JimmyRustler
Member
First thought I had when I read OP. Games used to be expensive as hell. It's why most of us had to rent.
we're being priced out of our hobby.
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LavitzSlambert
Member
Consumers need to push back promptly and firmly. I agree with you, the industry expanded so much in recent years, well beyond what consumers can support as non-essential entertainment. Every game studio is in the business of making games, and they need to continuously create in order to exist. Naturally, there is only so much marketshare and dollars to go around. The successful studios will continue to expand and increase their budgets, at which point the less successful ones will run into a brick wall. The input costs will keep showing up in the end product, increasing until it busts, and I think we are extremely close.
$80 games means people are going to be VERY selective in whatever new games they buy. Every extra $10 that would have gone to an indie game or AA game on sale is now going toward an AAA game in an existing franchise that's already had success. It is not sustainable.
Heimdall_Xtreme
Hermen Hulst Fanclub's #1 Member
Go to PC. 1000 dollar GPUs.
Go to Switch (2). 80 dollar games.
Go to PS5. 700 dollar consoles
Go to Xbox..... No games.
Are we fucked?
Go to PC. 1000 dollar GPUs.
Go to Switch (2). 80 dollar games.
Go to PS5. 700 dollar consoles
Go to Xbox..... No games.
Are we fucked?
I have no problem with that... Leave it to a commoner.
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vodka-bull
Member
I own PS+, I never play new games and if I want a game that's not on PS+ I buy used and resell it when I'm done. The last game I bought on release was Hogwarts Legacy and I instantly sold it after I was done, with about 5€ loss on my end.
If they go all digital I'll switch to PC gaming or just stick with the old stuff…
If they go all digital I'll switch to PC gaming or just stick with the old stuff…
Cyberpunkd
Member
Wrong. PC gamers have been living with full digital future for the last 15 years, it's just that the platform is open so everybody is competing. Steam keys sell for pennies, very often below the biggest Steam Sale discounts. It's Nintendo that is the outlier here, and people reward them for that.
Cyberpunkd
Member
What all of this will mean is less sales concentrated over less titles = no creative risks, more GAAS development, and they probably won't be enough.
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
I think part of the problem with being priced out is simply people amped up buying a million games at a click of a download button. Just about everyone even has a backlog too. You, me, and everyone else has spend $100s or maybe even $1000s on games you never even bothered playing. That's a gamer's fault. Not the companies. I bought 3 games during a Xmas online bash sale. Havent even tried them yet. But that juicy 75% discount tag got me.
But way back, I got a feeling people bought fewer games, but played them to death because games were so expensive back then when cartridges cost a lot and min wage and people's salaries were a fraction what they are today.
I know with 100% certainty me and my siblings who'd buy games in the 80s and 90s always played them. I dont think there was one game anyone bought and ended up sitting on a shelf unopened.
But way back, I got a feeling people bought fewer games, but played them to death because games were so expensive back then when cartridges cost a lot and min wage and people's salaries were a fraction what they are today.
I know with 100% certainty me and my siblings who'd buy games in the 80s and 90s always played them. I dont think there was one game anyone bought and ended up sitting on a shelf unopened.
Pasta la Vista
Member
There are more games that exist today worth playing, than time in a life and many of them are "free" or very affordable. Of course that relies on you to decide how to go about it.
Personally, new games that release that I consider a must play have to be exceptional these days. Often times you get a better product, the longer you wait, and at a better value.
Personally, new games that release that I consider a must play have to be exceptional these days. Often times you get a better product, the longer you wait, and at a better value.
Justin9mm
Member
Games were overpriced to begin with. I've been gaming since before the OG Nintendo. The price of games back then was ridiculous but you also didn't have as much choice as now. It was accepted back then because no one knew any better, console gaming was emerging which meant no more paying per game in the arcades, people saw.more value in paying for something once and being able to play over and over. There is so much competition now, choice of platforms and so many games in the industry being released between those platforms. It has to somehow remain competitive or pricing to remain somewhat affordable. The notion of games being just as expensive many moons ago is a flawed argument.
Jinzo Prime
Member
This very true; I have seen the car hobby bankrupt people. At least with games, you can pawn them off, resell or just stop buying new games for a while. It just feels very expensive right now, like a kind of sticker shock.
40K tabletop.... may God have mercy on your soul.
ProtoByte
Weeb Underling
Good.
We need this industry to return to a gatekept state.
Studios need to get back to crunching if they can't be more efficient with their time, and need to downsize/slow down the pay increases and ridiculous benefits packages. There need to be fewer studios around taking up space on the storefronts.
