Are Games Worth What We Pay?

Games are starting to become a little more expensive between retail price and additional cost of DLC. Are all games worth a $60 price tag?

[corvusmd]

Some yes and some no. It depends how much we enjoy them. Like for me, I paid $30 for Metal Gear Solid Ground Zeros, and despite being a huge fan of the series, I spent more time watching the ending cinematic than playing the game. Although the game does look gorgeous and I'm looking forward to Phantom Pain, GZ was basically a glorified demo. On the other hand, games like Titanfall an COD I've played for over 170 hours each, meaning that the entertainment they have brought me is less than $.40 an hour...where else can you entertain yourself than well for that cheap? I'm not sure I'd have that much fun standing in my yard waving a stick...it's not 1080p/60fps :)

Side note, I love this picture that was used for the article...it cracks me up.

[Becuzisaid]

I'm pretty sure someone disagreed with you just because you said you enjoyed Titanfall. How dare you have the opinion that you do.

On topic though. Well said.

[darthv72]

I've grown up with games for so many years and this subject always keeps getting brought up. I can remember when there was this big consumer push to get companies to lower the costs of the games and it worked for a while back in the 90's.

Then that "while" wore off and we were back to paying $60+ for games again. We were told that the increased cost was due to the newer technology in making the games. the media used (as that time we went from carts to cd) and how because of such advancements it justified the costs the companies were charging.

But now here we are...again...with the same topic of discussion. The mfg costs should be significantly lower based on the materials used to make the games. Yet we are told the development costs are the main reason they are asking for the prices they do.

But then why are we getting incomplete games? Day one patches or DLC released later on for a small fee (free is better but still) and then within 6mos of being on the market these games get reduced to crazy prices that make you wonder why they didnt just release at something more reasonable in the first place.

Nobody ever said this hobby was cheap but it could be more affordable if they really wanted to sell their wares.

[Army_of_Darkness]

Recently paid $15 (regular price) for Child of light. Best purchase I have ever made on a game. Really well worth it cause it's an awesome and pretty lengthy game! hell I'm surprised they didn't charge $60 for this gem! and This game is like an old school Jrpg, but with a twist to keep you busy and active during battles. Buy it if you enjoy JRPG's

[3-4-5]

Most = No

Some = Yes

The Rare = worth even more than we pay

[xPhearR3dx]

I agree. Most games you feel are worth the $60 and within a week or so, you shelf it and never touch it again until years later. There's been many games I've spent $60 on that during the first couple days I felt was worth it, but after spending more time with it, I could have easily waited and spend half the amount and still be satisfied.

Then of course there's games that are over quicker, and don't last as long, but leave that lasting appeal. Then in my case, which I'm sure I'm the minority on N4G, is a game like ESO. I spent $100 on the Imperial Edition (being a huge TES fan that I am), and I've played the game over 400 hours and counting.

A game is only worth what it is to the person buying it.

[3-4-5]

GTA 5 = I regret buying day 1 for $60.

Crimson Skies - I would pay $100 for right now!

[XisThatKid]

Depends form game to game imo

[marloc_x]

Nintendo games? Absolutely. .

[Baka-akaB]

@Becuzisaid

Nope in my case . i just disagreed based on being tired of the "GZ being a demo" argument . Barely fits to me , when only a few time did a demo even provide such content , even accounting the raw length of a first run on normal settings ... and for lesser games .

Plus i feel these days that people easily buying similarly short if not shorter games , based on the easily accepted premise and idea that "so called indies should mean short yet worth 20 bucks" . Well some are worth the 20 bucks , some arent necessarily , but no one complains .

So yeah i'll easily be the sheep , buy the exceptional occurance of a prologue for a usually cult game serie , and get the warrented disagrees . And let other pretend it will be a gateway for something that's essential already there .

