160°

Price Wars: PSN vs Amazon

The GC Spotlight turns its ever invading beam to the direction of Sony’s PSN store. Can the PSN store beat the largest online retailer, Amazon, when it comes to game prices?

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gamingcapacity.com
Godchild10204178d ago (Edited 4178d ago )

PSN as more of an obligation to the publishers than Amazon, Bestbuy, Target does. All those other stores also sell other products than Video Games, so they can cut prices on certain games and merchandise.

It's the same with Marketplace and Wiiware. We don't see it as much because they don't see as many retail games on their store as we do on the PSN.

This is opinion, not fact. As least I think so.

Double_O_Revan4177d ago

Even still, it blows my mind that developers set digital prices at full retail price with little relief. A digital copy should sell, in my opinion, for No Less then $10 Below the physical copy price. With no packaging, shipping, or retailer cuts, the cost of delivering a game digitally is much cheaper.

Maybe I don't understand the economics of it. But I would think that digital have a higher profit margin and would therefore be a more desirable way of distribution.

I would like to buy many PS3 games digitally, if they were priced closer to Steam game prices.

plmkoh4177d ago

"Maybe I don't understand the economics of it."

Most don't, but this is why:

Try to understand the concept of utility and value-adding activity. Delivery and packaging add no value to a product because they aren't the product itself, therefore because they aren't worth anything, removing them should't change the the price. A physical game vs a digital game should have exactly the same utility because they both play exactly the same and you end up with the same enjoyment. This is exactly why Publishers have been putting in online-passes, to remove utility out of used games.

Thinking about it like that is why often digital games aren't priced any different to physical stock. If you value packaging for collection purposes, that's extrinsic value you yourself have priced as an emotional response.

brish4177d ago

"A physical game vs a digital game should have exactly the same utility because they both play exactly the same and you end up with the same enjoyment."
- plmkoh

Yeah that's nice but it has nothing to do with consumers.

Most consumers think digital games should be cheaper but they are not so they don't buy digital. End of story. Any theory of economics doesn't mean anything if it doesn't match consumers purchasing habits.

Double_O_Revan4177d ago

"A physical game vs a digital game should have exactly the same utility because they both play exactly the same and you end up with the same enjoyment."
- plmkoh

Value of a game doesnt mean anything to Publishers either, when compared to Profitability. If they can make a higher margin on digital, then they will. And probably are with charging full price for the digital version. But until pricing for those games becomes more reasonable, I don't see digital taking over.

Lovable4178d ago (Edited 4178d ago )

Craigslist. Brand new games cost a lot cheaper

AIndoria4178d ago (Edited 4178d ago )

WTF is this I don't even...

ScubaSteve14177d ago

amazon. they dont charge tax unless you live in a state that does

Godchild10204177d ago

PSN doesn't charge tax unless you live in a state that does. At least for me in New York.

icewater854177d ago (Edited 4177d ago )

If you use psn cards to buy stuff , you can put in an address from a state that doesn't charge tax, so you can avoid the sales tax if you are not using a credit card.

Canary4177d ago

Amazon routinely has sales.
They also have release-date shipping.
Kind of a no-contest thing. Like comparing Origin to Steam. Sure, you can try to compare the two, but why bother?

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40°

Mugen Souls Retro Review – Sexy Demon Space Adventure

Gary Green said: We have a juxtaposition of 2D and 3D visuals, flashy turn-based combat, quirky anime characters with cheeky dialogue with plenty of partial nudity; Yes, this is a Compile Heart JRPG. Whilst the engine is borrowed from Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2, Mugen Souls is more of a Disgaea spin-off. It’s not a strategy RPG as such, it merely sits within Disgaea’s ever-expanding universe (Multiverse? Netherverse? Your guess is as good as mine). You won’t find cameos though, since Mugen Souls is a franchise which aims to stand on its own two feet.