FubukiJ
Member
I think we might start seeing studios or publishers get more aggressive or competitive with pricing to outdo the studios overcharging at $80. For example Split Fiction came out at $50 or whatever and pretty much shits on every western game released in the past two years. And im sure itll be a very profitable game.
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StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
Looking back in the 80s, games were priced lower but considering inflation were costly.
Heck, arcade games were 25 cents. Then some games bumped up to 50 cents. Checking some charts online, minimum wage in Canada was ballpark $3-5/hr pending the year and province. Nes games were around $50-60 CDN and Apple games were cheaper at around $40. Genesis came out late 80s and those games jumped to $70-80. SNES games when they came out were similar priced.
I did my share of scraping up money to buy games (or chip in), playing at arcades getting a couple bucks in quarters off my mom, and my older siblings bought more games. Lucky for me, my dad always chipped in and made good money (mom hated gaming thinking it was the biggest waste ever), and my older bros loved gaming and chipped in or helped buy the fam computers.
But if our fam had fewer people or had less money floating around, it was expensive as hell as a hobby compared to now. What is really expensive now is if someone buys tons of games and MTX or goes big on PC gear.
If gamers dont go gonzo on PC gpus, buying backlog games, cut down on MTX (or none like me), and wait for games to go on deal (ok to be fair Nintendo doesn't do that much), gaming gets cheaper. Back then games definitely did not get bargain binned from lets say $60 CDN cartridges to online or retail deals at $19.99 in record time. For those of you who didnt play or buy games back then, game prices kind of stuck for a while. Maybe it goes down $10-20 after a couple years but werent getting Steam 80% off deals and stuff like that,.
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rofif
Can’t Git Gud
And you have access to game files, can copy, crack or whatever you want. You have some control over your purchase on pc and you here is some market competition.
On console digital? Absolutely none of that. None. Monopoly.
That's why physical is so important. Physical gives back some control to the user and ability for retailers and other stores to market compete over prices and deals. But idiot people are choosing digital
rofif
Can’t Git Gud
Beggar pass is ruining gaming industry much deeper than you would think. People expecting free shit. It's unsustainable.Game Pass looking even better now than it already was
Goalus
Member
It looks like $90 games are a good solution to the problem you are describing, so I guess everyone will be happy. Then I don't understand the purpose of this thread though - could it be sarcasm?
FIREKNIGHT2029
Member
Regular PS5 exists OP, you don't need to get the Pro to enjoy all of Sony's games.
DenchDeckard
Moderated wildly
You don't have to buy a ps5 pro.
Xbox has shit tons of games and available on gamepass. Even playstation plus extra has shit loads of games.
Plenty of free games on pc too. Epic games store etc.
Hardware is going up in price and so is games. Luckily you can have patience and just wait for games to go on sale.
I rarely buy new games now. More, down to how broken they launch so if you just wait a few months you get it cheaper, higher chance you can get it on pc for a cheaper key price and enjoy the extra patches that have launched.
Xbox has shit tons of games and available on gamepass. Even playstation plus extra has shit loads of games.
Plenty of free games on pc too. Epic games store etc.
Hardware is going up in price and so is games. Luckily you can have patience and just wait for games to go on sale.
I rarely buy new games now. More, down to how broken they launch so if you just wait a few months you get it cheaper, higher chance you can get it on pc for a cheaper key price and enjoy the extra patches that have launched.
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
Sub plans are awesome. I dont listen to enough music to care, but by the looks of it people love Spotify too instead of buying individual tracks or albums from 1000 artists.
As I said in another thread, gamers are so amped up on playing the latest game, many shun sub plans. So they fork out full price to play day one..... EVEN PREORDER DIGITAL COPIES AS IF THEY WILL RUN OUT. LOL That's why games are so front loaded on sales. Very few industries are like that if you think of it. But hey you get shit loads of good games for cheap on sub plan.
If during the old gens Nintendo or Sega had sub plans for $200/yr you get 100s of games at any time and more games added every month there is 100% certainty our fam would do it. If EA NHL wasnt part of the sub plans, would I buy them? Sure. But we'd be happy with the sub plan games and just coast on those.
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Goalus
Member
But I need to be on drugs to enjoy them.
Cyberpunkd
Member
Or maybe companies in pursuit of endless growth should not try and see how much abuse a customer will take?
Paid online
Paid game libraries you don't own
Microtransactions
Ultimate editions
What is the difference between a 100hrs game and a 150hrs game? This industry is full of stupid people.
Randall365
Member
In the nineties, consoles were £200 or so and PCs were getting on for £1,000. Top games were £30 to £50 at release.
