MikeRox said:
A lot of games such as New Little Kings Story have more to them than the full price retail Wii version had a couple of years ago. It doesn't surprise me that these games are full price really, and at least in the case of Little Big Planet, totally worth the entry price. I think the costs involved in making some of these Vita titles are higher than you first realise. However it would be great to get more simpler cheaper games too and I think games such as Resistance do need a rethink on their price point. I remember at launch there were all these different pricing tiers for games, but lately they all seem to have gravitated towards the top end. |
Um, no. The general image that I've read regarding the Vita is that its easier to develop for. This again would mean less programing manhours = lower develompment cost. Also, as for LBPV, I wouldn't be surprised if they re-used a bunch of models. The game physics is already in place, and the dlc being compatible tells me that assests and models are re-used.
As for New Little Kings STory, sure it may have a bunch of extras, but the full game is already there. The code is already there, everything is there. Adding a few extra stuff does not justify full price.
Another example, as MUGEN stated a few hundred pages back, the entire XSEED team working on Ragnarok Odyssey localization is less than 10 people. Then, they'll charge full retail price.
The vita game's may look good and it would seem that more work is put into it, but with a smaller screen (very very smaller screen as compared to 32" tvs) the models will still need much much less polygons and details.You can't claim that some Vita games cost more to make than some PS3 gmaes without any actuall argument. Sure, gravity rush probably cost more to make than say a ps3 game that uses sprites and looks like shit and plays like shit. But most games on the ps3 uses 3d models and that needs a lot of work considering the amount of detail and polygons they have to work into it.
The fact of the matter is
- smaller screen = less needed details = less polygons/details on sprites etc = less manhours needed from graphic artists = less utilization of equiopment = lower development cost
- the above would also lead to less optimization on the codes = less programer manhours = less utilization of equipment and utilities = lower development cost
- As mentioned, developers are finding the Vita as easy to develop fore = less work needed in learing how to program for it = less man hours = less utilities and equipment utilization = lower development cost
All of these points are true. Hence, it is cheaper to develop for handheld systems. As concrete proof of this, let as look at the DS, it has tons and tons and tons of games ranging from great games that look awesome to really nasty ugly games. Now, why is it that many developers choose to develope games for it? 1. It has a large install base and 2. Its cheaper to make games for. Another concrete example are the free games on IOS and Android, there are a lot of good looking games on the IOS and Android that are either free or cheap ass. How the hell do they sell these games cheap? coz development cost is low. From the great games on IOS and android and ther great low price, we are now seeing that up till now, the big developers just loves to charge high prices for their games.
One reason why this is is because a lot of these game developers have CEOs that have salaries that are larger than the entire development teams salaries combined...and the sad thing is, a bunch of these CEOs are stupid ass shit... jack comes to mind....