How long before these $60 price tags dissapear?

[udisi]

I know games are costing a shit ton of money these days to develop, but we've seen this trend on every system since SNES. I remember seeing SNES carts going for $70 new at KB toys and shit like that. And this was in the early to mid 90's!

SNES and N64 high pricing was a whole different bear. THe high cost for cart based systems had to due with development cost yes, but also getting roms made and the actual cart consruction is far more expensive than pressing a CD or DVD. Games like Final Fantasy III used more chips and such. The N64 version of something would cost 59.99 when the PS1 version was 39.99 because of the same reason.

[qbertandernie]

sorry for the size of these...this comp doesnt have photo software on it. this is a 1994 toys r us ad.





although now i read udisi's above post, that seems a likely reason for higher priced games.

[PallarAndersVisa]

$70 for sports talk football! And that is 13 years ago!

[agbulls]

Excellent post qb. I think this officially ends the argument stone cold. Inflation alone should make us happy that they're ONLY 60.

[Aussie2B]

64.99 for Shaq Fu makes me weep.

[heybtbm]

64.99 for Shaq Fu makes me weep.

Yeah, that kind of jumps out at you. $65 for Shaq Fu...so...so wrong.

[j_factor]

Dual-layer DVDs cost less to produce than blu-ray discs, so shouldn't 360 games be cheaper than PS3 games? I read the Forbes article and it doesn't seem to address this point.

[Alucard79]

I see you've never played GRAW or GRAW 2. Nothing says "realism" like 400 identical billboards for Axe Body Spray spread throughout small Mexican villages.

Hey now, Mexican terrrorists need to smell good too...

[Griking]

PC games seem to be dropping, some are even $40 sometimes! $60 is alot, I used to have to ppay that much in the SNES days. And I was a kid so I could only buy games with birthday money and such. So games were pretty few and far between. When I do get a next gen console I'll probably just buy used games unless the game is worth $60 to me.

PC games have always cost less than console games. Some top of the line games retail for $50 but the average price of a new PC game is usually in the $29.99-$39.99 range. Developers don't need to pay a console owner for the rights to make a PC game.

I also believe that they will charge as much as people are willing to pay. Stop buying games for $60 and they'll eventually have to cut prices. I don't understand why people run out and purchase a game on it's release date (let alone reserve a copy) when the game will most likely drop $10-$20 in a matter of a few months. A used copy at this point will be even less. It's not as if you have to sit around with nothing to play, if you follow this patten there will always be a supply of two month old games to buy.

[NickmasterX]

PC games have always cost less than console games. Some top of the line games retail for $50 but the average price of a new PC game is usually in the $29.99-$39.99 range. Developers don't need to pay a console owner for the rights to make a PC game.

I also believe that they will charge as much as people are willing to pay. Stop buying games for $60 and they'll eventually have to cut prices. I don't understand why people run out and purchase a game on it's release date (let alone reserve a copy) when the game will most likely drop $10-$20 in a matter of a few months. A used copy at this point will be even less. It's not as if you have to sit around with nothing to play, if you follow this patten there will always be a supply of two month old games to buy.

It's usually the anticipation and rush of getting the game as soon as it's available. Plus I prefer not to buy used games, but usually do near the end of a console's life. But with $60 console games I think I'd be buying brand new games alot less.

[ShenmueFan]

$59.99 is high but depending on the game, I'd pay that much. I guess people here have forgotten how much N64 games used to be...

I think $39.99 is the ideal price for new games but with the 360/PS3 dev costs so high, I don't expect it to ever be that low again except for "budget" titles.

So, yeah, the situation's a bit crappy. It could be worse though. We could be paying what Europeans pay for everything!

[NickmasterX]

yeah but europeans pay less for gasoline.

[RCM]

I did an article on inflation when the 360 dropped in 2005. That $60 price tag isn't as bad as everyone is making it out to be. Plus, I'd pay $100 for a great game...as long as it rocked. Everything else that I'm on the fence about I wait till the price drops anyway.

[Ran]

Dual-layer DVDs cost less to produce than blu-ray discs, so shouldn't 360 games be cheaper than PS3 games? I read the Forbes article and it doesn't seem to address this point.

You don't buy just the production cost of the disc, you also give money to the producers when you buy a disc.
The difference of making a dual-layer DVD and a Blu-ray-disc is very slim. And don't forget that much of the money goes to the jewel cases, the manuals and the cover.
So, a 360 game could maybe be a dollar cheaper or so when it comes to material costs.

And trust me, the games won't be cheaper if the companies doesn't sell more games when they're cheaper. Stop buying games when they're new, and wait for some weeks instead!
(Even thought i don't know if i should be arguing about the american market. Here in sweden, the prize of a game has dropped a lot in just 15 years. A SNES game 15 years ago had a prize tag of about 1000SEK or 135 dollars, today a new X360 game is about 600SEK or 80 dollars.)

[kaedesdisciple]

PC games have always cost less than console games. Some top of the line games retail for $50 but the average price of a new PC game is usually in the $29.99-$39.99 range. Developers don't need to pay a console owner for the rights to make a PC game.

I also believe that they will charge as much as people are willing to pay. Stop buying games for $60 and they'll eventually have to cut prices. I don't understand why people run out and purchase a game on it's release date (let alone reserve a copy) when the game will most likely drop $10-$20 in a matter of a few months. A used copy at this point will be even less. It's not as if you have to sit around with nothing to play, if you follow this patten there will always be a supply of two month old games to buy.

I think I understand to some degree why people, especially in this generation, buy games on release day. My theory, right or wrong, is online multiplayer. No one wants to be the guy left out when all their buddies are online playing the newest shooter or sports game. It's definitely not be the only reason why, but it should certainly be factored in when trying to figure out that question.

[DonMarco]

The only way I see the $60 360/PS3 games dropping in price, is if the games get innundated with in game advertisements like we have never seen before.

I see you've never played GRAW or GRAW 2. Nothing says "realism" like 400 identical billboards for Axe Body Spray spread throughout small Mexican villages.

In-game advertising will help lower the production costs, not reduce the retail price. The market will more than support $60 PS3/360 games for many years to come.

[Cryomancer]

You think 65 bucks for shaq-fu is bad? Click this!

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

yeah but europeans pay less for gasoline.

Less than who? Martians?

Gas Prices in Europe are on average two to three times higher than in the U.S.


...word is bondage...

[qbertandernie]

i like how they added the '32' before the original price tag on shaq-fu of $5.95!

[j_factor]

You don't buy just the production cost of the disc, you also give money to the producers when you buy a disc.

Of course. Various costs add up to give you the total sticker price. But everything else plus a DVD is still cheaper than everything plus a blu-ray disc. And again for this point I must mention the price differences between CDs and carts in the past.

The difference of making a dual-layer DVD and a Blu-ray-disc is very slim.

Is it? I remember reading somewhere that the per-disc cost of blu-ray was quite significantly higher, if only because it's a newer format that hasn't reached true mass production yet.

And don't forget that much of the money goes to the jewel cases, the manuals and the cover.
So, a 360 game could maybe be a dollar cheaper or so when it comes to material costs.

I would like to see an actual figure for this, but I suspect that it's more. Anyway, in the past, the cost of the format has been responsible for as much as a $20 difference in retail, even for the same game on multiple systems. Now we have two consoles with the same type of media having a $10 price difference for games, while one console with more expensive discs has its games at the same price as one of the lesser formats. A game on all three consoles will cost $60 for the blu-ray version, $60 for one DVD version, and $50 for the other DVD version. It completely bucks the established pattern.