@NEStalgia Eh, that's just Best Buy though. It's true that HZD got a price cut, but the official price is still $49.99. And it's been a success, so I doubt Sony is going to complain about not enough sales. It really depends on the game though. When most games drop their price, they already made a profit.
@Ralizah "Punished" is a bit harsh. If you go to see a film in the cinema, are you being punished for not waiting a few months when it's "free" on your Netflix account? I personally don't feel that way, and I sometimes just want to play (/watch) some games (or films) day one. Actually, I'd say it's a good thing, because this also means that I'm more likely to play new games when they're half the price a year later and when they're still part of the zeitgeist.
@Octane I get that you pay extra for getting to play sooner, but it really depends on how quickly and drastically the price drops as well as how the launch support is handled. Also, the theater comparison doesn't really work for me. For one thing, seeing a movie in a theater is a substantially different experience than watching it on Netflix. Can the same be said about playing games? Also, there are a lot of different pricing factors involved when it comes to theaters vs. netflix.
@Ralizah I guess you're right, maybe that wasn't the best comparison. It depends indeed on the game, but I think that if we ignore the annual franchises – which tend to drop in price even sooner, since they're obsolete when the next entry comes out – and if we ignore the retailer specific deals, I think most people are overstating how much the average game drops in price. Take Uncharted 4 for example. A little over a year later and the game is $39.99. I don't think that's too bad, although I'm sure you can find it for cheaper if you wait for another sale.
Anyway, I also view it as an invisible mutual agreement. I get to play Nioh for a reduced price whenever I come around to play that game, knowing that others paid full price. But I also know that other people are able to enjoy games at a reduced price that I bought day one. If most people waited for a sale, it would take longer for the game to drop in price I think. Plus, like I said before, I think that more people will be able to enjoy the game because it may get a price drop in the same year. I'm not too fussed about it all. I'm pretty critical on what I buy, so I end up loving most games I play, so I don't feel I've been robbed or anything like that.
@Octane Like I said in my later post to NEStalgia, I definitely don't disagree that most games probably SHOULD drop in price as they get older, and Uncharted 4's price is a great example of how to gradually lower the price of a game in a way where it doesn't feel like a smack in the face to launch supporters. It all depends on how it's handled.
I recently bought MGS V on PS4 for $10, so I can hardly complain that this sort of pricing structure doesn't ultimately benefit me.
I think my biggest observation from this is regarding annual franchises.
Its amazing they can sustain themselves! They by design have no value as you can guarantee next year there is another and their value on the pre owned market is literally pennies for hundreds of copies (that never move) because as soon as the new version is even announced, the prior version has lost its value.
Its a weird scenario but imagine in the very unlikely event FIFA stopped selling. The entire series would collapse as it is sustained almost exclusively by early sales when the price is high. Few months later the game is worthless.
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@diwdiws Fair point about initial sales. Though I do wonder how long that will last as the discounts become commonly known.
@Ralizah They still have discount movie theaters? Wow, they tore the last one down around here probably 15-20 years ago! Not a one for miles and miles and miles, only top tier $12-15 theaters in giant palatial multiplexes, and the new trend dine-in theaters....because I really want to smell your booze and chicken picata while I watch... Haven't been to a movie theater in....geeze...since the last LotR movie?
No argument about western AAA costs....the whole "PC graphics" thing is going to bankrupt the industry. I'm not sure who decided bankrolling a complete recreation of reality itself was a good business plan.
@BLP_Software This is true, but most publishers doubled down years ago that annual franchises was the only way to do AAA. So it's a circular problem. They already decided AAA can only be annual, and annual always becomes worthless.
@Ryno I remember us bickering a couple of times on here a few summers ago. I am not sure what it was that we were grumbling over, but hey-ho! It is nice to see old members return, especially after a hiatus of sorts.
You have indeed got a lot to catch up with.
