| Gamegears said:
1. Anyone who sees games running at 60-70 dollars a whack day one as a Impulse Buy is either really rich.. or living on another world.. I mean the reality is.. with prices going up on Gas, Food, Services, Bills, Taxes and just about everything else.. I do not see games as a impulse buy.. because I have to live on a budget as I think most people do or should... I do have a list I keep.. and when I can afford to get a game.. I get it.. if it goes on sale.. and I have enough I get it.. plain and simple. (And before you insult me.. understand this.. I work in the construction field.. a rarity apparently.. so no it's not that I don't have a job.. I have one.. I work 8-15 hour days.. and yet still cannot afford to call a game an impulse buy...)
2. The reality is.. as I said before.. once you buy a game.. you need to have rights to that game all rights.. including trading and selling.. I mean could you imagine if you bought a work of art.. kept it for awhile.. decided it did not fit your house.. so you choose to sell it.. only to have the artist come back and ask you for a part of that money?? Or worse yet you find out if you ever sell it.. him or his family..descendents could come back and ask you for part of it?? Or how about if a studio told you everytime you sold their movie you had to give them a cut of what you make?? (No I am not talking Amazon.. I am talking you as a person) And how would you feel if the studio said.. okay.. if you sell it.. we make at least 15 dollars off your sale?? (There is really nothing to say this was not part of the agreement)
3. In actuality.. the Industry themselves put themselves in this situation where they are Damned if they do.. Damned if they don't on new IP's.. Gamers want new IP's.. and sometimes companies do make them.. but the thing is.. they hardly ever get as much marketing as the Call of Duties and other established franchises.. so esentially speaking it is then up to the public to get the word out... and sometimes no matter how many reviews or how many people try to get the word out... it still gets overlooked... and as thus the company dumps the New IP.. and just continues to push the more popular franchises...
4. In addition since number three happens so often.. it is actually the the reason.. (At least one of them) Of why the Used Game Market has become so big. Continued Franchises... and essentially the fact that there are a lot of new games that only amount to updates.
5. The More games went on the Internet the more likely you were to see Micro Tranactions.. DLC etc.. (Not to mention by all rights and purposes less than finished games/or buggy releases)
6. Game companies are to blame... Developers and what not.. they wanted newer and newer technology... they in turn got it.. knowing the costs were going to go up.. but they still wanted it.. (And yes I understand gamers wanted it as well and asked for it.. so the reality is.. it's shared responsibility on this one) . The Companies wanted to be like Hollywood.. so to speak.. they got their wish.. the problem is.. they have not learned what Hollywood has.. and that's that sometimes you either need to focus on less projects.. to make them the best they can be.. and to cut down on total cost to the company.. not to mention most likely give gamers something you are going to have to pry from their cold deadhands to get(AKA a classic) (Which yes would inspire a lot of microtranactions but would also most likely shrink the used game market.. think less titles.. equals smaller market.. and if they are as good as I stated... you would not want to trade them in would you??) Or that they need someway to balance the budget on a game.. even if said game takes more time to create... Gamers have patience and are willing to wait..
7. And for the love of God.. in this Age of DLC... etc.. can someone please explain to me why EA (For Instance) can't just make one physical copy of a game.. (At 60 bucks) and just have online updates that cost anywhere from 20-30 dollars a year... to make it say.. from Maddens 15 to Maddens 16 with updated rosters.. graphics.. and playbooks.. since most of the time that seems to be all that gets done for the most part anyway?? I mean really?? |
I appreciate seeing different perspective on a topic like this. All your points are understandable and valid.
For me personally, a 60 dollar game is an impulse buy but I think we are looking at the word impulse differently. I would usually wait for 20-30 dollar price point, but if something really grabs me, I will fork out 60 bucks for it on day 1. Games are absolutely the worst investment you can make as the price tanks faster than Felix Baumgartner falling out of the sky. You literally have to wait 3 months and get it at half the price point... Publishers know this and they abuse the enthusasm gamers have towards their favorite gaming franchises to take 60 dollars out of their pocket on day 1. This race for day 1 sales is whats hurting the industry and gamers as we are paying a price premium for something that really isn't worth as much in the long run...
Another point you've made is about artists and musicians not asking for more money after purchase...yeah they don't do that but pretty much every other entertainment medium has many different sources of income. Musicians tour, movies get a theater release, dvd release and television release all of which make them revenue. Gaming industry really doesn't have multiple avenues to generate revenue. Arcades are long gone... Their alternate revenue sources are the things we tend to hate...witheld DLC, stringing gamers along with more content...
Like the industry is a fucking mess when you think about it... Top game development is purely driven by the bottom line and gounging the most money possible from enthusiastic gamers on day 1 who see their investment depriciate unless they trade/sell it within a few months of purchase. This trade ends up hurting the publishers sales in the long run. Its actually a cycle that there is no end to...