[Ghost_Nappa]

Far cry blood dragon was $15 and had a longer campaign

[Baka-akaB]

And ? Vanquish was 3-4h ,6 to 10 pushing it , if you suck ... at 60$ at release (and worth it to most fans , myself included) . And there are low budget indies at 15-20 dollars . There were always games that are shorter or longer released at a given price . Length never necessarily led to cheaper games , in any era of gaming

Like i said some are worth it , others arent .

[Dark11]

I agree .. i still regret paying $60 for infamous SS.
the game is enjoyable but way too short.

[Tetsujin]

My gripe is when a game is hyped as the second coming, only to learn there's already DLC planned at a later time (or day 1). Then the companies bitch/complain because "not enough sales;" then release some "GotY" or "Complete" version at either reduced price or at full price with everything included.

I grew up in a time where games had unlocks; that was the drive to continue playing, and that's where the value of a game came in. Games like Chrono Trigger had 15 different endings, and if it was made for the audience today those endings/extras would have been paid dlc for the "full experience." Watch Dogs I wanted to play, however, now that they announced DLC I'm gonna wait until some "full" version is announced (say what you want, I'm not spending $ anymore on games that already mention dlc/expansions before it's even released outside MMOs, and even then it's a big "if").

I want companies to realize just because "cost of gaming" went up doesn't mean everyone has the $ to just throw away on medicore games and/or games with cut content for that extra boost in income. I've already limited myself from purchasing a lot of games because anymore it's based on how much a company can get away with ripping customer off instead of amplifying the positive experience.

[iplay1up2]

Yup, I just payed 13 bucks for Assassins Creed 3 for Wii U, because I am like the only gamer on the planet who has not played it.
Also, so many of you kids do not remember the time when a Colecovision, Atari, Pong, Magnovox odyssey, game cost, Oh yeah, you could pay $70 for a no bit game

[iplay1up2]

Stupid article, do some research and see what a game cost in the 80's. N64 games were at least $60.... and that was in the 90's.

[tyler01durden77]

I still have the £45 price gun sticker on a MegaDrive copy of Ghouls & Ghosts. Tough game but it can be beat in an hour.

Compare that to Infamous Second Son which I just completed with 100%. That took ages. Now I can play through again with Evil Karma, so I'm really just 50% though.

Modern games are easily worth the price tag if (a) they're AAA and (b) You collect all the achievements / do the side missions etc.

[ThatEnglishDude]

Games, like anything, are only worth as much as you get out of it. Stupid question really.

[SG1_dapunisherX]

Yes if you're type of gamer who like fps, sports, action, & rpg games.

[matt139]

So you mean every genre basically?

[SG1_dapunisherX]

Pretty much

[aLucidMind]

The genre doesn't matter, what matters is the quality of it. I can name one game in each of those genres that were worth it (minus sports, not into sports games), one worth more than the $60 I paid, and several in each that were not worth it at all. More often than not, they're not worth the price tag.

[Applejack]

Video game prices were about the same since the early 90s. I remember SNES games being between $40 and $50 dollars which would be around $60-70 with inflation. Didn't change much did it?

[ShaunCameron]

Not only that but wages were lower back then.

[Bonkerz]

It all depends if YOU feel you are enjoying it enough for what you paid. I may love a certain game and someone else may find it to suck, so it varies from person to person.

[aLucidMind]

Yes and no. There are some games that should never have been released at $60, $40, or even $30 (looking at you, Ground Zeroes) for one reason or another. What a game is worth and how someone values it are two totally separate things.

If you enjoy a $10 game enough that it was worth the $60 you paid, more power to you but that doesn't override the fact that the game is objectively worth $10.

[Baccra17]

Nope.

[uth11]

Some are definately worth it.

Games I'm not sure about I'll wait for them to go on sale or get a price cut.

[incendy35]

Love how they are showing MGS Ground Zeroes as a related article :D

Although for the record I love Ground Zeroes! It was worth it to me.

