Why Steam PCs Will Make Spending $60 On A Console Game Even Harder To Justify

Forbes "I’ve just enjoyed a long weekend doing something that I probably shouldn’t be proud of: ducking my family duties in order to play through my library of Steam games on a brand new PC."

[dedicatedtogamers]

Steam's sales are a bit overblown. Yes, the discounts can be very good, but games on Steam typically launch at the same price as consoles and stay the same price for a while. It's not like a brand-new game like AC4 comes out on Steam and then a week later it's $9.99 on a Steam sale.

That said, I rarely buy a game right at launch. A good game is still a good game 6 months later when the price goes down. If I'm not 100% sold on it, I'll wait for the pre-launch hype to die down.

[Neonridr]

"It's not like a brand-new game like AC4 comes out on Steam and then a week later it's $9.99 on a Steam sale." Well you wouldn't see that kind of deal for consoles either..

But I have found that on Steam sales happen quite regularly and can include significant savings.

[Kayant]

Not to add that it's an open pc market with other vendors doing sales and most of the time give steam keys. The awesome enhanced steam extension is a godsend for sales.

[Joey_Leone]

What happens if my internet goes out before i switch to offline mode?

[annus]

@Joey_Leone

You can be in online mode without the internet (if you lose connection you will stay in it), and you can then change to offline mode if you desire without connecting to the internet.

[Joey_Leone]

@annus Thats awesome,im thinking about getting a steambox when it comes out.

[jdiggitty]

@joey_leone,

You may want to consider just getting a gaming pc. There are FAR more windows based games on Steam. I noticed quite a number of games durring the winter sale with no linux versions

[webeblazing]

the funny thing people been speculating about how game prices may go up because of the gfx in these so called next gen games. so why is pc have been cheaper all last gen. there some games that launched with $60 price tags but those where high profile games that pushes the bar or been in development for 5yrs

[Bloodjunkie]

Like amazon does!

[ShinMaster]

It's really not that hard to justify the price when PC/Steam prices for brand new titles from most major publishers are the same $60 as on consoles. Even if they're digital downloads.
http://forums.steampowered....
PC gaming isn't that much cheaper anymore. At least not since late 2011.

And Steam Machines are basically branded PCs running SteamOS. Doesn't really change much.

[Milruka]

However, the sales also cover long running high price games.

Similar to how games like the Halo Series or Gran Turismo stayed at full mark up until nearly 2 years after release. Just like the COD games do until the next title.

[admiralvic]

Deals are what you make of them and how much you know (like everything else).

For instance, lets take a look at Call of Duty: Ghosts. Around Xmas, Best Buy had CoD: G on sale for $49.99, which was during their spend $100 and get $15 back promo, which was also during their buy 2 next gen games and get a $25 dollar gift card promo, which also stacked with GamerClub Unlocked.

So if you got CoD: G and another next gen game, then you could have got it for... $88, so add in another item (like an Amazon gift card for $25 so you hit $100) and you could have got...

2 games (1 being CoD) + $35 in BB gift cards (can be used to buy Amazon gift cards) + $25 in amazon cash for $113 dollars (though it really is $53 with all the GC's or $21.5 per game) and the ability to resell them.

[thezeldadoth]

they happen pretty fast. A couple months later you can sometimes find a highly rated game for half off.

[RVanner_]

Bioshock infintie - 3 months after release £17
Hitman Absolution - 5 months after release £6

the list goes on.

[starchild]

You should just rename yourself to "dedicatedtoSony". You consistently bash or downplay everything else.

The savings on Steam are significant. I spend a lot less on average for my PC games than my console games.

You're right, though, about a good game still being a good game 6 months later. I have such a large catalog of games that unless it's a game I am simply dying to play I usually don't feel the need to buy a lot of games right when they come out.

[Hicken]

And you should be "anti-Sony-troll-child,&q uot; since you'll promote anything else over Sony.

[starchild]

Actually that's not true. If you look at my comment history I don't bash Sony or their consoles. I, in fact, praise them at times. I do defend consoles I don't even own such as the Wii U or Xbox One (when warranted), even though I mostly game on the PC, simply because I can't stand the overwhelming and one-sided bias that plagues this site.

[SilentNegotiator]

"Actually that's not true. If you look at my comment history I don't bash Sony or their consoles"

He's right guys, check his history...what he actually does is whine about TEH SONY FANBOIZ nonstop.

[thezeldadoth]

The sony fans think they're helping their favorite brand by acting so obnoxious and persistent but really it's making their fan base look bad. I certainly wouldn't want to communicate with you in game. If this is what Sony attracts I'd rather stay away

[darx]

He doesn't know that much about Steam

[BlackCarrot]

Tomb Raider was $12.49 in the July Steam summer sale. The game came out in March. Just three-four months, then?

I'm in Aussie land, and Hitman Absolution is currently on sale at a tidy $4.99 USD (USD is near enough parity with AUD). At EB Games, Australia's gamestop, the price is $49.99 AUD. Near enough 40-45 dollar difference... Now that's a sensational buy; the steam sales are not overblown.

[kingduqc]

Price of bioshock infinite on console game at release 59.99$ + tax
price of bioshock infinite on pc 46.45$ tax include and you get bioshock 1 and 2 and (xcom or civ 5)

Every time, console game also get discounter way later and when both are discounted pc is like 7$ and the console version is 20-30$

gaming on a console in the long run is more expensive and you get a lesser experience.

