320°

Namco: 'We must change the price of games'

The industry must work together to address falling software sales by changing the way games are priced and sold. That’s according to Namco Bandai Partners’ vice president and head of sales and marketing Olivier Comte.

Possibilities include selling games at reduced prices, delivering them episodically – and even lobbying format holders to address licensing costs for console and handheld titles.

“I feel all the big video game companies need to join together in a worldwide summit to discuss the future of our industry. I think we have to pull our thoughts together,” he told MCV.

“If you compare [games] to music, music has two ways to make money – sales of disc, which is decreasing, and concert tickets, which are increasing so there’s another source of revenue for the artist.

“Games just have one model, the sale of the product either as a box or a digital download. So we need to think about how we can develop a secondary business model.”

dangert125089d ago

just reduce them.you already gave them a hike who is going to pay for episodic full retail games? if you are i'm going to slap you

Sexius Maximus5088d ago

I remember paying $80 each for Shining in the Darkness and Phantasy Star 4 back in the Genesis days...$60 is WELL worth paying for a great game. On the other hand $5 is not worth a terrible game. The devs deserve to make a good living, but we better get great games out of them.

darkmurder5088d ago

Namco: How about making a good game instead of raising prices = better sales. Although I would like lowered prices I'm fine with the way they cost now assuming they dont rise any further (looking at you Activi$ion)

Crystallis5088d ago

you payed $80 for shining in the darkness? My mom when I was little bought that game for me but I can tell you it wasnt $80 b/c she wouldnt buy it at that price. If I can remember correctly it was $49.

GodsHand5088d ago

I got NBA Jam for $70 on the SNES back in the day, and was worth every penny. I played that game like crazy with friends using the multi tap.

As for ruducing game prices I am for it. I think some companys should like Capcom for one, if they are going to release DLC for games that come out on the same day.

HammockGames5088d ago (Edited 5088d ago )

Yeah, I remember paying something like $60 or $70 for Shining In The Darkness back in the day. Glad I wasn't the only one.

I don't mind higher prices where they're justified (read: when developer costs demand an increase). Inflation happens in every industry.

Just don't leave it up to the oil companies (especially BP, given their current predicament) or Activision/Nodick. That's just begging for wallet rape.

If Kotick had his way we'd all have to take out an extra mortgage - every single November - to pay for the latest CoD installment.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 5088d ago
BeaArthur5088d ago

They should reduce them because it would make us more likely to buy DLC. And since they seem to make a lot of money off the DLC it could be win win. Games are expensive and then on top of that we get nickel and dimed for extra content that should have been in the game. It has actually made me change my buying habits, instead of getting most games on day 1 I will wait for the game of the year edition or for a price drop so that I won't feel as ripped off when I buy DLC.

HolyOrangeCows5088d ago

I just hope the game industry doesn't try the failed method of hiking prices. It always happens in times of hardship; the publishers raise prices to make up for smaller sales, and then sales shrink even more.

Supply-side economics, man.

pangitkqb5088d ago

1) Game sales this gen have made billions on every current platform, even @ the high price of $50 - $60. The point is, people will happily pay good money if the product they are receiving is QUALITY. Lowering the price of a sub-par game doesn't make me any more likely to buy.

2) 50-60% of all my game purchases over the last 8 months have been digital and the price is almost universally better than buying a physical game disc. Ex. I got Left 4 Dead 2 on PC for $25. All i had to do was wait for a sale on Steam. I now have 20+ digitally purchased games on PC, Xbox live, PSN, and Wii all at great, lower than retail prices. If the industry wants to save money, increase digital distribution. No packaging, no shipping, no middleman. Just some bandwidth costs.

3) DLC is worth my money, again, if it greatly contributes to the game (meaning it wasn't the type that should have been on the game to begin with) and is QUALITY.

FarEastOrient5088d ago

Only that is happening is if the CEO of Activision is fired, he dreams of increasing the price of games even further along with DLC prices. Look at how much the map pack is for Modern Warfare 2...