[DualWielding]

No games are worth that but if you are patient now you can get games for much less a couple months after release i never buy games at launch

[aLucidMind]

Couple weeks, more often than not lol.

[LogicStomper]

Value is dependent on personal experience.

[GoPanthers999]

We are lucky they are not more. In the 80s and 90s, yes I am dating myself, games were $40 to $50 and I remember paying $400 for my Sega Saturn. Honestly, this is little to no price increase other than a AAA title with DLC up at $75 to $100 or a Skylanders draining you for $250+. Also, there are so many more retailers now and constant sales and price wars. It is an amazing time to be a gamer!

[Gohadouken]

I feel that fighting games get a sometimes underserved rep in that area . People forget being lured and tempted into buying AT FULL PRICE - at a time games were more expensive - two to three updated versions of a same numbered fighting game . All of that based on the fact that we couldnt update the cartridges , and pre ps3/360 versions of those games .

And now we are at a juncture where some people complain no matter what .

Give them dlc characters , they'll complain about being sold cut parts or the price of each characters , whatever the behind the scenes and reasons , are about said releases .

Propose them an update expansion two ways , one with a dlc pack expansion cheaper , or even a new disc at a discounted price ? Still complaints

Answer a strong demand from an existing base for yet another version ? To , i insist , satisfy the demand of a fanbase that do demand it ? And still complaints from people that mostly dont even care , but need a forum to vent their anti dlc frustations . Or grudges with a publisher

[TXIDarkAvenger]

For me it depends how much hours of gameplay I get out of it though I rarely pay full price for games anymore. It's really personal preference for the most part. For example some people may like beating the main story and that's the end of the game for them where others would replay the game, change difficulty, go back and find collectibles, try to get all the achievements, etc...

[DJustinUNCHAIND]

Games today need more replay value.

[ShaunCameron]

Replay value is subjective.

[RebelWAC]

SP focused games like Fallout, TLOU, Dragon Age, Skyrim and Mass Effect yes considering the content provided in these titles. Annual MP focused and alway online games like COD, Madden, Battlefield, FIFA, NBA 2k etc are losing value for many reasons IMO.

Maybe things are moving too fast in a hurry or maybe I´m just getting too old for this but if you ask me, the gap between satisfaction after finishing a game let alone playing one is getting bigger by the minute.

[Fixay]

Some games yes and others no.

I pay ridiculous amounts of money when going to the cinema, so I kind of justify the price by that lol

Multiplayer games for me also justify the price a bit more, more replay-ability etc Also just simply being able to play the same game as your friend helps make the price a lot more reasonable.

[TrollingKoala]

In Australia it is absolute BS, people in America have to pay around about $60 for a AAA new release maybe a bit more for special editions, in Australia you have to pay $100 for a AAA game and if we were paying the same amount that Americans were paying in AUS dollar it would be something like $65 at most, absolute BS and people over there are complaining wow.

[Summons75]

Depends on the person playing/paying. I only buy games day 1 I know for a fact I will enjoy, if there is ever a doubt then I hold off for a sale or price drop or buy it spontaneously somewhere down the line. Example I'll never buy Call of Duty due to it's poor game quality and how it holds tons of content back and tries to make me purchase and it's way overpriced too, however Drakenguard 3 comes out tomorrow and I am buying that because I know I will enjoy the game because I loved the first two and Nier. Doesn't mean I have regretted purchases before but it's very rare when I do.

[ChickenOfTheCaveMan]

Enjoyable games will make money not only with the game itself but also DLC asked by fans of the game. So the price is fair for both sides.

Sure they'll make high budget games with no return on investment, but that's because the game is broken, boring, not well done.

Where price is too high is digital; no distribution and packaging costs, players can't resell, lend them and need to use their bandwidth to get them, but same price, that's the biggest joke of the last gen and the current gen. It should be 25-33% less.

