Price of Games Inflating (T3 article linked), Whats your limit?

Keltik THC

Keltik THC

Keltik THC

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With the games industry being quite resiliant in the ongoing economic dive (which has only just begun) it seems they have decided to inflate prices according to a recent T3 article.

http://www.t3.com/news/activisions-tony-hawk-ride-board-priced-and-dated?=40065

Now, im not too fussed about these gimmick based controllers like Dj Hero and the Ride board etc.... these dont interest me, but this article mentions that Activision is going to sell the new Call of Duty at a retail price of £55 (!).

In my experience on consoles they usually sell a retail version for around £40 and then you can buy a limited edition for between £45/£55.

To me, £55 for a standard title seems excessive, even though i think i have clocked more hours on CoD than anytother game in my entire lifetime, the extra £15 kind of puts me off buying it..

With console games being so expensive compared to PC games, i resorted to getting most of my games via Lovefilm for £15 per month and then only buying the really good games i will play for a long, long time like Fallout 3...

anyway, i just wondered if you guys are as concerned as me that they look like they are going to start selling console games beyond the £50 mark.
 
the smart purchaser will always pre-order software online at the lowest price, i dont think any respective PC gamer would willingly pay £55 for the next CoD .. considering most e-tailers are selling for £29.. (the article is only a few months behind :rolleyes:)

or do what i do, im willing to wait a few months until its half price or on offer on Steam.. im not interested in having the next big thing immediately as i have games from years ago ive still to finish.

Keltik THC said:
anyway, i just wondered if you guys are as concerned as me that they look like they are going to start selling console games beyond the £50 mark.
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they can sell console games £50 and above, im not bothered ;p
 
Personally I wouldn't pay more than £35 for a PC game, any more than that and they're being greedy!
 
The £55 is an RRP, which if you shop online for new games (and if you aren't, why not?) is never what you actually pay.

At this very point in time you can buy MW2 for £42 on online stores, and it's been available for sub £40 if you've made use of pre-order offers (since the RRP hike announcement) so that just shows that the price hike is only a small percentage.

The only reason Activision can do this, is because Call of Duty is one of the strongest brands in gaming, and the series has always been highly resiliant to price drops as the product ages. Just look at how much Modern Warfare still sold for a year after it's release.

I see this maybe becoming normal for the very highest echelon of titles with strong brands, but just look at the preorder prices on games like Halo: ODST or Dead Rising 2 (£30 and £27 respectively) and I really just see this as Activision trying to make more money rather than the industry as a whole raising prices.

I think the only real thing this arcticle highlights is how Activision have become the new EA.

Also, these prices reflect the console version of games, so not sure why this is in the PC forum.
 
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I would never buy a game full price anymore - even if you wait a few weeks now they come down. In my silly days I remember buying N64 turok for £69.99... Could do with that cash now!
 
I don't pay more than £25-£30 for a PC game, and even then only for those I really want/expect to be good quality.
Otherwise, I wait a month and get it usually for less than £20.
 
£30 for a PC game, £40 for a PS3 one.

I find I can keep within those rules by shopping around anyway. If I can't, I don't buy the game.

There are exceptions though - Guitar Hero often costs more due to instruments, Wii Fit due to the board, etc.
 
makes me glad I'm a PC gamer!

I get many of my games when they're on sale on Steam, or cheap from sites like g2play :)

I think Prototype was the last one I paid full price for, and Burnout Paradise before that..
 
I never pay more than €25 for a game these days. Even with 360 games, you can almost always find the one you want if you wait a bit or keep an eye out for special offers.

£55 is about €70, which is obscene for gameplay that's usually less than 10 hours these days.
 
Yuck, that article is horrible.

This is a much more in depth article compared to that trash: http://www.mcvuk.com/news/35050/5499-Modern-Warfare-2-to-lead-Xmas-price-hike

Games are costing a lot more to produce these days, so if a game is going to be successful then the company will milk it i.e. prestige edition with night vision goggles.

If you are one of the people who will say 'oh, I will just browse online and get it cheaper/wait for a price drop' then you are in the minority, plenty of casual gamers will still buy the game (or get mummy and daddy to buy it) and Activision will reap the rewards and leave other publishers pondering. I believe EA announced that they will not raise the SRP of their games, which is surprising...
 
£26 is my limit on a new PC game - and it better be a AAA, excellent VFM title (think Bioshock or Starcraft 2).

The console game rise is ridiculous in my opinion, but if Activision find an acceptable number of people buying at this price, expect EVERYONE to follow suit.
 
Vegetarian said:
I would never buy a game full price anymore - even if you wait a few weeks now they come down. In my silly days I remember buying N64 turok for £69.99... Could do with that cash now!
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Dam I paid £74.99 man I got ripped of :D
 
It depends really. There are some games that I would pay almost anything for, 200,300 pounds :p

Other than that, for your everyday title I hate paying more than 45 pounds. Even 45 is a bit of a joke really.
 
Strife212 said:
It depends really. There are some games that I would pay almost anything for, 200,300 pounds :p

Other than that, for your everyday title I hate paying more than 45 pounds. Even 45 is a bit of a joke really.
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Hi don't mind me look at you closely - I am just wondering if victim is written on your forehead or a big sign across your chest :D:p
 
Would not pay more than £30 for a new release but can get most for either £18 or £25 pre-ordered.

Activision are living in a dream world if they think PC gamers will happily pay a more as a lot begrudge even paying RRP and prefer to pirate ;)

COD MW2 is not a must have title either despite what Activision think it will be at best a COD4 sequel but even now thats a bit dated so this will backfire as just because 2 years ago COD4 sold over 10M copies does not mean MW2 will do the same in a recession as well!!! when its only going to be more of the same and looks very similar :rolleyes:
 
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