Are PC Games too cheap?

[Rezident]

I heard COD Modern Warfare 2 was going to be priced higher than normal games, so in Ireland I was expecting it to be about €60, but I got in on pre-order for €19.99.

GTA4 despite the bugs and myriad performance issues is a decent game once you get around the problems, that was around £20 (I would have expected it to be around £40).

Batman: AA (hah! AA no pun intended) was around €17 (admittedly from India via ebay).

Operation Flashpoint (which I think looks brilliant) was only £17.99. So if these games are all around €60 on console, why are they so cheap for PC?

TF2 was around €29.99 and I’ve gotten over 600 hours out of it, that’s less than 5 cent per hour of gameplay! This is all great value for me but in terms of re-investing in the future development of PC games - I’m not trying to tell these guys how to run their businesses or anything but, should they not be charging more? I mean, I’m delighted to get Modern Warfare 2 for under €20 but to be perfectly honest, after the first one - I would have paid over €50 for it. What happened to the whole supply and demand thing?

Or should we just keep this quiet and carry on as if everything’s normal?

 

[Teaf]

They aren't too cheap, it's just console games are too expensive.

 

[rare]

They are to expensive on consoles. Thats why I buy twice the amount of pc games!

 

[Alex74]

Cheaper => less likely to be pirated ?

One could attribute market forces to it, console piracy is more difficult (but certainly not something to be ignored), so the official market demand is higher and they can basically charge what they like. PC piracy is far more common, so demand in the official market suffers, favouring the 'free' unofficial market. Thus we have lower demand => lower prices to encourage people to actually buy the game..

Other factors come into it though i'm sure..

 

[Tummy]

PC Games are too expensive.

I don't mind paying £20 - £30 pounds on a brand new game. I will refuse to pay anything more.

Console games pricing have pushed up PC game prices.

You have to search round to find most new release for £20 now.

 

[Sleepery]

I agree that if you wait a few months you can get practically anything for € 20 or less, and it's almost criminally good value for money in most cases, but to be honest, I'm in Ireland too, and after having the arse cut out of my salary from about two dozen different directions, I'd just stop buying games altogether if I still had to shelve out €50 for a game.

 

[gurusan]

Agreed, PC games should never be much more than 20-25ish...

Console games are a ripoff.

 

[SpudMaster]

they are cheaper on pc because you arent paying additional cash to microsoft or sony to fund their consoles

 

[OldComputerGuy7]

I think its just that console games are mega expensive, but really i think they should start selling the games at £10.
I usually just wait until a game is down to that price, plus by then i will have upgraded my computer and the game will be patched so it should run better.
I haven't been as interested in gaming as much as i used to so dont feel like paying £30 for a game just so i can be first to get a game as soon as it comes out.

 

[Paul_cz]

I am willing to buy few games a year for 25 pounds (Fallout 3, Mirrors Edge, Risen..basically games that I really really look forward to), for most games I am willing to pay 15 pounds (now Call of Juarez 2, ArmA 2..).If prices went any higher, I would wait for price drops anyway.

 

[bunga_aj]

Don't spose you work for Activision do ya?

 

[mlbtheshow]

I know its probably niche, but you can get NBA 2K10 (brand new release next week) for £13 at one retailer...with free delivery!

Thats a great price and will tempt me to buy it rather than not

 

[Stormar]

i think for pc format its great,its hard to see why consoles cost a lot more really

 

[Squark]

I'll only pay up to £25 for a game that I want on launch, otherwise I'll wait till I can get it for £15 or less.

Console games a silly expensive

 

[Tripnologist]

they are cheaper on pc because you arent paying additional cash to microsoft or sony to fund their consoles

That's what I thought as well. They have to pay license fees for console games whereas there are none for PC, hence the lower prices.

 

[Geckovich]

i think for pc format its great,its hard to see why consoles cost a lot more really

If you were to develop a game for PC, that's all you do, develop the game.

If you were to develop one for a console you have to pay Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo a fee.

 

[Dan.m]

No such thing as too cheap

 

[The Jaded Raver]

They aren't too cheap, it's just console games are too expensive.

Yep i agree fully here! Consoles are all about the £green$. Moreover because there are more popular and well.... user friendly compared to pc gaming, as it can be quite daunting for a nooby.

 

[The Jaded Raver]

No such thing as too cheap

Right On Brother!

 

[Antar Bolaeisk]

I heard COD Modern Warfare 2 was going to be priced higher than normal games, so in Ireland I was expecting it to be about €60, but I got in on pre-order for €19.99.

May I ask WHERE!?

€60 is far too expensive for a game and my generaly cut-off point is between €25-€30 for a new must have game, after that I simply wouldn't buy it.

For example, if I could only get Bioshock 2 on release for €40 I'd wait for it to come down in price and wait for something else to play.

There are of course exceptions to the rule, for example I would probably be inclined to pay upwards of €40 for a Bioware game such as the new Dragon Age: Origins simply because I know I'll get the mileage out of it.

The bulk of my purchases recently however have been through weekly deals from Steam and D2D with the most expensive current purchase being £20 for L4D2.