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pslegends.com
110°

Looking Back At 2008, An Unbelievably Incredible Year Of Video Game Releases

Huzaifa from eXputer: "2008 was home to the likes of Call of Duty: World at War, Dead Space, GTA 4, Far Cry 2, Left 4 Dead, and many other hits, which is outright remarkable."

CrimsonWing693h ago

I don’t think anything can compare to 2023

lucasnooker3h ago

1998 - the best year in gaming! Metal gear solid, crash bandicoot 3, medievil, half life, ocarina of time, thief, tenchu, resident evil 2, Spyro, tomb raider 3, oddworld abes exodus, banjo kazooie.

It was a different breed of a gaming era. You’ll never understand what it was like back then. The aura of gaming, it was different!

KyRo3h ago(Edited 3h ago)

I second this. Gaming was a lot more varied and fun than it is today. I'm 35 so getting on compared to some here but I got to see all the changes from NES up to now but I've never felt so disappointed in any generation than I have this current gen. I was expecting more from this generation rather than prettier versions of games that came before it. Game mechanics have become so refined that alot of games feel the same and has done for a while now.

Maybe it's time to have a break for a while. I love gaming but I don't feel I get much fun in the traditional sense out of it anymore.

CrimsonWing693h ago(Edited 3h ago)

Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil 2, Abe’s Exodus, and Ocarina of Time are the only things from that list that I liked.

Here’s the 2023 game releases that I personally liked… and big releases that I didn’t care for:

- Dead Space Remake
- Wo Long Dynatsy
- Resident Evil 4 Remake
- Diablo 4
- Fire Emblem Engage
- Hogwarts Legcay
- Street Fighter 6
- Hi-Fi Rush
- Like a Dragon: Ishin
- Octopath Traveler 2
- Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters
- Final Fanatsy XVI (actually ended up not liking this, but it was still a big deal release)
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon
- Lies of P
- Mortal Kombat 1
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- Starfield (Ended up hating this one, but big release)
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder
- Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (I’m an old-school Zelda fan, but didn’t really enjoy this game)
- Alan Wake 2

I mean, honestly I’ve never seen a year of major IP releases like that, ever.

Profchaos7m ago(Edited 4m ago)

Isn't it just a generational thing realistically.

I've been gaming since way back and I some of my favourite games go as far back as the late 80s for me each generation has a year or two of game changing releases one after another before an inevitable dry spell.

I kind of agree gaming had a different feel games hit different because we didn't have the internet nothing got spoiled and you really had to put in the effort to beat a puzzle which could set entire groups of people looking for a solution. But most importantly games were experimental and not as cookie cutter as today even basics like controls were not universal today r2 is shoot l2 is ads garunteed you can't deviate from that in a shooter back then it could of been square, R1 or R1 and circle nothing was standard.

But as time moves on a new generation picks up their controller they are going to be interested in different things that PS1 demo disc with the t Rex blew our primitive 16 bit brains back on launch but to kids today it's laughable.
The new gen of kids coming into to hobby seem to value different things to us there seems to be a huge focus on online play, streamers, gaming personalities, and social experiences, convience of digital downloads. To me I value none of that but that's ok like my parents not liking the band's I would listen to its just the natural cycle.

120°

6 Fun Games Where You Actually Play As The Bad Guy

While the mainstream media always sees things turning in favor of the hero, here are 6 games that own being a bad guy.

Profchaos9h ago

Pretty much all of these games listed are based around a morality system you don't have to be bad and you don't have to be good.

It seems to have left out some real amazing games like red dead redemption 1/2,ass effect and true crime la/ny

Tacoboto8h ago

Armored Core VI?

Ok, I'm really missing something here. Just beat chapter 3 earlier this evening, unlocked A-rank Arena fights. I'm not seeing or sensing any branching paths or morality system and I've done every side mission and arena fight available to me up to that fight.

Is something big coming soon to branch the story?

banger888h ago

No mention of Grand Theft Auto? Saints Row (original trilogy), Manhunt? Also The Suffering (depending on the ending you get).