Ok, so this is an issue that has been bugging me for a while and I wanted to know all of your opinion on the matter.
As we all know, many retail titles become available as downloadble titles through games on demand on XBL and PSN. I personally really like this idea in theory, full titles downlodable straight to your box, easier to access, less cost for the manufacturer as they don't have to go through the retailer, etc. It all sounds very good on paper, but one glaring problem (probably the only problem) on these downloadable titles has been their prices. Common sense would dictate that since the games are being sold by publisher straight to the consumer and as there's no physical copy that the games would cost less than their retail counterparts.
But this is far from the case. As a recent example, browsing through the latest downlodable titles on XBL I find Gears of War 3 has been added to the games of demand, so out of curiosity I check it out to see the pricing, etc. Now before we proceed lets give some background info. The game was released about 6 months ago so the price has definitely dropped since release. At release most retailers sold the game between £34.99-39.99. A quick search now will show that the game costs about £20 (half retail price) from most sources, maybe if you went bargain hunting you could even find it for £15. So keeping this information in mind one would imagine the downlodable title will be on par with current retail price if not less than it. But we will give it the benefit and say we can expect a downloadable price between £20-25. But guess what the actual downloadable price is, come on take a wild guess........ITS £49.99. IT COSTS MORE THAN IT COST TO BUY THE GAME FROM A RETAILER AT LAUNCH. This is pure BS, I don't know how else to put it.
And you will find this is the case for almost most games, the downloadable price is higher than the retail price. There are a few exceptions though, like Tales of Vesperia costing £20 on XBL while being £50 upwards to get an actual physical copy. But thats likely because the game has been out of production.
Now my point is, as the future of gaming is going towards digital downloads and the price of gaming becoming higher and higher, with retail becoming obsolete and the companies employing such ridiculous pricing strategies, gaming is going to become an incredibly expensive hobby. Or is there a way out of this mess? Personally I see Steam being a prime example of how digital distribution should be handled, most games there cost less than retail releases and the game prices decrease well over time.
So what do you guys think about the price of downloadable games? And how do you see it affecting the future of gaming when digital distribution becomes more prevalent?
