it here.

1. Games generally want instant gratification... that means they'll pay the premium price to get the game as soon as it's launched and also that they are willing to get it locally rather then wait for it to take a few days extra from oversees. I've done this myself, where I get so amped for a game that I've been willing to pay R100 extra for it from CNA instead of getting it from Take2 and having to wait 2 days.

2.) The local market is relatively small. Lets for example say that there are 200 xbox owners in Durban, and about 30 stores competing for sales to those 200 people. Its better for the stores to make R400 profit off each tile rather then R50 or R100. They know that games will pay this for the reason above and most of the stores seem to be in collusion when it comes to pricing so they know that the guy next door is not going to under cut them.

3.) Possibly high import duties and taxes, I don't know how much these impact the prices though, I doubt it is really enough to justify the high cost of games.
 
Eniigma said:
I think there are two, possibly 3 aspects to it here.

1. Games generally want instant gratification... that means they'll pay the premium price to get the game as soon as it's launched and also that they are willing to get it locally rather then wait for it to take a few days extra from oversees. I've done this myself, where I get so amped for a game that I've been willing to pay R100 extra for it from CNA instead of getting it from Take2 and having to wait 2 days.

2.) The local market is relatively small. Lets for example say that there are 200 xbox owners in Durban, and about 30 stores competing for sales to those 200 people. Its better for the stores to make R400 profit off each tile rather then R50 or R100. They know that games will pay this for the reason above and most of the stores seem to be in collusion when it comes to pricing so they know that the guy next door is not going to under cut them.

3.) Possibly high import duties and taxes, I don't know how much these impact the prices though, I doubt it is really enough to justify the high cost of games.
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3 is wrong. You can import ps3 and some xbox 360 games personally and pay 50% less than the local price. Bare in mind here you are importing using retail prices and not shipping in bulk. The distributor and retailers can import at cost price and ship in bulk. Secondly there are no duties on pc hardware and software, at most you will pay vat and custom tax. In most cases you are unlikely to even get charged this and if you do it will still work out much cheaper than local price.
 
Stefan9 said:
Just bypass the local suppliers and you won't ever need to pay those R900 prices. You may have the odd battle with customs like the last week but you will pay 50% less even with delivery costs included. If I was a ps3 or console gamer I would certainly not support the local retailers/distributors. Also if you wait a few weeks/months you will save even more by importing,the overseas retailers drop prices much faster then the greedy ones over here.
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Agreed. This hooks on nicely to what I have been advocating in this thread - shop with your head (in the end meaning making a vote with your wallet), but don't shop with your heart or on impulse / emotion. This is bad in the long run. Shop around for specials, and in this case, even overseas, or simply wait, but be patient.
Eniigma said:
I think there are two, possibly 3 aspects to it here.

1. Games generally want instant gratification... that means they'll pay the premium price to get the game as soon as it's launched and also that they are willing to get it locally rather then wait for it to take a few days extra from oversees. I've done this myself, where I get so amped for a game that I've been willing to pay R100 extra for it from CNA instead of getting it from Take2 and having to wait 2 days.

2.) The local market is relatively small. Lets for example say that there are 200 xbox owners in Durban, and about 30 stores competing for sales to those 200 people. Its better for the stores to make R400 profit off each tile rather then R50 or R100. They know that games will pay this for the reason above and most of the stores seem to be in collusion when it comes to pricing so they know that the guy next door is not going to under cut them.

3.) Possibly high import duties and taxes, I don't know how much these impact the prices though, I doubt it is really enough to justify the high cost of games.
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#3 I believe Stefan9 covered well enough in his post.

#2 is up for debate, but I argued the same thing (just from the other point of view) on the numbers and how easy it is to skew %s when small numbers are involved, in the case of SA especially.
For example - we have 10 000 gamers in SA, all of them love F.E.A.R 1. F.E.A.R 2 is released and results / reviews are bad = don't play / buy it (price too high).
However - 4000/5000 gamers go out and buy it never-mind what it costs while the rest isn't because 1/ the game is bad, but most importantly because the price is too high.
Now, to the developer / designer / distributor it looks like the game is cooking. I mean 40% sales! Who wouldn't love that sales figures!
While back at the ranch, the people that bought the game (at the high price) and played it, are now disappointed (and feel robbed!) due to #1+2 above. Too late now though....

With even smaller figures, the percentages are skewed even more easily, but you get the idea. The devs / designers / distributors will never listen in this instance. Why would they?

#1 I blame today's culture and society for this. Everybody is so used to immediate results and everything being readily available. What is wrong with waiting a few days? I will tell you... NOTHING! The generation of today (the younger generation especially) is spoilt imo, in more ways than one.
Check this thread of a YouTube link I posted, it covers what I am talking about - http://mygaming.co.za/forum/showthread.php?t=665
 
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lilDeath said:
Agreed. This hooks on nicely to what I have been advocating in this thread - shop with your head (in the end meaning making a vote with your wallet), but don't shop with your heart or on impulse / emotion. This is bad in the long run. Shop around for specials, and in this case, even overseas, or simply wait, but be patient.

#3 I believe Stefan9 covered well enough in his post.

#2 is up for debate, but I argued the same thing (just from the other point of view) on the numbers and how easy it is to skew %s when small numbers are involved, in the case of SA especially.
For example - we have 10 000 gamers in SA, all of them love F.E.A.R 1. F.E.A.R 2 is released and results / reviews are bad = don't play / buy it (price too high).
However - 4000/5000 gamers go out and buy it never-mind what it costs while the rest isn't because 1/ the game is bad, but most importantly because the price is too high.
Now, to the developer / designer / distributor it looks like the game is cooking. I mean 40% sales! Who wouldn't love that sales figures!
While back at the ranch, the people that bought the game (at the high price) and played it, are now disappointed (and feel robbed!) due to #1+2 above. Too late now though....

With even smaller figures, the percentages are skewed even more easily, but you get the idea. The devs / designers / distributors will never listen in this instance. Why would they?

#1 I blame today's culture and society for this. Everybody is so used to immediate results and everything being readily available. What is wrong with waiting a few days? I will tell you... NOTHING! The generation of today (the younger generation especially) is spoilt imo, in more ways than one.
Check this thread of a YouTube link I posted, it covers what I am talking about - http://mygaming.co.za/forum/showthread.php?t=665
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I think we are both saying petty much the same thing, just using slightly different words.

I think we both agree that the biggest cause was reason one... simply put we pay these prices because people are willing to pay them to get something now. If no one was willing to pay R900 for a game in it's first month of release and everyone waited till they dropped to R500 or less, then the retailers would be forced to drop their prices and even the developers/publishers would be forced to as well.

Instead we live in a generation where everyone wants everything right now and is not prepared to wait for it.
 
Eniigma said:
I think we are both saying petty much the same thing, just using slightly different words.

I think we both agree that the biggest cause was reason one... simply put we pay these prices because people are willing to pay them to get something now. If no one was willing to pay R900 for a game in it's first month of release and everyone waited till they dropped to R500 or less, then the retailers would be forced to drop their prices and even the developers/publishers would be forced to as well.

Instead we live in a generation where everyone wants everything right now and is not prepared to wait for it.
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Yip...Ive said that from the start!!
Its because of people like you and me, we are willing to pay the insane prices!! Untill that chaanges, prices will stay high and piracy will grow even more!!
 
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