[Rubberlegs]

For new releases your better of going to other sites. There is a few good sites like Greenmangaming that offer some pretty good deals for new releases.

Ebay also a good place for games that come bundled with video cards. You always have a few people that have a bunch of spare codes for the games to be redeemed. I got AC4/Splinter Cell Blacklist that was bundled together for $30 and that was at buy it now.

[aliengmr]

No, AAA title maybe but even then the prices fluctuate between $50 and $60. Everything else is below $50. Not sure where you are getting your information, but its wrong, prices are NOT the same.

[ZeoN]

.....The force

[Bathyj]

Paid $135AU for Streetfighter II in the 90's, I have no problem with paying 70-90AU for new games in 2014.

[Chard]

I remember seeing Street Fighter 2 Turbo on the shelves for AU$120 and thinking I would simply never get to own it.

[Volkama]

That's fine, but if the same game is available for half the price you'd pick up the cheaper one. And that's with all else being equal.

Then you factor in the half price version potentially being better, and the obvious choice just became... more obvious?

Of course it's not that simple as you may not have a PC, or you may have other ties to a console (community, achievements, whatever). Personally I find the price tag of console games quite a bitter pill to swallow, regardless of the disposable income available to me.

I still think their is profit to be had in selling games cheaper (and therefore expanding the audience). Unfortunately publishers are typically looking at ways to get more money per copy instead. Season passes, DLC, microtransactions etc. For shame.

[dreamoner]

http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photo...

[starchild]

Haha so true.

[MestreRothN4G]

How much does Infamous cost in this so important system again?

[_QQ_]

LOL way too accurate.

[SnakeCQC]

Depends if the life cycle is as long as a console life cycle. It would be interesting to see the performance gains of steam os.

[MajorGecko]

The life cycle is forever, considering you can upgrade it like a normal PC. I think microsoft and sony will have to reduce prices of games to compete with steambox's.

[SnakeCQC]

cpu sockets change gpus change and these steam machinces are quite abit smaller than your average pc so there has to be quite a few non standard components etc. I don't think you can upgrade everything.

[Gabenbrah]

You buy PC games at launch on CDKeys websites, I usually get games at launch for $15 - 40 max. I got AC4 and BF4 at launch for $35, Arkham Origins for $20 and Blacklist for $15. Steam sales are great for games that have been out for a while. Amazing back log of games.

[JewyMcJew]

Sony & Microsoft have complicated relationships with retailers. But I am hoping that they can use Steam as an excuse to lower prices on their games quicker.

That being said, PSN Plus is crazy with the free games!

[Npugz7]

I own a ps4 and think game prices are way too high!

[InTheLab]

Let's forget about the fact that you're stuck with your steam library or the fact that games are not usually half off like the author appears to suggest.

[Armadilo21]

guess what if you don't want to pay $60 for a game than don't, wait 3 months or buy a cheap used copy when it meets your price for sale

[BlackCarrot]

I did this for years on my ps3. The problem is, used copies only really got down to Steam sale prices after a year or two at minimum. Some used games like Uncharted 3, in my neck of the woods, are still sold at over $15 AUD.

I bought Skyrim for PS3 half a year ago for about 36 bucks brand new. I thought it was a pretty good deal as it was usually sold at $60 but EB had a sale. Just a few weeks ago, it was on Steam sale at $7.50. It's disappointing that I've been paying so much for games for so long, despite actively looking for bargains.

[Grave]

I just bought Assassin's Creed 4 on Steam for $59.99.

[aliengmr]

Should have got it on sale.

[LeoDDestroyer]

Well we have seen a lot of sale recently on psn on the of the ps+ discounts. It not as bad as people make it seem. If you want to get a game for cheap there are plenty of places to look and your best bet is to just wait.

[PurpHerbison]

Waiting just gets easier and easier.

[jamz4]

$60? We're seeing over $90 in the UK now

[Bloodjunkie]

I don't think that Steam is much cheaper than purchasing console games. Older console games can be buyed on ebay or amazon on the cheap. It's about new games, they are expensive on every platform and nowerdays there is no difference in price between console and pc games. I even think that pc gaming is much more expensive than console gaming. Cause of the expensive not optimized pc hardware that has to be updated every few years.

[TheDivine]

I'd rather buy a physical console game for 60 on launch than a digital steam version for 60 at launch. Sure it may be 50 on steam but its digital and you have online checks (an offline mode that has a time limit isn't sufficient to overlook the drawbacks of drm). You can shop around get new console games for 50 or even 40 on amazon or Kmart exc. At least I have a game for the collection and can go back in 10 years and play it even without Internet.

Steam has great sales and you could easily spend a hundred bucks once a year when sales hit and be done till next year. Thing is I like buying games and collecting as much as just gaming. Most games I like arent on steam like Tales, SMT, Fire Emblem, X, Ni No Kuni exc. Steam is great for PC exclusives like the first Witcher and the best versions of wrpgs like Fallout and Elder Scrolls. There's tons of great cheap games but psn is coming up with a lot of amazing sales. Personally il always take physical media, handhelds, and consoles. PC for me is more for emulating ps2, GameCube, and wii games with some classics like The Witcher, Kotor, and others. All are great ways to game but I'm a console gamer at heart.