Price of games is stupidly expensive

Tombstone · 21 May 2023 at 17:16

MoNkeE said:
I don’t really buy the whole “gaming is one of the cheapest forms of entertainment” ethos that people keep throwing around recently. You really need to be factoring in the cost of hardware and peripherals in to the gaming experience when you’re claiming your “£ per hour” figure. It’s a bit like saying ‘nice Mercedes, how much did it cost you?’ - “oh just 45mpg”

I dont change my PC on a per game basis though, I already have my PC. If you follow your logic then it costs 100s of thousands of pounds to have Sky tv because you have to factor in the cost of the TV and the cost of the building to put the dish on. Likewise the real cost of your washing machine would have to include the water bill and the price of your house to put the washing machine in

Aside from which, according to my Steam account I have 352 games, so if I take the price of my PC , lets say ballpark £2,000 and put 352 games into that (which in itself doesnt include my non steam games) then that means the price of my PC works out at just £5 per game

Deleted member 77746 · 21 May 2023 at 17:22

I would never buy any latest games but to compare back when the sega master system 2 was out I paid £40 for sonic the hedgehog2 when I was 14-15 with paper money to buy this game. It was stolen from me 2 months later and still to this day I never found out who stole it.

Edit: actually it wasn’t when I had a paper round parents must have purchased it for me just realised the release date was 1992 so I was still in primary then probably when I was around 9.

Tombstone · 21 May 2023 at 17:23

GaryTheSnail said:
I would never buy any latest games but to compare back when the sega master system 2 was put I paid £40 when I was 14 with paper money to buy this game. It was stolen from me 2 months later and still to this day I never found out who stole it.

Was probably Plankton, he's always doing stuff like that

jasoncb · 21 May 2023 at 17:41

GaryTheSnail said:
I would never buy any latest games but to compare back when the sega master system 2 was out I paid £40 for sonic the hedgehog2 when I was 14-15 with paper money to buy this game. It was stolen from me 2 months later and still to this day I never found out who stole it.

So you are still actively looking for the thief? Have you checked their lofts? Usually where old games end up.

Deleted member 77746 · 21 May 2023 at 17:43

jasoncb said:
So you are still actively looking for the thief? Have you checked their lofts? Usually where old games end up.

lmao no I stopped after the day it went missing. I was literally a kid.

Stu999 · 21 May 2023 at 18:08

Some of the special editions are £90 - £100 often with just cosmetic items as the bonus. :s

Noxia · 21 May 2023 at 18:15

GlitterBalls said:
I don't remember the last time I paid £60 for a game? with the essence of cd keys etc etc, this isn't console gaming.

Correct. I've paid less than £5 for a console game because I can sell physical copies after I've done with them.
Unlike all the dead money digital games.

MoNkeE · 21 May 2023 at 18:35

Tombstone said:
I dont change my PC on a per game basis though, I already have my PC. If you follow your logic then it costs 100s of thousands of pounds to have Sky tv because you have to factor in the cost of the TV and the cost of the building to put the dish on. Likewise the real cost of your washing machine would have to include the water bill and the price of your house to put the washing machine in

Aside from which, according to my Steam account I have 352 games, so if I take the price of my PC , lets say ballpark £2,000 and put 352 games into that (which in itself doesnt include my non steam games) then that means the price of my PC works out at just £5 per game

Not entirely sure you think you’re making the point you think you are

yes that’s exactly the case, except you’ve likely upgraded / bought entire new systems several times over your 352 game collection, which will significantly change your figures. It’s exactly a cost you should take in to account when touting cliche such as “gaming is the cheapest medium of entertainment”.

Yes, the cost of Sky should include the cost of your TV, as the cost of watching TV for you is clearly TV cost + broadcasting source.

The washing machine analogy is harder to hit, as water is used for cooking, washing, gardening, etc
- it’s a shared service. Most people’s computers are intricately linked to gaming.

Haggisman · 21 May 2023 at 18:37

xaldub said:
As a form of entertainment, gaming represents good value for money, even at £60-70 per game.

Depends on the game.

I remember getting COD:MW when it came out at an eye-watering (for the time) £40 - games that price were basically unheard of other than special editions. Completed the campaign in 1 5-6 hour sitting and never touched it again. Probably the worst value for money I've ever had from a game, going to the cinema at £10 for a 2 hour film would be better value!

Tombstone · 21 May 2023 at 19:12

MoNkeE said:
Not entirely sure you think you’re making the point you think you are yes that’s exactly the case, except you’ve likely upgraded / bought entire new systems several times over your 352 game collection, which will significantly change your figures. It’s exactly a cost you should take in to account when touting cliche such as “gaming is the cheapest medium of entertainment”.

Yes, the cost of Sky should include the cost of your TV, as the cost of watching TV for you is clearly TV cost + broadcasting source.

The washing machine analogy is harder to hit, as water is used for cooking, washing, gardening, etc
- it’s a shared service. Most people’s computers are intricately linked to gaming.