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 5088d ago
Convas5089d ago

Push games back down to $50. That'd be the life.

captain-obvious5088d ago

i think they want to raise the price
those greedy bustards

RememberThe3575088d ago (Edited 5088d ago )

If sales drop further it's less people to buy your DLC. They might be able to match the sales loss with that revenue gained from the higher price but the point of an industry in to grow not to shrink. I have no doubt that they will raise the price of games but I just see all of them scratching their heads when the industry then in turn begins the shrink as consumers leave to other entertainment mediums. It like when King County Metro raise their fair then couldn't understand why less people were riding.

Silverwolf5089d ago

The economy went down and game prices went up. Now you still want our money and you're trying to figure out how to screw us over again. I have an idea for you, you want our money? EARN IT! Developers make crappy games then expect them to fly off shelves. You want to restructure something! Restructure your own company, start from the top and work your way down And Start making games people are going to care about. That my dear blood sucking friend is how you should go about this.

MajestieBeast5088d ago (Edited 5088d ago )

Will you marry me cause that made me totally hot. You just nailed it.

Silverwolf5088d ago

If you're a good looking babe I might consider. ;)

RememberThe3575088d ago

How much do you wanna bet Majestie is a dude?

SaiyanFury5088d ago

Agreed 100%. Now bring out Tales of Vesperia on PS3 in the west already!!

DA_SHREDDER5088d ago

I think $45 dollars is the sweet spot. They dont have to worry bout used games anymore. They can just use codes for the online just like EA is doing with UFC.

captain-obvious5088d ago (Edited 5088d ago )

"use codes for the online just like EA is doing with UFC."

and BF:BC2 with the VIP code
i like the way EA handles the game

i know i know the thing is already on the disk
but if you want it just stop being cheap and buy it new

and it keeps the game fresh you know
so yah
i support that

lowcarb5088d ago

45 is definitely the sweet spot. I don't think anyone wants to spend almost a full days work on games. At this price they would sale many more titles allowing everyone to enjoy this generation. Games use to be cheap which is why they probably use to push so many copies.

RememberThe3575088d ago

I got MAG for 45 and I could pass it up. At a lower price point the industry would almost explode. But I think there are just too many hands garbing at he gaming pie and they don't want to loss their share.

I don't think a lot of these companies listen to their economist because I'm damn sure that if they lower the price sales would increase. This would off-set their loss and increase a fan base that would be happy to pick up some new DLC for their new game.

NYC_Gamer5088d ago

well if devs put out more quality games ppl would buy them....

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170°

"Let Me Solo Her" Receives A Special Award From Namco Bandai For His 1000th Victory Against Malenia

Immersed Gamer writes: "Let Me Solo Her is a legendary Elden Ring player who mastered one of the most infamous bosses to help his fellow tarnished via co-op. And for his service, he received an award from Namco Bandai to commemorate his 1,000th victory. The reward in question is a real, and extremely dope, custom-made sword.

Malenia is regarded as the hardest boss in Elden Ring, and the relentless Tarnished has defended literally thousands of hosts against this malice. Let Me Solo Her apparently passed 2,000 Malenia kills a while back, but it’s hard to measure the exact count he is at now. Bandai Namco sent the gift his way when he was at around 1,000 kills. But due to the nature of the object, it got stuck in customs for a while!"

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immersedgamer.com
shaenoide657d ago

Nice to see an healthy online behavior to be recognize by the dev teams.

But man.... How many hours did he spent playing Elden Ring? Not sure it's that healthy in real life 😂

But still kuddo to him :)

130°

‘Tekken Tag Tournament’ and ‘Tekken 4’ Gets Vinyled

Laced Records has teamed up with Bandai Namco for the release of a triple vinyl-set featuring music from retro-classics Tekken Tag Tournament & Tekken 4.

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yestermade.com
Terry_B1147d ago

Are you Okay??? The thumb is from Tekken Tag Tournament 2.

SDuck1147d ago

At least it's the right franchise

fr0sty1147d ago

TTT is one of my all time favorite games, but I always found its soundtrack to be terrible. I'd mute the music and put my own on.

40°

Metacritic's 9th Annual Game Publisher Rankings

Metacritic reveals the past year's best and worst videogame publishers (based on their 2018 releases) in their 9th annual Game Publisher Rankings.

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metacritic.com