Why $60?

Re: Why $60?

natsamtre — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:18:22 GMT

@Shawn Gordon

Thanks for the link! I hope lots of people read it. It was very helpful.

Re: Why $60?

Dylan Snyder — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:45:06 GMT

Interesting, as I recall paying a standard $60 for my N64 games. They would slowly make their way down to $50, but upon release, $60 was the standard price for an N64 game. That certainly didn't start with Microsoft and the original Xbox (Which, by the way, clearly boasted a standard price of $50 for most of its lifespan, as did the other two major consoles).

Why $60?

Shawn Gordon — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:42:33 GMT

www.forbes.com/.../ps3-xbox360-costs-tech-cx_rr_game06_1219expensivegames.html

should answer your question

Re: Why $60?

Anonymous — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:39:12 GMT

If the games aren't very good, sell them for $20.00. If they are good, keep selling them for $50.00+

Re: Why $60?

noclip — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:37:28 GMT

thing will get worse with the economy and they'll lower the price, the only question is if by then anyone will be buying them in the first place when they are struggling to get by day to day. also i love these game company piracy sob stories, either get decent anti-piracy methods like valve,sony,xbox live or use the actuall product codes that already make piracy almost impossible with most games on the pc or shut the *** up.

Re: Why $60?

Rabid Chipmunk — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:28:17 GMT

People will pay $60 for a game, so why not charge them that much? If enough people were willing to pay $100 for a game, the price would rise to $100 too.

I ****ing hate actually applying things I've learned in economics class.

Re: Why $60?

Amanda — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:17:33 GMT

No, the $60 standard was set by Microsoft with the original XBox, prior to which new games averaged ten dollars less. There were always variations, just as there are now. Keep in mind that the original XBox was a system with frequent problems, as is the 360. Prices on games were raised to cover the costs of system replacement and production.

Think about it... when was the last time you paid $60 for a PC game? That's what I thought.

Re: Why $60?

Buhal83 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:03:45 GMT

Some of you may be surprized to hear this.... but $60 has roughly been a staple of the gaming industry for a long time. In the late 1980's, when the 8-bit NES was the rage, new games cost roughly 50-60. And keep in mind this is in 1980's standards, which when adjusting for inflation and all that crap would be a lot more today.

Not sure about the SNES, cuz I never owned one, but the genesis was the same way. Some games could cost upwards of $70 or more.

so $60 has been a standard for a long time it seems.

Re: Why $60?

Ryan M. Eft — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:55:35 GMT

@Luke

It might not be want you want to hear, but I suspect we may indeed see another jump in standard game prices in the future. I don't think it will be as soon as you fear, but it will probably happen. That's partially because of inflation and partially because of the cost of developing new technology.

Re: Why $60?

Luke — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:34:04 GMT

Well, does that mean games are going to cost 70 dollars in a few years, or whenever we have new consoles?

Re: Why $60?

sekaniy — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 02:39:33 GMT

I personally dont think $60 is too much for the quality of games coming out. I remeber saving up $54 to buy the first NBA Jam for SNES.

Look at Batman AA. You hire Mark Hamil to do voice acting, all the studios to design the graphics, musicians to create music and what, you want them to sell it to for $40... or wait maybe $30.

Just about every aspect of the next-gen games are better and all the are asking for is $10 more?

Re: Why $60?

keo528 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:02:02 GMT

yah but its not the same as the 360. as they are imported. Its just like buying foreign cars vs American made like GM and Ford

Re: Why $60?

ILuvYuri — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:58:22 GMT

PS3 and Wii contrubite. i mean where do people buy their games from? Wal Mart, Target, Best Buy...etc. These are american companys.

