by "CB" (jrcb)
Published 11/19/2017 at 10:11
by "CB" (jrcb)
Published 11/19/2017 at 10:11
Tags: Rants
STARS: 1
Things that did not happen: cheaper games. From here on out, it’s pretty doubtful I’ll be buying any games brand new. I know, I know, adjusted for inflation, games are cheaper now, but gods damn, I got a special edition of Halo 3 with a metal case and a book for cheaper than a downloadable copy of Need for Speed with five more cars than the base game.
"50ford500" (50ford500)
11/19/2017 at 10:16, STARS: 1
Yeah I thought that would be the eventual but to me there is still no substitute for have a physical copy. But I’m a collector and prefer to actually have the disc
"CB" (jrcb)
11/19/2017 at 10:18, STARS: 1
For PC, downloading is fine (because Steam sales making games cheap is awesome and having four terabytes of storage makes the room for it a non-issue). For consoles, discs is still preferred for me.
"Kiltedpadre" (kiltedpadre)
11/19/2017 at 10:21, STARS: 2
I often have the same complaint with e-books. Heck, just now I checked the book “A Walk in the Woods” by Bill Bryson. The kindle edition e-book is $7.99, but I can get the physical book for $6.39 with free shipping. It’s bad enough that they are typically close to the same price, but how is a physical printed, bound, and shipped book cheaper?
"CB" (jrcb)
11/19/2017 at 10:25, STARS: 1
My guess? The cost of convenience. Publishers know they can charge a bit more if people can get it right this instant.
"FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com" (alphaass)
11/19/2017 at 10:28, STARS: 0
Despite being just 5 miles outside a city of 1.5 million people and the next subdivision over having fiber, I’m stuck on 24/1.5 DSL. It’s really not horrifically slow, but I don’t have the patience for multi-hour downloads of big games. So it is discs (and cards in the case of the Switch) for me for the foreseeable future. It makes me happy that I’m not paying more. But it really doesn’t make sense. I don’t know if the publishers are just trying to hold on to the old model or what, but I would think a $10 discount on the download makes sense. I think it will happen, but it will take some time until the discs are costing more than the publishers want to deal with. Unfortunately it may end up being that the downloads hold steady while the discs increase in price. PS I don’t know if they have the same offer in Canada, but in the US, Amazon offers 20% off on preorders of physical games for Prime members. They ship release day, so you get them a day “late” but I have no complaints to wait a day to get new release Switch games for $48 US.
"themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles" (themanwithsauce)
11/19/2017 at 10:37, STARS: 1
I made this comment in another thread too, but for all the DLC and options and loot boxes and everything else thrown at most games nowadays, it does boggle my mind that games are as expensive as they are. And it’s not because “games are so expensive to make” - hundreds of titles were developed for well under a million dollars that went on to make tens of millions of dollars or, a 10 to 1 ROI or more. If you make a product so expensive that it is priced out of the market it competes in, that is the fault of the producer, not the consumer.
Funny thing is, I don’t mind DLC and add-ons and stuff. I just hate that I am paying 80$ for a game that, upon launch, has another 20 to 100$ in stuff I can buy to get a “complete” game. Like, if that 100$ guaranteed that all updates and add-ons forever were free? One could make a case for it. But I’ll bet if you buy the 100$ one, there’s still more to buy when you boot it up and there will be more to buy in the future.
Back on topic - yes, the digital downloads should definitely be cheaper. But instead they’re often treated as extra-heavy profit getters. So I often just wait for the inevitable sales and bundles a year down the road. That’s when the game’s costs become worth it for me.
"Kiltedpadre" (kiltedpadre)
11/19/2017 at 10:40, STARS: 1
I’m sure in the case of the one I looked up it’s cheaper because it’s an older book, and they’re trying to drive people to the physical book to clear inventory.
In the world of games I think it’s a two pronged issue of instant gratification and also laptops that don’t even have disc slots. I have an external drive for mine, but I’m probably in the minority with that.
"S65" (granthp)
11/19/2017 at 11:10, STARS: 0
I usually wait around for a sale or get it used, takes me forever to get bored of games anyway.
"FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem" (fuelstratifiedinjection)
11/19/2017 at 11:28, STARS: 0
$79.99? Fahk that’s expensive. I paid €60 but it’s kinda worth it imo.
"CB" (jrcb)
11/19/2017 at 11:31, STARS: 0
It’s Canuck bucks, if that makes sense for why it’s so expensive.
"carcrasher88" (carcrasher88)
11/19/2017 at 12:18, STARS: 0
$79.99 CAD converts to $62.63 USD, or about $2.64 more than US retail ($59.99 USD).
$99.99 CAD converts to $78.29 USD, which is about $1.70 CHEAPER than US retail ($79.99 USD).
Strange how the basic version of the game is more expensive in Canada, yet the Deluxe Edition is actually cheaper in Canada...
"Rico" (ricorich)
11/19/2017 at 12:27, STARS: 0
Lol I also have that Halo 3 with metal case! I rarely buy digital games for this reason. Many games now dramatically drop in price not long after release. I’ve often seen newer games less than 3 months old already on sale for $40 usd once the initial sales rush is over.
"E92M3" (E46M3)
11/19/2017 at 12:36, STARS: 0
Yes, you would think not having to print discs, and ship them to stores cuts their costs. Then factor in, you can’t sell it second hand when you’re done with the game, or trade it in at GameStop. It also takes a full day or more to download for me, and eats up my devices storage.
"DC3 LS, will be perpetually replacing cars until the end of time" (dc3ls-)
11/19/2017 at 12:39, STARS: 0
The good thing is that they get marked down like crazy when there’s sales. I got Rainbow Six Siege for $20 (on Xbox.) granted it was a few years after it came out, but it was still $60 online normally.
"facw" (facw)
11/19/2017 at 12:59, STARS: 0
Companies are still afraid to piss of the Gamestops and Best Buys of the world by undercutting them on retail games, even though they have room to. And then you end up with physical copies being discounted lower than the digital space. Things make a lot more sense on the PC side, where publishers are much more likely allow things to go on sale. Even there you end up with a weird thing where Amazon discounts pre-release physical copies for consoles (for prime users) but doesn’t do any discounts, digital or physical for PC. Green Man Gaming normally has ~20% discounts on pre-release PC downloads though.