the_grip on 1/3/2009 at 01:31
The game looks killer (esp. for someone who has played the whole series for over 15 yrs now), but $59.99 for a basic fighter with some frills? My lord the game industry rips the consumer off.
EvaUnit02 on 1/3/2009 at 01:36
Don't 90% of new release 360/PS3 games retail for that much in the US? Something like SF4 I'd imagine would give a player a lot more replay value than the average 8-10 hour SP action game, which might have a tacked on MP component - those also generally sell for $60 USD when brand new.
I think that I might be just Capcom, Resident Evil 5 and Street Fighter 4 retail for $140 NZD over here. Most other publishers charge no more than $100-120 for brand new HD console releases.
Flagston on 1/3/2009 at 03:12
I just spent 60 bucks for House Of The Dead Overkill. Now there is a ripoff.
Phatose on 1/3/2009 at 05:52
Pretty much all new next gen console titles are $60.00 to start out with.
Fragony on 1/3/2009 at 13:46
And you have to actually buy new costumes, not that I care about costumes but wtf. Game is excellent by the way, I don't like fighters but there's something about this one, must be a childhood thing.
Pidesco on 1/3/2009 at 18:00
SF2 for the SNES cost what would today be 70€, on release.
Renzatic on 1/3/2009 at 19:51
I remember buying Final Fantasy 3 at release for close to $90 after taxes. Took alot of days of mowing lawns to get all that cash. Same with Super Street Fighter 2 on the SNES. That one cost me about $65 or so.
So nope, console games aren't getting more expensive. We were all spoiled by the cheap CDs and DVDs of PS1 and PS2 era, and now everything is making an about face to the old 16-bit days.
TheOutrider on 1/3/2009 at 19:59
I distinctly remember paying 130DM (roughly 65EUR) for Mario Kart on the SNES back in the day. Similarly, most PC games used to be in the 100DM (50EUR) range if I'm remembering things correctly.
So, no, games aren't getting more expensive, they just were cheap for a while when Sony tried to stomp the competition. Sony also were the guys to start price dropping games over time - most people will remember that Gamecube games, unless they were picked for the Player's Choice series, basically never dropped in price and frequently launched at 50 or even 55EUR.
june gloom on 1/3/2009 at 20:57
I wish prices stayed at $50. Even before taxes, that's still a mental price barrier that a lot of people aren't willing to cross. Charge $50 and you're going to get a lot more sales- people aren't going to want to fork over that extra ten dollars (plus an extra cent or two on taxes!) unless it's an ultra high profile game.
[edit] To do a bit of math:
Say you make a game and charge $49.99 for it. In my zip code the sales tax rate is 6.5%, so we'll use that as an example. This comes out to $53.24- what I paid for FEAR 2, by the way.
Now multiply that by, let's say 500,000 units sold in the first month.
53.24x500000=$26,620,000
That's quite a fucking lot of money!
Now let's say the price was set at $59.99. Now let's say that 100,000 people less are willing to pay that much in the first month of release.
Factor in taxes, and the initial price becomes $63.89, multiply that by 400,000 sales and you get $25,556,000. Ultimately you make over a million dollars less the first month.
This is all very simplistic and I basically pulled sales figures out of my ass, but I was just trying to show how charging more earns you less because people aren't as willing to buy.
TheOutrider on 1/3/2009 at 21:06
To be fair, most sane places include sales tax/VAT in prices. ;)
54.99EUR was pretty much a standard price for Gamecube and late PS2 games in Germany, including 16% VAT. For current-gen games it's usually 59.99, including 19%.
