Game Prices on the increase

Vyse

Don't think it has been discussed here yet but anyway..............

Guess most people are aware of Activison's intent on increasing the price of COD Modern Warefare 2 to £54.99. I reckon that this could just be the beginning of an increase of game prices across the board (ref: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=220926).

What are peoples thoughts? I for one and not crazy about seeing this proposed increase. Game prices have not increased (realistically) in the last 20 years. I'm holding in my hands three of my older games on the Amiga. All still have their prices tags intact; Ninja Warriors (£24.99), Elite (£29.99) and Ghost Busters II (£29.99). I'm proud (ashamedly perhaps:P) to admit to my friends that games have become better value as the years have gone by (anybody remember paying £60++ for Street Fighter II on the SNES). +

This new increase could potentially change all that. I reckon that it's a tetsing of the waters of sorts. If people buy games at the new increased price well then it's most likely to become the norm.

Two points to consider:

1) Games price normally decreases during a console's lifecycle. The reason being that more units sell as a results of a larger installed base.

2) Some might argue that an increased price tag is warranted. Fair enough. However top selling games are shifting millions of units in the current environment as opposed to tens/hundreds of thousands in the 8-bit/16bit era. Increased sales should help keep the price down.

If the prices of games increase can the price of hardware be long to follow? Hardware has remained pretty static since the introduction of home consoles (the price of the 2600 was $199 in Oct 1977). It'll be an interesting situation if the price of 360 games elevate to €70-80 euros with the price of a new (core/arcade) machine retailing at ~€180.

Sorry for the lengthy rant but, as someboy who has been playing games for 25+ years, I'll be picking COD Modern Warefare 2 up for second hand on eBay!

indough

are you basing this entire theory on the pricing of one game?

dreamers75

indough wrote: »

are you basing this entire theory on the pricing of one game?

His hteory is solid, AAA games will have a new price point (AAA being in the developers mind). Cod 4 is still selling at 60 quid so why fix it if aint broken.

COD is a kiddies console game now, much the way BF is.

Kiddies will buy it and the price will stick.

Sierra Oscar

I sort of thought that the price of games in retail stores has been falling over the last year or so - well PC games anyway.

indough

dreamers75 wrote: »

His hteory is solid.

not really, regardless of whether it turns out to be correct you should never assume a future trend based on only one example

Overheal

Its because too many gobsheens buy crap at those prices.

Supply plentiful. Demand is finite and price is negotiable. Why would you pay 60 and 70 euro for games? Vote with your wallet. If I never buy another game over 30, and enough other people never again buy another title over 30, you can guess what will happen to the retail price of games.

wayhey

It's only recently that prices have gone down. Remember when it was €60 to get any game new on the last generation? I do and it was the cheapest price (new) around.. and buying used games wasn't as easy as it is now.

I don't really care if they raise retail prices too much... but do you think that'd raise the price that shops would charge for second hand games, a knock-on effect? Just make with the digital distribution for a cheaper price already developers :mad:

Retr0gamer

Every generation developers complain about development costs so mark the games up then they go down when they realise they can't fool customers any longer. It's a crock of ****e. Activision is upping the price of COD:MW2 because the original game still sells for almost full price despite being 2 years old so know people will buy it at this price. You aren't going to see this across the board.

Overheal

When EA spent - how much? - of its budget developing an ecryption protocol that was cracked in a matter of days, I have no sympathy for them.

Meanwhile the likes of Stardock leave their games, frankly, wide open to abuse, but keep their prices sensible. A multi-Award Winning Title no less, in the form of Sins of a Solar Empire. Thats the kind of company I dont mind giving $35.

SeantheMan

When PS3 came out nearly every game was 70 euro if i remember correctly

I'll have no problem paying whatevers required for MW2

Overheal

Mechwarrior can bite my Inner Sphere ass. If its going to cost more than 30-40 bucks, it can dust off.

fitz0

Overheal wrote: »

Meanwhile the likes of Stardock leave their games, frankly, wide open to abuse, but keep their prices sensible. A multi-Award Winning Title no less, in the form of Sins of a Solar Empire. Thats the kind of company I dont mind giving $35.

