4 ms·

All these bundled game packages are turning games into something like trading cards rather than games. People I've heard from say that they never get around to

by dpcan 13y ago

All these bundled game packages are turning games into something like trading cards rather than games. People I've heard from say that they never get around to playing the games, but they buy them in bundles like this because they can get a bunch of games cheap, and maybe someday they'll have a chance to sit down and play them. Like a Baseball card. You buy them up when you have some extra money, or got them as a gift, and you store them away, maybe someday they'll have value. Right now, their only value is that they are in your collection at all. (Pokemon/Magic/Whatever) I'm an indie game developer myself, and it's interesting to me because it seems like people have become accustom to buying games because they heard about them instead of because they want to PLAY them. I'm totally guilt of this myself. I've spent many bucks myself on iOS titles just because of the hype, play them once, and that's it. Most times I feel like a real sucker for falling for it. Rarely do I get a gem. I'm usually the edge-case for stuff like this, don't really expect anyone to agree :)

freehunter 13y ago
That's a pretty common argument especially when Steam sales come around. People will buy everything at a steal then possibly never play them. I think the idea behind it is, what's the risk/reward? If I buy it and never play it, I'm out $5. If I don't buy it and it haunts me so much that I buy it after the sale, I'm out $35. How much is $5 worth to you? It might be the difference between impulse buy or putting some thought into it. I know I buy into Humble Bundles if there's even one game I like (or have heard I will like) that's packaged into it. It's worth the price of admission. Having the other games is a safety net of sorts. If they're in my collection, I can play them anytime I want (even if that day may never come). Helping indie devs is just a side effect ;)
- makomk 13y ago
  When Steam for Linux came out, I actually ended up playing one of the games from the very first Humble Bundle I'd never even really looked at at the time and enjoying it, so it's certainly not totally pointless to have extra games lying around.
dvanduzer 13y ago
You may be interested in Professor Bogost's analysis of this: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/6595/persuasive_games_what_is_a_game_.php http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/6595/persuasive_games_...
xaritas 13y ago
Were they were like baseball cards! ("You know, I would be rich if only my mother hadn't rm'd my three digital copies of Braid.") At least with baseball cards you might expect some to increase in value. I hardly ever play games anymore and yet I'm still drawn to these sales. I could probably not buy another game for years and still find something to play if I forced myself to reach the end of the ones I currently have.
InclinedPlane 13y ago
You have to remember that these bundles and sales are not launch events. Psychonauts is an 8 year old game, for example. One of the biggest challenges of selling games is the sharp falloff of sales after release. The genius of things like the humble bundle and steam sales is that they leverage the low incremental cost of digital delivery to allow for game sales at vastly reduced prices long after release. And it works. These things generate millions of dollars of revenue. And they also put games in people's hands, allowing people to enjoy great games that they might have otherwise ignored due to the release date. Certainly not everyone plays all of the games they buy this way, but I think that's not a bad thing. The same effect happens with books, for example. People may buy a book that sits on their shelf for a very long time before it is read, if ever. And that's ok if it means that the reduction in price of the game (or book) has enabled thousands upon thousands of people the ability to enjoy that work who wouldn't have before.
msg 13y ago
I'm not a developer, but I love indie games. We are living in a Golden Age. I dropped maybe $10 on Minecraft back in Alpha. We are buying desert island games for the price of a latte. I think I bought To the Moon for $3. Maybe $5. And the next time it went on sale I bought it 5 times to give away copies. Or Binding of Isaac, I think I paid 1.25 for my first copy. And I am closing in on 300 hours there. Price is no longer a discriminator for great games. You can plop down $5 and get Steam keys for 5 to 8 games. If even one of them has good reviews, you can afford to take a risk on the rest. I was tempted by my conditioning (sponsored by modern retail) to say that the other games in the bundle are practically free. So a good strategy to find your best new games is wait for the bundle, buy 10, cherish 1. If you can stand not to play on release day, you will gain a lot of solid gold and an enormous backlog. If you're going in with eyes wide open, it's a win win for players and developers.

by dpcan 13y ago

freehunter 13y ago

That's a pretty common argument especially when Steam sales come around. People will buy everything at a steal then possibly never play them. I think the idea behind it is, what's the risk/reward? If I buy it and never play it, I'm out $5. If I don't buy it and it haunts me so much that I buy it after the sale, I'm out $35. How much is $5 worth to you? It might be the difference between impulse buy or putting some thought into it. I know I buy into Humble Bundles if there's even one game I like (or have heard I will like) that's packaged into it. It's worth the price of admission. Having the other games is a safety net of sorts. If they're in my collection, I can play them anytime I want (even if that day may never come). Helping indie devs is just a side effect ;)

makomk 13y ago
When Steam for Linux came out, I actually ended up playing one of the games from the very first Humble Bundle I'd never even really looked at at the time and enjoying it, so it's certainly not totally pointless to have extra games lying around.

dvanduzer 13y ago

You may be interested in Professor Bogost's analysis of this: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/6595/persuasive_games_what_is_a_game_.php http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/6595/persuasive_games_...

xaritas 13y ago

Were they were like baseball cards! ("You know, I would be rich if only my mother hadn't rm'd my three digital copies of Braid.") At least with baseball cards you might expect some to increase in value. I hardly ever play games anymore and yet I'm still drawn to these sales. I could probably not buy another game for years and still find something to play if I forced myself to reach the end of the ones I currently have.

InclinedPlane 13y ago

You have to remember that these bundles and sales are not launch events. Psychonauts is an 8 year old game, for example. One of the biggest challenges of selling games is the sharp falloff of sales after release. The genius of things like the humble bundle and steam sales is that they leverage the low incremental cost of digital delivery to allow for game sales at vastly reduced prices long after release. And it works. These things generate millions of dollars of revenue. And they also put games in people's hands, allowing people to enjoy great games that they might have otherwise ignored due to the release date. Certainly not everyone plays all of the games they buy this way, but I think that's not a bad thing. The same effect happens with books, for example. People may buy a book that sits on their shelf for a very long time before it is read, if ever. And that's ok if it means that the reduction in price of the game (or book) has enabled thousands upon thousands of people the ability to enjoy that work who wouldn't have before.

msg 13y ago

I'm not a developer, but I love indie games. We are living in a Golden Age. I dropped maybe $10 on Minecraft back in Alpha. We are buying desert island games for the price of a latte. I think I bought To the Moon for $3. Maybe $5. And the next time it went on sale I bought it 5 times to give away copies. Or Binding of Isaac, I think I paid 1.25 for my first copy. And I am closing in on 300 hours there. Price is no longer a discriminator for great games. You can plop down $5 and get Steam keys for 5 to 8 games. If even one of them has good reviews, you can afford to take a risk on the rest. I was tempted by my conditioning (sponsored by modern retail) to say that the other games in the bundle are practically free. So a good strategy to find your best new games is wait for the bundle, buy 10, cherish 1. If you can stand not to play on release day, you will gain a lot of solid gold and an enormous backlog. If you're going in with eyes wide open, it's a win win for players and developers.