Business 101 - Don't give something for free that you know that consumer segment will buy regardless. People who buy very expensive collector's editions are already willing to shell out the extra cash for a DLC subscription, so Activision finally realized they shouldn't give it out for free with the CE. That's what they care about at the end of the day after all - money money money.

No. Unless it's a game I am fantasizing over, I would not pay full price for it.

Yes. Almost every game has a fan base or hype and the publishers want to exploit that as much as they can. It is up to the consumer to determine how much the game is worth to them. I recently got Rayman Origins, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Bulletstorm, and Rhythm Heaven Fever for $10, $10, $5, and $5 respectively (all new copies.) Some games need that high price to make money otherwise you wont get a sequel (Bulletstorm) or they will go out of business (KoA:R.) Then there are other games that can go and release for a cheaper price and be successful (RHF) and those that have done so well that they can afford to drop the price later after they have made their profit (Rayman.) I see value in pretty much every game and to determine if it has value is pretty much different to every consumer. I would buy every game if I could on release day for $60 but since I am broke as hell, I try to stretch every dollar as far as I can and snag every great deal my peripheral vision comes across. We can't all be D21lewis.

Oh, I couldn't agree more, I mostly just meant that perception is often enough.

DOn't you think that's more about you than the games?  What about current games means you don't play them over and over again?  I assume I don't do that myself because I actually have money now and don't have endless free time.  What was weird about being a kid is that I had very little money to buy games but I had tons of free time to play them, so I'd play them over and over again.  I've played Earthbound probably 30 times, and I played through Mother 3 last year and I was done after one time because these days I have the exact opposite situation, less free time but relatively lots of money to spend on gaming.  

OT: I think that most are to the fans, and that's who will be buying it first day anyway.  

also, I agree that selling two games for 40 is better than one for 60, but the current situation isn't really like that as we've seen.  Those who don't want to spend 60 know that it'll be cheaper later so they wait.  So really it's selling two games for 40 or one game for 60 and another for 40 later down the line.  

I will always say handheld games should never pass $30 and Consoles don't pass $50 but hey.... Japan and Australia have it much worse. Certain franchises get sky high prices just cause

Yes there worth it. When you can put games like uncharted and assasians creed and any open world game on a mobile phone,for a buck,then you might have a good point. with what games cost to make these days,I'm surprised they haven't actually increased the prices.

Agreed. Perception is that all games can do that well or will do that well. When it is more like one in a million.