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Why are games so damn expensive?

November 09, 2008 in Industry News comments 14

This isn't the first time someone has complained about the price of video games since the the three of the major publishers decided to up the price from 50 US dollars to 60 US dollars. and we all know why, next gen systems are more costly to develop for, especially for the PS3.


click the link below to get the low down.

"First, there's the most obvious, and that's production cost. Many games are essentially small movies now. Some, like Metal Gear Solid 4 included enough cutscenes (non-played movie sequences) to fill multiple feature length films, and most story driven games have at least some cutscenes. In addition, many big names from Hollywood have gotten into the game voiceover business. Even a lesser profile game like The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon featured a cast including Christina Ricci, Elija Wood, Gary Oldman, and voiceover artist extraordinaire Mark Hamill, amongst other known "names." "
HawkMan via news.yahoo.com »
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Most recently commented on by on Nov 11, 2008

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  • 0
    HawkMan Nov 9, 08
    damnit, grammatical errors FTW!!
    • 0
      chautemoc Nov 9, 08
      There weren't any spelling errors there, just grammatical.
  • 0
    Heretic Nov 9, 08
    Games are really not that badly priced if you wanna put in the amount of time work an effort for the people who created the games, they need to be paid some how.
  • 0
    HawkMan Nov 9, 08
    yeah agreed, but I think games should be more longer in play time.

    60 bucks for a 10 hour game seems off base for my tastes.
  • 0
    PacoDG Nov 9, 08
    Back in my day, Excitebike on just the regular old NES cost over $50, so for games to have come up quality wise but kept the same price is awesome to me.
  • 3
    tekmosis Nov 9, 08
    The most expensive game I've bought was Super Mario RPG when it was first released I paid about $112 after taxes. I think back now and it's like $112?! omg D:

    What I find expensive in the gaming industry are DS and PSP games. I shouldn't have to pay 35-50 for a DS game. Same goes for peripherals such as the PS3/360/etc controller. Why should those cost $50? or the new PS3 bluetooth mic that retails for aprox $50 as well.
    • 0
      BANDITO ATTACK Nov 10, 08
      holy hell, i never knew SNES games cost that much.
      i remember in the mid 90s i payed like 5$ for nes games at a thrift shop. i just assumed they were always this cheap.
    • 0
      Big Willie Nov 10, 08
      Yeah, I feel the same way. I traded my PSP in to get a DS just because the games were slightly cheaper. I still haven't bought a second controller for my 360 yet. And don't even get me started on the 360's Wifi adapter.

      I think the glaring difference these days is in the quality of games and the buyer's intelligence. Back in the day, all games sold pretty much equally. And you could expect the gradual difference in price as the game got older. Which meant good games for cheap. Now-a-days, people have wisened up on their shopping habits and mostly buy the better quality games. Leaving their value relatively high while the crappy games prices pummel.

      Take for example Gears of War (the original) and Viva Pinata. Go to a store a look at the prices for either. Gears of War is $40, while Viva Pinata is $20. Early 90's mentality on pricing games would have them at nearly the same price because they were released around the same time. And in the bargain bin too I might add.
  • 0
    Onvacation Nov 10, 08
    I don't get people. They'd happily dish out £30-35 for a DVD film but when it comes to games its a giant waste of money
    • 0
      Slumpy monkey Nov 10, 08
      I know! My mus spent like 12 quid on a CD, when she could have just bought them off Itunes and burned them to CD.
  • 0
    Final Blade Nov 10, 08
    Well giving the amount of time it takes to make games nowadays and the amount of developer teams, its not really that expensive. Hell back in the day the Genesis, and SNES titles and systems was just as high as games now. Of course we may not see it with eyes, but still the same for its time.
  • 0
    Killosity Nov 10, 08
    Game prices are fine for me; that is not an issue. But I guess some find it hard under the financial strain and the current economic situation.

    Im looking a lot into Indie games and freeware games on the internet to see whats on offer, and try to replicate a paid experience. Its interesting, and there are some amazing free titles out there which are overlooked. I suggest anyone looking for an alternative to paying for games, get these.

    Still, console games seem at the right price. It is a shame that some games for the same price last longer than others though...
  • 1
    Oogity_Boogity_Boo Nov 10, 08
    Wait, did I miss something? Wii games are $60 now?

    I'd love for the games to be less expensive, but I just think "That's what I have to pay, do I want it or not?". Then I buy depending on that. It's worked for me so far.
  • 0
    Dark Arcanine Nov 11, 08
    I don't think games are that expensive. I mean sure they've increased in price over time, but so does everything. I feel they're still readily affordable and worth every penny.

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