Exactly! I like the way they make me feel good about giving them money, like I'm getting the full value for it. That's a business model more companies should follow.

Does anyone remember the price of EA games at the start of the 360's life? Most, if not all, were 70-75 euros. It took them a while to bring the price down as well.

Gran Hermano

I'd blame the price increases on exchange rates. If we're buying from UK based retailers and distributors then it's only natural a devaluation in sterling will cause an increase in prices for endusers.

Not only game prices rising, prices on other electronics in the UK have not witnessed their usual price drops over their life. I've seen netbooks cost more this month than the same model did when launched last December.

PogMoThoin

Whats wrong is that the new generation of console gamers will gladly pay these prices and are quite content to pay a tenner for a new map

Sierra Oscar wrote: »

I sort of thought that the price of games in retail stores has been falling over the last year or so - well PC games anyway.

I totally agree with You here, in contrast to the above I got Arma2 for €30, there's a huge community of modders making great missions for free, what I'd expect

franman

Retr0gamer wrote: »

You aren't going to see this across the board.

You mightn't see it across the board but if people cave and buy COD:MW2 at an increased price you can bet that Gears of War 3 and similiar "highly anticipated" titles will follow suit

RobertFoster

Sierra Oscar wrote: »

I sort of thought that the price of games in retail stores has been falling over the last year or so - well PC games anyway.

It's been the same on consoles too. I don't think I've spent more than €40 on a game this year. Then again, I don't buy games on launch day any more.

Fnz

Oh man, I remember getting Mega Man 2 at the bargain price of £45 punts by importing it from somewhere. It would have cost me £55 had I bough local.

How much would that be today, with inflation? :eek:


Also, people are fools - I don't give one metric poop about watching sports but iirc people weren't always charged extra to watch certain matches, but the pay-per-view initiative and sport channels got enough support to see them stick with us to the present day.

cobrastarship

ya games have gone down big time i say £45 is now about over 100 euro :eek:

Overheal

That being the case, why let them drive prices back up, when volume of sales is now higher than ever?

super_furry

I just won't be paying €70 for the new CoD game. I'll either get it second hand - from adverts.ie or in store, on on eBay.

It's an interesting point about game prices though, in real terms they've dropped a lot and seem to ignore inflation. I remember paying £79.99 for Street Fighter II Turbe on the SNES.

Overheal

thats because its a luxury item, but not one thats demand is positively influenced by price. Im sure theres a better economic term for such goods.

cobrastarship

i see games get in cheaper this year at xmas i say most new games will be for 40 euros this year

noodler

What price increases exactly are people talking about?

Resident Evil 5 cost 40e brand new from XV on the day of release.

With access to online I don't thonk I have ever paid less for games.

If we are talking only about a theoretical RRP, which only seems to exist in Tescos, then I don't know what the fuss is about.

cobrastarship

nope i was wrong 30 euro must games where that xmas weak last year

noodler

Overheal wrote: »

thats because its a luxury item, but not one thats demand is positively influenced by price. Im sure theres a better economic term for such goods.

Nope thats pretty much it, a good people buy substantially less of as their income decreases/the price increases.

davrho

When the 360 was first released some of the games came in at 69.99euro. There has been a general reduction to around 44.99. With the competition between shops i cant see the price jumping up again. When a game is released i normally check around the shops HMV,Game,Gamestation and extravision to see who has the best deal. Normally one of them has an offer on.

If the price does rise i will stop buying casualy and only buy the games i really want. Dont see how this will help the games industry.

Gamesnash.ie: Pat

It's a strange one to call - the RRP of games has certainly come down over the past year. Top games now are generally priced from as low as €49.99 to €59.99 and as Noodler said these prices are subject to discounts as well. Ireland in particular has seen some strong price wars this year.

Going back 1 to 2 years you were looking at the €70.00 mark for a AAA game. Activision are saying that they feel MW2 is more than an AAA release and are tagging on €15.00 to the price point. In the current market this takes it back to €69.99 - €74.99 of a price range. So yes it is similar to what it was 2 years ago but two years ago it would have been priced at €85

This is seen as a test by the industry .....

