| SvennoJ said: True. However I've never heard people say a 90 minute movie should be half price compared to a 3 hour movie. Or an indie production should cost $5 in the cinema or DVD. It's usually the blockbusters that are cheaper on DVD/Blu-ray. |
I see an additional behavioral layer that helps explain why people think about movie prices differently compared to games
The first point is that although movies have different budgets, the movie theater itself is a service. When you buy a ticket, you're not only paying for the movie but paying for the theater experience. It's more like an entry fee to use the space rather than a price for the product alone
And even then, Hollywood has already found ways to increase prices through 3D screenings, VIP rooms, and IMAX. In Brazil, it's not uncommon for movies to have vastly different average ticket prices depending on the type of theater they are released. Blockbusters are released in shopping-mall cinemas, while more indie or alternative productions appear in street theaters or lower-budget theaters. These indie movies usually only screen in big cities because they don't get massive distribution deals
The second point is that indie games have always needed to be much cheaper to overcome their already insurmountably high visibility barrier. Unlike movies, which provide maybe 2 to 3 hours of entertainment games can last up to 100 hours. I can easily watch over 100 movies in a year, but I struggle to play more than 10 to 15 games. Two indie movies are not directly competing for my limited attention spam and I can watch a mediocre movie out of simply boredom without no major commitment, but games require multiple extra layers of engagement
This creates an environment where people expect indie games to be cheap simply because they have always been cheap and if they're not cheap, there will always be someone else who is cheaper, supply and demand really
