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I'm convinced that's more that games were very overpriced for a long time. Or at least they were expensive because sales were generally lower. Games used to be

I'm convinced that's more that games were very overpriced for a long time. Or at least they were expensive because sales were generally lower. Games used to be ridiculously expensive. Big publishers like EA, Activision, Take Two, etc. All still made/make killer profits on games. Development costs more today, but games are also selling a lot more plus there's other revenue streams like microtransactions and subscriptions. They really aren't struggling for cash. Nintendo has the right idea. They just basically never drop the price of their games. Whereas most other publisher's reduce prices by 50% within just a month or two. Big games often have long tails.

LegitShady 4y ago
I don't think the games were overpriced until you factor in overmonetization through season passes, DLC, and microtransactions in many games that release at full price. The full price would have been fair, the rest of the anti consumer business model means the full price is userous.
AussieWog93 4y ago
>I'm convinced that's more that games were very overpriced for a long time. Dunkey (famous YouTuber) made a pretty interesting short video essay on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvPkAYT6B1Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvPkAYT6B1Q His takeaway that video game pricing doesn't make any sense, and never has. $60 for a beautiful work of art that you'll remember for the rest of your life is the deal of a lifetime, whereas $60 for a forgettable, shameless cash grab is a complete rip-off. I'm run a retro games business now, and the pricing honestly makes a lot more sense from an economic point of view. $300 for EarthBound is still a better deal than $8 for Final Fantasy XIII-2.
- seanhunter 4y ago
  > $60 for a beautiful work of art that you'll remember for the rest of your life is the deal of a lifetime, whereas $60 for a forgettable, shameless cash grab is a complete rip-off. This exactly. I can't remember what I paid for Factorio or Subnautica or Valheim but 100x what I paid still would be amazing value vs 1/100th of what I paid for Fallout 4 would still be too much.
- npteljes 4y ago
  >$60 for a beautiful work of art that you'll remember for the rest of your life is the deal of a lifetime, whereas $60 for a forgettable, shameless cash grab is a complete rip-off. I don't think this is how experiences work. Because you haven't had them in the first place, there's no way whether you'll like it or not. Second thing is, what's the point of the pricing? Covering the expenses of the creator, publisher? Making them have a buffer for a future work? Extracting as much from the people as they can? These yield very different outcomes. In the end, pricing making sense boils down to one's economic view. If you think about it, it's about the fairness of the compensation, and so, the thinking centers around what's fair, how to ensure fairness, and whom should be included in fairness and to what degree. And so, you get the "let the market decide" people, the "manage it centrally" people, and many other people too of course. And pricing might make sense only in a framework like that. With no framework, it will never make sense.
- Waterluvian 4y ago
  A used games business has the luxury of hindsight. Earthbound is a great example: Nintendo didn’t know it would be a “$300 title.” They weren’t even confident it would sell in the West. Lots of titles we know today as timeless classics were like this. They were incredibly anxious about Super Mario Kart and Mario 64. They were so unsure of the entire N64 console that they made a controller with a fallback D-pad for 2D gaming.
galleywest200 4y ago
People forget that games for the N64 retailed for $70+.
fomine3 4y ago
Game cartridge ROM cost was very expensive and had very long lead time.
Ekaros 4y ago
Also some fraction of sales have moved digital. Meaning the whole retail chain that used to exist is not there to take their cut, moving it entirely to publishers. Manufacturing, warehousing, shipping, warehousing with distributors and shipping again to stores. Who then hold inventory and sold it was not cheap.
nbardy 4y ago
Supply of games is a big factor here as well. Way more quality game makers

LegitShady 4y ago

I don't think the games were overpriced until you factor in overmonetization through season passes, DLC, and microtransactions in many games that release at full price. The full price would have been fair, the rest of the anti consumer business model means the full price is userous.

AussieWog93 4y ago

>I'm convinced that's more that games were very overpriced for a long time. Dunkey (famous YouTuber) made a pretty interesting short video essay on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvPkAYT6B1Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvPkAYT6B1Q His takeaway that video game pricing doesn't make any sense, and never has. $60 for a beautiful work of art that you'll remember for the rest of your life is the deal of a lifetime, whereas $60 for a forgettable, shameless cash grab is a complete rip-off. I'm run a retro games business now, and the pricing honestly makes a lot more sense from an economic point of view. $300 for EarthBound is still a better deal than $8 for Final Fantasy XIII-2.

seanhunter 4y ago
> $60 for a beautiful work of art that you'll remember for the rest of your life is the deal of a lifetime, whereas $60 for a forgettable, shameless cash grab is a complete rip-off. This exactly. I can't remember what I paid for Factorio or Subnautica or Valheim but 100x what I paid still would be amazing value vs 1/100th of what I paid for Fallout 4 would still be too much.
npteljes 4y ago
>$60 for a beautiful work of art that you'll remember for the rest of your life is the deal of a lifetime, whereas $60 for a forgettable, shameless cash grab is a complete rip-off. I don't think this is how experiences work. Because you haven't had them in the first place, there's no way whether you'll like it or not. Second thing is, what's the point of the pricing? Covering the expenses of the creator, publisher? Making them have a buffer for a future work? Extracting as much from the people as they can? These yield very different outcomes. In the end, pricing making sense boils down to one's economic view. If you think about it, it's about the fairness of the compensation, and so, the thinking centers around what's fair, how to ensure fairness, and whom should be included in fairness and to what degree. And so, you get the "let the market decide" people, the "manage it centrally" people, and many other people too of course. And pricing might make sense only in a framework like that. With no framework, it will never make sense.
Waterluvian 4y ago
A used games business has the luxury of hindsight. Earthbound is a great example: Nintendo didn’t know it would be a “$300 title.” They weren’t even confident it would sell in the West. Lots of titles we know today as timeless classics were like this. They were incredibly anxious about Super Mario Kart and Mario 64. They were so unsure of the entire N64 console that they made a controller with a fallback D-pad for 2D gaming.

galleywest200 4y ago

People forget that games for the N64 retailed for $70+.

fomine3 4y ago

Game cartridge ROM cost was very expensive and had very long lead time.

Ekaros 4y ago

Also some fraction of sales have moved digital. Meaning the whole retail chain that used to exist is not there to take their cut, moving it entirely to publishers. Manufacturing, warehousing, shipping, warehousing with distributors and shipping again to stores. Who then hold inventory and sold it was not cheap.

nbardy 4y ago

Supply of games is a big factor here as well. Way more quality game makers