So what you are saying then is that the price of your next holiday should factor in the price of your car (if you drive the airport), your fuel, the cost of your suitcases, the cost of all your clothes and so on. Because if you dismiss any of those items from the cost of your holiday, on the grounds that no I already have those, that immediately dismisses the argument that you should include the cost of the PC in a game price (unless of course its your first game and thus you needed to buy the PC too), that you are in fact saying that Diablo 4 didnt cost me £70, Diablo 4 actually cost me £2,070 because I have to add in the cost of the PC. In which case the cost of Diablo 4 is pretty irrelevant, they could have sold it for £1 and it still actually would cost me £2,001, which of course means that every game I've bought this year has cost me £2,000+ each..... in which case yes I agree, £2,000 is too expensive for a game

eekfek · 21 May 2023 at 19:17

I remember thinking how mad I was paying over £100 for The Lord of The Rings Online Lifetime subscription back in 2006-2007 (?) !!! Nearly 17 yrs later I'm still playing and have saved a fortune in monthly fees.. You won't see an offer like that again.

I've paid £80+ for Diablo IV... if I'm still playing it after a few years it's money well spent in my book.

MoNkeE · 21 May 2023 at 19:20

Are you just going to sit and think of different analogies until you find one that proves your argument? Do you really have that much time?

this is why I seldom post on here

The cost of fuel to the airport, parking at the airport, suitcase (if you didn’t have one before that holiday) and holiday clothes are exactly holiday costs. I’ve been saying this to my wife over the last couple of months due to our impeding holiday on Tuesday; the airport parking is just a holiday cost on top of the thousands we’ve already spent. Same for the 5th suitcase we bought.

The cost of your car, of course not. That, once again, is a shared service. Presumably you already use your car for hundreds of social journeys per year and possibly also commute. I mean, you could factor it in if you wanted to, but the percentage of the cost associated with your holiday would be minuscule and awfully difficult to track.

Genuinely a bit baffled that I’m having to explain to somebody on a computer hardware enthusiast forum that “the cost of gaming” includes the hardware and peripherals for the platform you use……

Tombstone · 21 May 2023 at 19:20

eekfek said:
I've paid £80+ for Diablo IV... if I'm still playing it after a few years it's money well spent in my book.

According to Monkee above you've neglected to include the cost of your PC in that, so actually you've probably paid over £2,000 for Diablo IV

Tombstone · 21 May 2023 at 19:22

MoNkeE said:
Genuinely a bit baffled that I’m having to explain to somebody that “the cost of gaming” includes the hardware and peripherals for the platform you use……

I'm equally as baffled as you that I have to explain the logic of not including things that you've already paid for in the price of a new thing....

MoNkeE · 21 May 2023 at 19:23

Tombstone said:
According to Monkee above you've neglected to include the cost of your PC in that, so actually you've probably paid over £2 for Diablo IV

No actually I completely agree that he has spent £80 for Diablo

but he’s not making the argument that “gaming for 2023 has only cost me £80, this is why gaming is the cheapest form of entertainment available”

MoNkeE · 21 May 2023 at 19:24

Tombstone said:
I'm equally as baffled as you that I have to explain the logic of not including things that you've already paid for in the price of a new thing....

But that’s not the point I’m making! You can’t change my point and then claim I’ve got it wrong

The entire point was, you can’t claim “gaming is the cheapest mode of entertainment” because you see the cost as £ per hour per game. Because to play that game, you’ve already invested significant funds in hardware.

Tombstone · 21 May 2023 at 19:26

MoNkeE said:
No actually I completely agree that he has spent £80 for Diablo but he’s not making the argument that “gaming for 2023 has only cost me £80, this is why gaming is the cheapest form of entertainment available”

Ok, so let me ask you in easy blunt terms. I havent upgraded my pc this year, I've bought Diablo 4 for £70. How much has Diablo 4 cost me ? How would I calculate the £ per hour entertainment value to me of Diablo 4 if I play it for 300 hours. £x ÷ 300

What value is x in that ?

Tombstone · 21 May 2023 at 19:27

MoNkeE said:
But that’s not the point I’m making! You can’t change my point and then claim I’ve got it wrong

The entire point was, you can’t claim “gaming is the cheapest mode of entertainment” because you see the cost as £ per hour per game. Because to play that game, you’ve already invested significant funds in hardware.

Very well, say I agree. What would you say is the cheapest mode of entertainment ? There must obviously be one which is the cheapest right, what would you say it is? Purely so that I can understand your reasoning.

MoNkeE · 21 May 2023 at 19:30

I don’t see what answering any of these questions has to do with my point mate, are you paid by the word?

Yes you can calculate the value for Diablo whichever way you want, taking in whatever factors you want. I genuinely don’t mind. And that’s a different subject.

But to play PC games, you must buy a PC. That is the entry price to the market. In the context of “pc gaming is the cheapest forum of entertainment, the entry price to access the market must be factored in…….

As for what the cheapest form of entertainment is, how the hell should I know?

what’s that got to do with me hahaha

adidan · 21 May 2023 at 19:32

Pfft, just keep behind the cycle and buy games when they're cheap and max them out on cheaper GPUs.