Alienating The Mainstream: The Price Of Gaming Continues To Increase

The rising cost of game production and its negative impact on the health of publishers has been a hot topic throughout the gaming industry for quite some time. To cope with this problem, many publishers and industry analysts have been speculating about new ways to extract money from the consumer. Third-parties have been toying with the idea of a subscription model for their online offerings, industry analysts continue to predict a rise in the price of retail products, new 'premium' services segment the market - the list goes on.

[Hardedge]

It'll only get worst once those subscriptions become realized. Imagine paying for who knows how many subs just to play online.

[N4GAddict]

I would quit online gaming if that happens

[evrfighter]

Not trying to troll (though it might seem that way)

hypothetically speaking. What happens should blu-ray become the standard on next-gen consoles?

All of a sudden you get justification to jack up prices back to where they were circa snes days. I vaguely remember $69-$79.

It would be so easy to do and would probably be accepted. Another reason I'm glad to be a pc gamer.

[Darkstorn]

I think the extent to which modern games push high definition is much more alienating to the casual audience.

Sure, HDTVs are on the rise, but the vast majority of gamers who I know have not yet made the transition to HD. It's a major roadblock to appreciating AAA releases on the PS3 and 360.

I have yet to adopt an HDTV (perhaps by the end of the year...), and am sick and tired of not being able to read text in games. The entry price for high definition is MUCH higher than any subscription.

[moparful99]

I see where you are going but with the continued optimization of the blu-ray tech and the mass adoption prices of the materials involved have dropped off sharply. This translates to cheaper movies at least, and the entirety of this generation ps3 games have been exactly the same as the 360 dvd 9 games. So it's apparent that blu-ray as a technology adds nothing in the way of end user cost for the content itself.. Thats refreshing and one of the ways that sony is succesful with their products. Ohh and as far as 3d games on ps3, alot of devs are patching 3d into their games free of charge which lends evidence to the belief that its purely software based modifications needed as long as you have the appropriate hardware.. Sony has already released 3d patches in the last firmware update making every ps3 3d ready.. I actually see a down turn in costs associated with gaming because its' become much more mainstream meaning less risk and the costs drop and also the life cycles of consoles are much longer now which will also help drive down costs in the end.. I hope I am right in this thinking...

[evrfighter]

@mopar

that has been exactly my way of thinking till as of late. It's become very apparent that the bigger publishers are fishing for ways to jack-up the cost of gaming. Not just the cost of the physcal game but everything related to it. DLC & this rumor of subscription based gaming that's been popping up more and more lately.

It's become my belief that the 360 is the very reason why PS3 games are priced where they are. Blu-Ray sales on the movie side have been ever increasing. The general public now expects to pay more for a blu-ray than a dvd. If both consoles adopt blu-ray, EA and Kotick will be all over it. features like "7.1 surround" will be plastered to the front of the retail cases. Monster cables do it already and from what I've seen. They sell rather well.

just my opinion.

[WLPowell]

'cept I haven't seen any normal Blu-Ray games current selling over 60 bucks

[DarkSpawnClone]

@WLPowell
well i have..i have seen games cost about 69$ plus tax which would make it around 75$ if you live in Canada pretty common here,tho most games are about 59$ but with the money you spent on 3 or 4 games you could buy another console.

[moparful99]

I understand your hesitation in believing that costs will drop because of snakes like kotick but you need to realize one thing.. As long as sony is around I don't think this will happen. Why? because if other companies raised their prices while sony did not imagine what that would do for their success. Sony would wipe out everyone else because people would flock to the cheaper prices and guranteed quality. First party developed titles will always dictate the standard pricing for games and if kotick thinks he can jack up prices and get away with it then when call of duty sales plummet and the share holders have him removed from activision then he will realize the err of his ways.. Mark my words sony, nintendo, and microsoft will always have the most control over game prices.. Fear not...

[zeeshan]

As long as companies like ACTIVISION rule the gaming world with their insane profits and unlimited greed for even more profits, gaming will keep moving towards an "expensive hobby". It's $60 for a disk based game today, tomorrow it could be $80 and who is to say that even with increased price of disk based games, companies like Activision won't bring subscription fee?

There are just too many rumors and too much talk about subscription based gaming and it feels like it IS going to happen. Die Activision... DIE!

[Azerach]

The mainstream is on the Wii. The hardcore will gladly pay half the price of a full retail game for a handful of maps, which is just sad...

[JDouglasGU]

it is sad, but i doubt modern warfare would be even close to as popular as it is now if it were subscription. personally, i know several people who said they'd immediately quit playing the game if that happened, whether they'd stick to it is another question.

[N4GAddict]

A lot of people already pay Live to play it

[dizzleK]

have companies ever done some heavy lifting and inquired as to why exactly it costs so much to produce games? why, despite selling millions of games, is take-two almost bankrupt after every release?

they need to do some hardcore accounting and figure out why the eff they're losing money or find cheaper ways to produce games because i'll be goddamned if i'm paying even a penny more than $60 for games. i will never pay to subscribe to a game either. they dug their own holes, i refuse to bail them out.

gamers are also to blame too, it's not just the companies. every refusal to buy single player games or a title that has less than bleeding edge graphics is another money grab scheme thats hatched.

[DelbertGrady]

I'm not sure how many studios utilize iterative project models and if there are any best practises when it comes to game development. I believe it would save them a lot of time and money.

[Alos88]

Subscription fees are not the right way to go, they will only make things much worse.

[Non_sequitur]

It's not alienating the mainstream, it's adjusting to inflation. The problem is wages don't adjust to inflation as fast. Minimum wage should be over $14/hr.

[KiLLz]

People can't blame activision for ruining games,it's the people that complain but still give them 15 for map packs...MW2..stop feeding the beast...Paying Microsoft for playing online...And then blame the industry we as consumers have to stop feeding the beast....

[MetalFreakMike]

If games starting asking for a price to play online every month then I will stop playing those games. I refuse to give them anymore of my money because when I buy the game new, I expect a multiplayer game to come with online included and not subscription based. If they start doing this and people buy into it then kiss gaming goodbye because no one is going to be able to afford to pay all these fees every month and have enough left for everything else (Car payments, Bills, Rent, and Food.). Let these bastards know that we will not fall for their online subscription bullshit.

[webeblazing]

it dont seem to be slowing down how many games are being made companies keep complaining but dish out thousands of trash. i mean do movies be like this they cost more to make

[kagon01]

I blame to the simple minded consumers "aka true gamers" about it, they accept everything these corporations throw a them. The only way to save traditional gaming is by causing a second gaming crash(not buying their crap), but I doubt it'll ever happen...

[DarkSpawnClone]

I cant afford the price that games are now...if it gos up and i have to start paying for online games,I'm finished with Gaming,or online gaming i think my self that games should be like 40$,49$ tops yeah sure as much as i love the work the devs do but its not a fair price most games i buy i play once and never touch them again like most movies i own.and its not like these publishers are even at all one tiny bit suffering its all just propaganda to make more money,they make fucking millions maybe billions of dollars why do they need more there just greedy little pricks,if they keep this up they will ruin gaming.I haven't Bought a game since last year they cost way too damn much!.