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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Why are console games so much more expensive than PC games?

Here PC games cost 10 euros less than HD console games, they have the same price tag as Wii games and cost 10 euros more than handheld games. All crappy PC games hit the bargain bin in less than a month, but AAA PC games fall between 10-15 euros only in a couple of months.

The 10 euros extra for console and handheld games comes from the licensing fee that publishers have to pay to the console, handheld makers.



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I rarely pay full price for games anyway. Internet retailers FTW.

Wii games are not more expensive than last' gen's BTW.

 



My Mario Kart Wii friend code: 2707-1866-0957

PC games here are €50
Wii games vary from €30 to €60 (most games are €50)
Xbox 360 games are €60
PS3 games are €65 (sometimes even up to €75: Uncharted, Ratchet and Clank)

It's weird because when a multiplatform game is released, (CoD4, for example) you can see that the same game in the same store is €50 for PC, €60 for Xbox 360 and €65 for PS3. It makes no sense.



brute said:
Finnbar said:
I dont really notice a difference, I usually pay about $60 a pc game and $40(Wii) to $65(PS3) for console.

 

really?where do you live?

around me its 50 for pc 50 for wii and 60 for ps3/360

 

Germany it's about 50€ ($78) for a PC game and between 60€ ($94) and 70€ ($110) for a PS3/360 game.

Dammit. That's a lot !!!!



As usual, Europeans are including taxes when they convert to dollars, which is misleading.

Yeah, we pay more for games than Americans do, but not as much as those conversions make it seem.



My Mario Kart Wii friend code: 2707-1866-0957

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Hmm, I never noticed that PS3 games are 5 euros more expensive than 360 games, but I don´t own a ps3 to begin with. I also practically always buy through internet retailers and often times their prices are a bit lower than the normal price tag.



jalsonmi said:

I own a $2200 MacBook Pro, and it's barely a gaming machine

 

Gee, I wonder why.



I love PC gaming, absolutely love it, so my statement is not that of a console FanBoy. I do love console gaming and think it appeals to the casual market. I have 3 computers. A desktop PC, a MAC Laptop and a XPS Gaming Laptop. I cant wait for StarCraft 2, but thats an entirely different discussion.

But PC FanBoys, when using the Console to PC cost comparison you always use the XBox 360 and in comparison with the cost of live it (could) be more expensive. However, many of my friends have arcades and dont use live so factor that out in some of costs next time. If you were to do a cost comparison for the PS3, which I NEVER see, the PS3 is a cheaper gaming system period. Try to factor in a Blu-Ray player and free on line and the PS3 comes out on top every single time. A Blu-Ray player disk drive on a PC or Laptop is still retarded when it comes to price. So....yes PS3 is a cheaper gaming rig in comparison to a PC, I hate to admit it sometimes, but it is...period. Dont torch me, but it is the truth.



BenKenobi88 said:
Hawkeye said:
sc94597 said:
Hawkeye said:
Which would you prefer-
A. $2000 console with $40 games
B. $350 console with $60 games
there is your answer. PC gamers pay through the nose for hardware but better control and graphics and customization and get decent prices on software. Console gamers get much cheaper hardware but slightly more expensive software.

Are you delutional? My $700 pc could play any game on high-very high settings at 720p, and most games I could play even higher. You could probably build a pc for $500 that could play any game on the mariket, and play them with better graphics than the hd consoles.

 

 

I asked my friend before "if I bought an $800 PC, would it be able to play CoD4 so I could play it with you guys at the LAN party?" and he said "it would run, but it wouldn't run on any setting worth playing". He may be wrong, I have no idea as I have a crappy laptop, but my impression has been that a very expensive PC is needed to run modern PC games like Crysis and CoD4.

Hah.

Let's go through a list of prices when comparing PC to 360:

PC:
-- $800 PC (that's how much mine cost including a 22" widescreen monitor), it plays COD4 on max settings, Crysis with medium to high settings, TF2 fully maxed, etc.
-- Free internet usage and gaming.
-- Games typically start at $50.

Run that for 2 years, with, let's say, a $100 upgrade for something along the line, a hard drive, video card, whatever.  I just bought a Radeon 3850 for $90, and that's pretty much my only upgrading in a while.  Let's say you buy 12 games a year, once a month.

Add that up, that's $2100 in 2 years.

360:

--$350 console, no TV, you can factor that price separately if you wish, though to be fair we should throw in the same $170 monitor I factored into the PC deal.
--$50 a year for Xbox Live, right?
--Games typically start at $60.

Add that up, it's $1890 for 2 years, without the monitor.  Throw in the monitor, or similarly priced TV, that's $2060.  Throw in another controller, because who the hell owns a console with only one controller?   You're now up to $2100, or $2180 if you buy 2 more controllers.

I was a little modest with both systems.  You can overspend on a PC, get things you don't need, just as you can do with a console.  You can buy used games on a console, but PC games drop in price REALLY fast so they're pretty much equal there.

Please check your assumptions before you type, and educate your stupid friend.

 

You need to add another $500 to the console side for a cheaper computer.  Because even if you have the console you still need to have a computer to browse the internet.  It is hard to truly enjoy porn with both hands busy holding the controller



TheTruthHurts! said:
I love PC gaming, absolutely love it, so my statement is not that of a console FanBoy. I do love console gaming and think it appeals to the casual market. I have 3 computers. A desktop PC, a MAC Laptop and a XPS Gaming Laptop. I cant wait for StarCraft 2, but thats an entirely different discussion.

But PC FanBoys, when using the Console to PC cost comparison you always use the XBox 360 and in comparison with the cost of live it (could) be more expensive. However, many of my friends have arcades and dont use live so factor that out in some of costs next time. If you were to do a cost comparison for the PS3, which I NEVER see, the PS3 is a cheaper gaming system period. Try to factor in a Blu-Ray player and free on line and the PS3 comes out on top every single time. A Blu-Ray player disk drive on a PC or Laptop is still retarded when it comes to price. So....yes PS3 is a cheaper gaming rig in comparison to a PC, I hate to admit it sometimes, but it is...period. Dont torch me, but it is the truth.

Us PC fanboys are also factoring in the usual GPU + RAM Upgrade, so if we were to dismiss Xbox Live costs then we'd also have to ignore PC upgrade costs. Both are optional, but not having Xbox Live is more damaging than not upgrading your PC.

Also, there is no point in mentioning that PS3 can play Blu-Ray because we are talking strictly about Gaming Costs. If we were to include non-gaming features, then guess who effortlessly wins? PC!!

 

So let's see how much it costs to game for each platform:

PC:
Built Gaming PC = $500
GPU + Ram Upgrade = $200
Game every month (5yrs) = $3000
= $3700
(Also, several PC games are actually released at $40 and $30 price point)
(Also, PC games drop price much faster than Console games)

Xbox 360:
Xbox 360 = $350
Xbox Live (5yrs) = $250
Game every month (5yrs) = $3600
= $4200

PS3:
PS3 = $400
Game every month (5yrs) = $3600
= $4000

Conclusion: PC crushes PS3/360.