3 ms·

I wonder if this effect applies to games too? I sell games and unfortunately I don't think it does. I would love to be proven wrong however.

dkimball 16y ago
I agree, I don't think it does. $50 feels like a lot even for a commercial-grade game, $60 feels like a fortune; gaming also has an enormous piracy problem (look up what happened to Paradox Interactive with the release of _Demigod_). Gaming isn't really the same field as commercial software; a product is released once, and that's the end of it, as opposed to needing long-term support like a commercial product does. Put another way: after people buy Halo 3, they aren't likely to upgrade to Halo 3.11 for Workgroups.
- crystalis 16y ago
  http://blog.wolfire.com/2010/05/Another-view-of-game-piracy http://blog.wolfire.com/2010/05/Another-view-of-game-piracy
frossie 16y ago
I suspect the game psychology is quite different. A person looking for a sound editing suite needs a sound editing suite, and the question really is whether to chose Suite A, B or C. A person looking for a game is probably looking for any game, and knows even if they buy your specific game they might not get into it and therefore not get full value. They are also not concerned about ongoing support. So I don't think this guy's lessons apply.
houseabsolute 16y ago
I can think of two big differences: 1. Few gamers make a living out of doing it. 2. There is a much wider selection in the number of video games they can choose to play. So you have two forces working against you. First, if you raise your prices, there are a lot of other games people can play. Second, if you raise your prices, people can simply choose not to play at all. Not so with audio engineers. They must have the software to make a living, giving them a lot less choice in the matter. They also probably become more intimately familiar with the software than most gamers become with video games. Finally, the context encourages a level of maturity that recognizes the impact of freeloading and fosters good-customership. So, that's why you probably won't be able to charge more for a video game. Although they do get away with it in some contexts (rock band, some racing games). P.S. as much as you would like to believe gamers will pay for quality wherever they find it, there's also this issue that in your industry (apparently roguelike games) there's this huge norming influence toward free-to-play games. That probably doesn't help you much.
- chops 16y ago
  Also, gamers are notoriously cheap. Consider WoW players who whine about the servers being down, and their justification: "I pay 15 bucks a month, and they can't even keep the goddamned servers online!? WTF!" Frustrating, to say the least. $15/mo for (in many cases) 60-80 hours of entertainment per month, if not more for the extremely hardcore.
  - dagw 16y ago
    I don't agree that gamers are cheap as a group. Most gamers I know not only own several consoles and a graphics card that cost more than many peoples computers, they also happily buy $60+ games on the day of release several times a month. If you try to tell them that by waiting 6 month they can get the same games for half the price, they'll look at you as if that was the stupidest thing they've heard in their entire life.

dkimball 16y ago

I agree, I don't think it does. $50 feels like a lot even for a commercial-grade game, $60 feels like a fortune; gaming also has an enormous piracy problem (look up what happened to Paradox Interactive with the release of _Demigod_). Gaming isn't really the same field as commercial software; a product is released once, and that's the end of it, as opposed to needing long-term support like a commercial product does. Put another way: after people buy Halo 3, they aren't likely to upgrade to Halo 3.11 for Workgroups.

crystalis 16y ago
http://blog.wolfire.com/2010/05/Another-view-of-game-piracy http://blog.wolfire.com/2010/05/Another-view-of-game-piracy

frossie 16y ago

I suspect the game psychology is quite different. A person looking for a sound editing suite needs a sound editing suite, and the question really is whether to chose Suite A, B or C. A person looking for a game is probably looking for any game, and knows even if they buy your specific game they might not get into it and therefore not get full value. They are also not concerned about ongoing support. So I don't think this guy's lessons apply.

houseabsolute 16y ago

I can think of two big differences: 1. Few gamers make a living out of doing it. 2. There is a much wider selection in the number of video games they can choose to play. So you have two forces working against you. First, if you raise your prices, there are a lot of other games people can play. Second, if you raise your prices, people can simply choose not to play at all. Not so with audio engineers. They must have the software to make a living, giving them a lot less choice in the matter. They also probably become more intimately familiar with the software than most gamers become with video games. Finally, the context encourages a level of maturity that recognizes the impact of freeloading and fosters good-customership. So, that's why you probably won't be able to charge more for a video game. Although they do get away with it in some contexts (rock band, some racing games). P.S. as much as you would like to believe gamers will pay for quality wherever they find it, there's also this issue that in your industry (apparently roguelike games) there's this huge norming influence toward free-to-play games. That probably doesn't help you much.

chops 16y ago
Also, gamers are notoriously cheap. Consider WoW players who whine about the servers being down, and their justification: "I pay 15 bucks a month, and they can't even keep the goddamned servers online!? WTF!" Frustrating, to say the least. $15/mo for (in many cases) 60-80 hours of entertainment per month, if not more for the extremely hardcore.
- dagw 16y ago
  I don't agree that gamers are cheap as a group. Most gamers I know not only own several consoles and a graphics card that cost more than many peoples computers, they also happily buy $60+ games on the day of release several times a month. If you try to tell them that by waiting 6 month they can get the same games for half the price, they'll look at you as if that was the stupidest thing they've heard in their entire life.