Are PC Games too cheap?

It depends.

PC games suffer from piracy more than console games, which helps to drive down the price.

LOwer prices encourages people to buy more games.

But, it also means that less money for the developers if you don't buy a lot of games.

PC games do dive in price far faster than consoles though.
 
Console games are more as they have to pay a large slice of the RRP to the platform holder (MS, Sony, Nintendo).

PC games are priced correctly and sometime way too low. Games like Fallout3 offer an amazing amount of gameplay time yet sold on release for under £30 and now with the GOTY around the corner next week you can pick up Fallout 3 for £14.99 brandnew :eek:

GTA4 as well is only £14.99 on PC now which is another bargain as are Resident Evil5 & Batman Arkham Asylum :eek:
 
Well PC game prices are on the rise.

In shops i've spotted games in the £35-£40 bracket etc.

and some other i cant think from the top of my head.
Personally i refuse to pay more than £30.

I bought COD5 at £35, although i have got a lot of hours out of it, i still feel ripped off 8 months later..
 
PC games certainly offer better value for money.
Exlcuding EA, Dice and a few others; you get endless online action, fixes, updates, add-ons etc that can increase the longevity of your game.
Its not been 'that' long since consoles games started doing this too.....but they're far more expensive.
 
If you buy your PC games anywhere other than online retailers you are throwing money away as you can buy new PC games for between £14.99-24.99 but most are around the £18-20 mark.

If you pay silly money to Steam just for a digital copy every 2 games you buy from Steam would have been almost the cost of an extra game from an online retailer as Steam has to charge the same prices as retail otherwise the retailers would refuse to stock any games from the publisher!!!
 
My missus works for ELSPA so I know the reasons for this .. in order of memory ..



Console games are more expensive not least because of the license costs from the hardware manufacturer. You're looking at £12 straight to Sony when you buy ANY PS3 game.

Also quality testing that is part of the license -- QAing is performed by Sony NOT the development house saying 'look its bug free honest guv' (no manufacturer wants really rubbish games released to their console -- some are admittedly prepared to QA more than others), although this is undertaken by the hardware manufacturers, their time is charged to the development house -- who then has to put the cost on to the bottom line.

On the PC there is no QA process at all anyone can release any old ****e!!! Hence all those bugs and patches within games especially on release. You're getting a less polished product generally ..

Some consoles are 'regioned' .. different versions for different parts of the globe -- which means multiple versions of a game and packaging has to be produced and released .. more hassle.

Pc owners -- believe it or not -- are more prepared to put up with lower QA. If a game glitches out or plays slow-- its not unreasonable for a PC owner to have to change/update hardware to get it working. Console owners wouldn't stand for this. Hence there are costs associated with ensuring it doesn't happen.

PC games are considered easier to pirate and more commonly pirated. Cheaper as an incentive for people not to pirate.

PC games need less advertising. The audience is considered more 'mature' .. meaning a good game will get bought by word-of-mouth. Console owners are known to pander to adverts. In simple terms, mum tends to buy her kid a game cos she saw an advert for it on TV. PC owners respond notoriously badly to adverts of any description (they can even be counter-productive) -- so advert costs tend to get slashed and that can be forwarded on to us.

More competition in PC market as easier for, basically anyone, to release stuff -- again mainly due to lack of formal QA process (or getting 'permission' from Nintendo)

PC games are sent on normal DVDs. Manufacture cheaper than consoles which use funky DVDS etc to again try and stop piracy. This costs money.

There are other reasons also...
 
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but we all know when ME2 comes out you will buy it at the price even if it is a rip off :P

I remeber paying £40 a game when i was a kid on consol games. seems rediculas now considering i was completing them so fast. Some of them though i did play for years so i gues that was worth it.
 
You raise a good point.

Firstly, if games were to be the same price as consoles, then it would kill the platform without a doubt. People would just switch to consoles in search of cheaper software.

Secondly, most of these games are developed on PC for an ageing console market. Therefore, most of the games we see on PC are just a ports. Hence in some cases they can be poor and buggy. This is also why graphics cards which are nearly 3 years old are still performing just as weell today as they did back then as they haven't exactly had new games using new technology thrown at them.

Lastly, as already said, PC games have been subjected to heavier pirating so the lower price discourages this.
 
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Consoles game prices = rip off.

COD 4 add on maps on pc free... Consoles £7.99.

Seems like everything on playstation store you have to get your CC out.
 
PC games are generally released in a bad shape until patched and unlike console games you cant take them back most of the time once you have opened it so you're stuck with whatever crap you bought!

If PC games were £40+ I simply wouldn't buy them as nowadays it seems like a gamble as to whether the game is any good or not as not everyone releases a demo. Spore was a good example of this, I bought at £35 and it was utter tripe! I had installed it so I couldn't take it back the next day yet if I owned a console this wouldnt have been a problem.

I consider PC games being cheaper to be a "Gambling incentive"! Since the Spore fiasco I haven't bought a game for over £25 as that's what I can reasonably afford to throw away if the game is rubbish. I think its unfair all PC gamers get treated as pirates but there we go!
 
Guest2 said:
no. console games are too expensive
Click to expand...

Yes but then there's no real hardware costs involved to run them. £300 odd every three to four years is pretty cheap compared to a PC guy who'll spend that easy on a graphics card before he purchase the same games as that of console (mostly). So I would say PCs are really.
 
I'd ideally like to see PC games rise in price by about £10 per unit.

I'd have that money spent on improving the games. More levels, tracks etc. Or I'd happily pay £5 more just for everything you get with the 'games for windows' label. All games should be forced to apply to those standards ..

(Ducks for cover as all the people who know nothing about business demand they should do it for free!)
 
I've started to shy away from buying games at full price. Why bother when they're typically £10 - £15 within a few months of release?

It gives time for developers to patch the things too. That way you actually get a game that works.
 
britboy4321 said:
I'd ideally like to see PC games rise in price by about £10 per unit.
I'd have that money spent on improving the games. More levels, tracks etc. ...
Click to expand...

I actually wouldn't mind that... if they actually did it. As it is, I'd expect them to do it for the first year and then just let it die out so in the end, they're putting out the same games but charging more for them.
 
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