Vivian on 30/1/2004 at 13:23
But... the more piracy occurs, the more prices go up, which means that more piracy occurs cos people don't want to pay that much money, thank you, which drives costs up even further etc, etc... The problem is, will an upsurge in legitimate purchase drive prices back down, or will publishers think they can get away with charging £50 for games? Hmm.... It's a conundrum. Or an enigma. Or maybe both.
Perhaps they should ship hardware dongles with games. But that'd only make them more expensive.
Talgor on 30/1/2004 at 15:19
My point was that the average gamer is likely to go through the following thought process:
"Ohh, I want to buy a game. Let's buy... ummmm... THAT one." (choice determined by a neat cover and/or name)
"This game is SO full of ... I'm going to buy another." (chooses another based on neat cover and/or name)
"This game is SO full of ... TOO. No way I'm going to waste my money on another crappy game! Hey, I've got that pal who downloads games from the net, maybe he could..."
The average gamer doesn't know which game is worth the cash. One of the solutions I would offer is pricing them according to their value. Now that <A HREF="http://www.zengamer.com/ratings.php?revid=111&PHPSESSID=343484e435ac91866c7a2056785bd899">"The Game Of The Year"</A> costs the exact same amount of cash as <A HREF="http://www.gamespot.com/pc/driving/bigrigsotrr/review.html">"Oh, That Thing Bob Knocked Together Over The Weekend"</A>, it's just not really worth taking the risk if you don't know what you're going to get, especially since, as mentioned earlier, the vast majority of all games published are just plain bad.
Of course, that approach is probably almost the total opposite of their current approach, which seems to hinge on people buying the cheap, crappy games...
icemann on 31/1/2004 at 03:35
Freddo: Thats very country in the world specific. Over here in Australia the price of games has doubled in the last 10 years.
For example:
1994: *walks into store and grabs Doom2 + Ultima 8*
cost: Doom2 $50, Ultima 8 $45
Total=$95
2004: *walks into store and grabs Deus Ex 2 + Temple of Elemental Evil*
cost: Deux Ex 2 $90, Temple of Elemental Evil $95
Total=$185
Talgor: Due to the cost of games nowadays, it has forced alot of consumers out there to be super picky about what game they buy. Which is why the majority of games doing well nowadays are those that are stereotypically good games (racing, action games etc). Which is why alot of the games that go for something different aren`t doing anywhere near as good as they did 10 years ago. Anyways thats my 2 cents.
-ô_ô- on 31/1/2004 at 04:13
"the more piracy occurs, the more prices go up"
Can you give at least one example of this happening? If so, how about five?
Publishers give us that bullshit line because they want consumers on their side, but even if warez was eradicated they'd charge $50 or more on every game if they thought we'd pay it.
Uncia on 31/1/2004 at 05:23
Nonsense! Just look at the music industry, the RIAA would /never/ think of selling CDs substancially above their production costs!
Fragony on 31/1/2004 at 13:31
Ya just like the music industry the piracy is killing pc-gaming. And I don't feel sorry for them, they are getting the bill for years of misconduct. Dont get me wrong, I will never download a game, it is stealing and I am not a thief (well in real life;)). I wonder how many people stole serious sam 2, an excellent game for a budget price. I reckon most people wouldn't find it worth the trouble, and just payed the 20 euro/dollar. Publishers have lost customers by releasing buggy products for retail prices, and the only thing they improve is the security, not the quality. Nobody is surprised anymore when a patch is released the very week a game was released, they make us pay to do their work, hire your own damn testers. I have yet to play deus ex 2 (desp[ite the critism I will buy it the day it is released in holland) , but from what I have heard it is a perfect example of this ignorance. I really can't get mad when someone steals it, I actually have this feeling in my gut that they deserve to be stolen from. And for the music industry, well, the day they go broke will be the day that music is art again, made by people that like playing music. No more godforsaken rap, 'cool' black people with names like Puff Daddy telling youngsters women are 'bitches' and criminality is cool. The music industry would promote genocide if it was profitable.