Analyst Michael Pachter reckons Activision's controversial decision to raise the price of Modern Warfare 2 has nothing to do with a weak Great British Pound.
"The price increase is a business decision," he told Eurogamer, noting that the pound is worth more today than when Call Of Duty 5 launched last year.
"Activision knows it has a 'hot' game, knows that the market will pay an additional ten per cent, and has decided to increase price accordingly."
Pachter thinks the question of whether this is fair is "a difficult one" to answer. Games, he explained, are cheaper to buy today but contain better graphics, gameplay and online functionality. And the latter service, while free to users, costs Activision to provide - although Xbox 360 owners must pay Microsoft for the privilege.
"My guess is that this is a one-time test for Activision, and that they will re-think the strategy after seeing if it angers consumers," offered Pachter. "If there is no consumer backlash, I think we may see higher pricing on other games, regardless of the GBP/USD translation rate."
And, he added: "The repercussions could be significant and lasting. If Activision is successful, we may see increases for other 'hot' games in the future. We see tiered pricing to the downside for more casual games, so why not tiered pricing to the upside for hot games?"
Activision revealed the suggested retail price of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 would be set at GBP 54.99 earlier this month. Retailers may only take this figure as guidance, but the bump will be felt nonetheless.
And it's not just MW2; Pachter suggested keeping in mind the price of the Guitar Hero franchise, which has generally gone up. Band Hero, he adds, will be more expensive than GH World Tour, and Tony Hawk Ride and DJ Hero will cost a considerable GBP 107.99. And on all platforms; no discount for PS2 and Wii any more.
What does Activision have to say? "I'm afraid we don't comment on our product pricing strategies," a spokesperson said this morning.
"This is the year that Activision raises prices selectively for several games," concludes Pachter. "and the US increases don't have anything to do with foreign currency translation."

The issue though beyond this is that other publishers who see a successful pushing of the boat out with this title will decide to do the same for their own AAA titles - but these AAA titles are unlikely to be as strong as MW2 - one publishers AAA title is anothers turkey. Nintendo are rumoured to be putting the price up of New Super Mario Bros on the Wii when its released by £10 / €15 on top of the highest price point too.

On the other side expect a PS3 console price cut soon. Production costs have come down nearly 70% and Sony have just ordered enough parts for 1 million consoles.

Gummy Panda

Gamesnash.ie (Pat) wrote: »

Nintendo are rumoured to be putting the price up of New Super Mario Bros on the Wii when its released by £10 / €15 on top of the highest price point too.

if it's like New Super Mario Bros on DS then it will be worth it.

cherryghost

i remember the days when games were 80 quid.

so hush you little puppies

hellboy99

When An Activision Boss Jokes About Raising Game Prices...

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick is taking his daily bruising from gamers, this time for telling someone he'd raise video game prices if he could. But there's a little more to the story.

Kotick made the comment during a conference call between Activision Blizzard executives and financial analysts yesterday to discuss the company's performance from April through June.

Kotick was quoted as telling an analyst that "I would raise the prices even further," a line that was interpreted to mean that he's ready to jack up game prices. (Destructoid provided Kotick a forked tongue for this one.)

What hasn't been as clear is what Kotick was replying to and the tone in which he offered his comment.

The question Kotick fielded involved the price of peripheral-bundled games like Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk Ride. It came from analyst Tony Gikas, according to a transcript of the call: "... if you don't mind, just your comfort level regarding pricing of some of your new games that have some expensive controllers and any feedback that you had from retail as we move through the holidays."

Company CEO Mike Griffith first fielded the price question, saying: "We've had for all of our launch titles in the back half of this year, some of which contain peripherals, as you point out, very strong retailer acceptance and support for all parts of our plan, including our merchandising plans, our marketing programs, and our price points."

Kotick responded, prompting laughter, with: "And Tony, you know if it was left to me, I would raise the prices even further."

I've asked Activision representatives to clarify Kotick's statement, to specify what price the company feels is ideal for games and what price Kotick would like to raise peripheral-based games to. I've not heard back yet, but if I do, I'll update the post.

http://kotaku.com/5331849/when-an-activision-boss-jokes-about-raising-game-prices

ScumLord

That's consoles for you, your buying a brand. If you don't mind paying over the odds to be part of the cool gang then your ok, if you just want to play a game without paying the extra for the license buy a PC.