[ZombieGamerMan]

Worth is subjective to each individual

[CanadianTurtle]

I look at it this way. When I go see a movie, I pay 15 bucks for a ticket for 2-3 hours of quality entertainment.

I usually buy my games when they're on sale, so for example, I get TitanFall on the 360 for 40 dollars. That is pretty much a month's worth of entertainment.

Or if I get a JRPG/RPG for around 30 dollars, that is at least 2 months of entertainment. I'm not the kind of person that spends playing an RPG for 7 hours a day. I put in a max of 3 hours per day

[tamarkovia1]

Most hard core gamers at least those who can afford it are supporting the development and creation of the games. I tend to buy my fave genres on release out of my own personal needs and in some way I feel I'm giving back to the studio. Does that make sense.

[wheatley]

Some are certainly, but you can't really compare all to a 100 hour open world adventure in terms of worth.

If I've spent money to experience something different than the usual genre game, then that's definitely worth something. The Stanley Parable was absolutely fantastic and offered a few different paths. The chance to talk about the game is great as well and added to the enjoyment.

Other games chance their arm, offer nothing new, and make you feel shortchanged and/or that you haven't received the full release in the first place.

[AaronMK]

Knowing that there is DLC and/or micro-transactions can change the perception of value quite a bit.

Release something and truthfully state that there is no DLC nor any micro-transactions, and there is value in knowing that I am getting a complete product that will make many games worth $60.

You could release that exact same disc, but announce or keep the window open for paid DLC, and the value perception of that initial $60 drops quite a bit.

[Skate-AK]

Some are some aren't. There is no right answer.

[madpuppy]

I personally don't think that the industry can sustain anything over 60.00 for a game, and that is only certain games, a good portion shouldn't be over 40-45.00 for what you get.

why do you think the 60.00 price cap has spanned almost 3 generations of consoles? publishers are smart, they know darn well that sales would drop drastically if they started hiking prices to 70.00 or more. Young gamers would be out of the market on pre-orders and would just have to wait till the game dropped in price, Older gamers, I feel would wait as well being more patient and conscious of forking out hard earned cash on something that costs as much as a monthly cell phone bill. which would screw up sales forecasts and would skew how popular a game is thus hurting it's chances for a sequel.

on top of all that, when people like Cliffy B as well as other high profile game devs are driving around in "his and her" lambo's and living in million dollar homes as well as crying about money, I personally have very little sympathy
for their "struggle".

[lefty]

This article don't apply to wii u owners, we have access to Nintendo game...:)

[CerealKiller]

Good thing we have many sources of reviews so we can decide this before we buy.

[SoulSercher620]

It's only worth as much as YOU make it. I've bought games at $60 I feel wasn't worth and on the other hand I've bought games for cheap where I felt they were so good I would've bought at $60 if I knew about them sooner.

There is no real universal worth. EVERYONE feels different about every game.

[Obamanationn]

pay 65(tax) bucks for a new game to only pay another 60 bucks for the full version of the game in DLC content

[TrailerParkBoys]

Nope not these days, and that is why game sales have declined so much. $60 used to be worth it when we got an entire game but that is not the case anymore.
DLC added weeks later is pathetic and "season passes" should be included for those who pre-order and/or purchase within a week of a games launch date.
To top it all off developers spend millions of dollars to create online features that they hype up in their preview articles only to inevitably have the plug pulled on them, sometimes as soon as 12 months after release! Yet when you look at a games' box art these features are still prominent. It is a big scam

[AceofStaves]

A game that's self-contained - i.e. it has a full storyline, side quests, unlockables and collectibles is worth the $60 to me, but when you have to buy a key to unlock content already on the disk? No way. Those games should cost less, since they're not offering you a complete experience out of the box.

Optional DLC is different, since you don't need to buy it to enjoy the full game, but you should have full access to the game material on the disks you buy.

Games are so much cheaper now than they used to be. I used to pay roughly $100 for new release SNES cartridges back in the day.