Those five games - Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, Horizon Zero Dawn, NieR: Automata, Nioh and arguably the best game on the PlayStation 4, Bloodborne - means that you not only have the best games you can buy, but going through each one will take you quite some time to do too! Enjoy your new toy.
As for games dropping in price over a period time, it happens to every single piece of media such as an album, book, DVD/Blu-ray and even video games. Some games fare better and sustain their original price for longer, while others don’t for a variety of reasons (too niche, is an annual franchise, reviewed poorly, etc.).
I've read some previews and it sounds like Lost Legacy is going to improve on the Uncharted formula. Chloe apparently has a map instead of a journal, which sounds to me like a more open game (something ND mentioned in past interviews). Lock-picking and silencers are also new, meaning stealth game play gets another option to take out enemies. The car is back too!
@Peek-a-boo Yep. we did bicker about something(s) but whatever; your opinions are always interesting whether I agree with them or not. But yeah, I also need to add Uncharted 4 to the list of "major" releases but I will probably wait and see if there is a "GOTY" version next year.
To blessed to be stressed.
80's music makes me feel fabulous.
What Would Duane Do? Rynoggery
@Ryno GOTY versions are usually released to compile the main game and DLC into one package. Uncharted 4 never got any DLC (unless I'm forgetting some weapons and/or stages from the multiplayer mode), so I don't think there's any reason to release a GOTY edition for Uncharted 4. And a GOTY edition in 2018 for a 2016 game wouldn't make sense to begin with I think...
The big guys really screwed the whole industry with this mentality, though it largely started with Gabe and his Bezos-like conquest of the digital game business a while back and the industry for some reason picked it up. It's like the Atari cycle all over again. It's a joke. No industry can sustain itself if it's universally known the sticker price is good for a few months at most before it plummets to a fraction. Imagine if movie theaters had an $11 ticket price, but everybody knew that a few weeks after movie release tickets are $4? Imagine if BMW sold $40,000 cars, but everybody knew that last years model is always $8,000 and a free gas card? How can any industry hope to survive that pricing? I expect such idiocy from the big publishers, but when the platform holders actually get in on the action, that's just sad.
None of that makes any sense at all. It's just supply and demand. If the demand drops relative to the supply, the price goes down. Basic fact of reality for any profit maximizing business selling any kind of commodity (digital goods not included).
The other examples you gave DO operate exactly the same. You just have to account for the different nature of the businesses. Cars are designed to be used for much longer periods of time (average 7 years per car VS average 25 hours per game) so demand for a given car drops at a slower rate. As for cinemas, all they do is translate the normal idea of profit per customer into profit per screening. So their equivalent of lowering prices per person is just decreasing the number of screenings. Exact same outcome, just operating on a higher level.
@BLP_Software He sure Arceus Damn was. ...Profanity, dude... -.- -Joey
I wasn't aware God was profanity. Now I know. I'll be sure to say my requisite amounts of "hail Satans" just so I can maintain my membership for this freakin' cult you guys call a website.
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...Just say what you came to say Canis, you can do this...
This. ALLLLLL of this. (except Snakeball, screw that) A big-name retail game that's been out for a while and people still on the fence could try out, a lower-tier retail game (though one that's also got a big name attatched to it), and Indie games that aren't platformers or experimental "experience" games. Okay, Downwell's a platformer, but dangit, I've been looking for the perfect time to get that...
@Octane (I edited my post but I'll just put this in a reply so you see it.): That's kind of missing the point of Uncharted IMO. It's an Indiana Jones movie that you play through, not this deep The Last of Us-style narrative that 4 fell way short of, and not some explorative open world Far Cry-like either. I mean I love puzzles, but Uncharted puzzles have never been as good as the first few 3D Zeldas'.
@Octane It definitely looks charming/ I'd be willing to give it a shot, too. I'll have to read up on the controls and level design, though, that's what ultimately killed that Banjo-Kazooie knock-off I made the mistake of throwing money at...
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