Re: Why $60?

keo528 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:10:22 GMT

the money isnt all going to America though. Alot of games come from other countries. And Think about all the PS3's and Wii's bought. They dont help either

Re: Why $60?

mrip92 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:33:33 GMT

If you want to pay less than $60 for a game, wait a few months for the price to drop. The way I keep my expenses down is by purchasing games a year or two after they come out. Sure, I couldn't give my opinion on Bioshock for a while, but I bought it at $20 and I imagine I got the same experience and enjoyment out of it, had I bought it at full price two years ago.

Re: Why $60?

Morbidbystandard — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:06:41 GMT

The gaming industry is actually growing right now. I do have a lot of money but that is because I will only spend $40 max on a game.

Re: Why $60?

Chue M. — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:04:33 GMT

I believe that the market for the new generation consoles (xbox , PS3) was seen as big and thay decided gamers would pay that much for a brand new game

Re: Why $60?

Amanda — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:58:54 GMT

Albert Aguayo:

All of you might not have noticed, but when the worlds population spends money they are actually contributing to unknoting this crippled up economy. So in other words, nut up and don't be afraid to put up $60... really you'll help.

The entertainment industry is the only thing that remains somewhat unscathed by today's crisis. I'm only guessing that you have yet to pay for your own phone bill or car insurance. If it's not spent on games, trust me, our money is spent elsewhere. No one has a bank full of cash that he's sitting on, not right now.

Why $60?

Luke — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:45:58 GMT

Inflation

Why $60?

DaHarvMasta — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:25:04 GMT

well donkey kong 64 and goldeneye were $60 and that was in the N64 days but no game is worth $60 except for rpgs and jrpgs that you can get lots of hours it you are a completist and there only worth $40 thats why they go down to 20-30 dollars but you have to wait for it

Re: Why $60?

Imbalance — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:52:15 GMT

Truth and Reality from Amanda and Nancy Carlson.

Still, capitalism, baby. I'll pay the lowest possible price for a game even if I already know I'm going to enjoy it. My very first eBay purchase was OgreBattle64 - $60, shipped, and I only pulled the trigger on that becaus I had a hunch it was going to be rare. Good gamble - one of the few games that has appreciated, I could probably sell it for twice that but won't because I still enjoy the hell out of that game. That $60 replaced scores of movie tickets over the years, and is a small part of the reason I still refuse to pay for television. Two years ago I bought a used copy of Morrowind:GOTY for less than $20, and have played little else since - that Christmas someone got Me Fable:TLC new, and while it's a good game, I'm glad I didn't pay full price for it. Morrowind, on the other hand, could have been a $300 game and the price would have been justifiable to me. Game developers will be rewarded by the parents who love spoiling their children first, then years later by me and frugal gamers like me after we finally get around to enjoying their games and sing their praises in posts on various forums and discussions just like this one. If I can afford to wait, so can they.

Re: Why $60?

Nancy Carlson — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:08:24 GMT

Ryan is exactly right. It's similar to downloading music from bit torrent rather than paying for it on itunes. If you like high quality games, you need to support the developers that are creating them.

$60 is a great deal for the hours of entertainment value that games provide. Think about a game like Oblivion - easily a 100+-hr game - or multiplayer games like COD4 or Halo3. What is your cost per hour? In contrast, how much are you paying per hour at a movie, concert, or NFL game? If I get more than 4 or 5 hours of enjoyable game-play out of a $60 game, I consider it money well spent.

Re: Why $60?

Guerrillero_Haac — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:01:50 GMT

All of you might not have noticed, but when the worlds population spends money they are actually contributing to unknoting this crippled up economy. So in other words, nut up and don't be afraid to put up $60... really you'll help.

Re: Why $60?

Morbidbystandard — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:51:36 GMT

If you don't want to pay $60 don't. All prices drop eventually.

Re: Why $60?

Ryan M. Eft — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:36:41 GMT

But some people like those cruddy games. If they think it rocks, and they want to pay 60 for it, so be it. If we regulate game prices, why not regulate prices on everything else?

I think you're forgetting that few, if any, devs set out intending to make a bad game.