30 years later, consoles at £400 or so, PCs at £1,500 and games being £50 to £70 at release does not seem terrible.
Also, I could play my Steam backlog for the rest of my life.
30 years later, consoles at £400 or so, PCs at £1,500 and games being £50 to £70 at release does not seem terrible.
Also, I could play my Steam backlog for the rest of my life.
iQuasarLV
Member
Your USD in the 90s accounted for more so that $70 game was easier to swallow. 35 years later wages are still pushing 1990s wages with inflation every progressing so that $70-90 game is a lot less palatable.
iQuasarLV
Member
Guess my $33/hr job has to go bye bye for a $41/hr job just to break even with my hobbies. Inflation from the last five years is bullshit. Companies were for the last 15 years looking for a reason to raise prices. The government gave em a free pass. Pfft.
salva
Member
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
Not true at all. You probably dont work in a manufacturer/retailer industry because this is what happened with most everyday boring stuff sold at stores.
Reason why prices zoomed up the charts (at least for my industry) was multifold and stemmed form numerous reasons from gov, workers and customers:
- Gov shut downs and COVID regulations lead to fewer workers or shittier efficiencies making stuff. In my area, all the big box stores were allowed open and the small non-essential places shut down for probably at least a year
- People going hog wild hoarding stuff at stores
- These two factors alone lead to out of stock products on shelves which would pump up prices (then add below points). For some categories, the shorts lasted years and couldnt catch up even with 24hr shifts. Our company couldnt keep up with some products because people were at home using up more product as normal (ie. cleaners)
- Because manufacturers were scrambling to make and ship product all the ports, container ships and trucking companies jacked up fees. Some ports charged fees based on auctions and which big company wanted to pay the highest price. My buddy's company with product shipped from China even had their reserved port spots purposely overridden by the port and sold to the highest bidder. In turn, some companies resorted to air shipping which costs a ton
- All raw material and packaging companies jacked up prices
- Because products were being bought so much and couldnt keep up with supply anyway (cant fulfill demand), every supplier in this situation ditched a lot of their weekly discounts at stores and went with regular price
- As suppliers pushed through price increase, some retailers jacked up the price even more (ie. 10% cost price increase lead to 15% retail increase)
- Loan and interest rates probably tripled from before covid happened to peak rates in 2024
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ProtoByte
Weeb Underling
Oh don't worry, Microsoft has more price increases coming down the pipe. Especially as they're having to play negotiation with a wannabe QA union.Game Pass looking even better now than it already was
No, that's not what happened.
You may fail to recognize that there are markets outside of NA and Western Europe. Costs have gone up everywhere. Generally increasing wages on a general level also causes inflation. Western wages have increased quite since the coof, but more than that are the costs of business around the globe. Insurance, debt, geopolitical conflicts, etc.
Companies making "record profits" is a rage bait headline for normies and stockbait for investors because it's just talking about nominal dollars. Most of them are making significantly lower profit margins and their money is subject to inflation just like anyone else's. PlayStation is a prime example. They've made more money in raw cash in comparison to the PS4, but their profits margins literally got cut by somewhere between half or and 2/3 because the costs have gone up dramatically.
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veterangamerUK
Member
Not sure if it's the same in the US but here in the UK even takeaways are becoming too expensive too
rofif
Can’t Git Gud
that's about right.
I don't want to play random shit served to me that I wouldnt buy normally. Means I don't want to play it.
Games I want to play, I buy and own.
Playing stuff because it's free in gp makes no sense.
Do you eat what you find on the street or eat what you want and like ?
Sure, sometimes you can find a slice of pizza on the street but it's not every day.
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rofif
Can’t Git Gud
There are more solutions.
Games don't have to be 1000 hours long but gamers have conditioning developers into making these bloated games.
S0ULZB0URNE
Member
If you only buy high quality games, you won't be buying many so up to $80 isn't that bad.
Still a far better way to play than renting games on GP.
Still a far better way to play than renting games on GP.
Arsic
Loves his juicy stink trail scent
Some of you need to learn to budget, save, and be fiscally responsible.
If $80 is too much for a game wait for a sale. Or skip eating out a month in advance or two to scrounge up the $20 extra.
Or sell old games to afford new ones.
Or don't buy every single game to keep adding to your back logs.
—
Do I wish it was $60 or $70? Yes. Am I going to stop buying a game I want from Nintendo at $80? No. That's my limit, but I also buy Nintendo games very rarely. This year they'll give me Mario kart in the bundle, Metroid prime 4, and donkey Kong. I can live with all that.
It just changes where other titles I would've prioritized over those will now be wait for deep discount games on other platforms like Raidou or play Clair33 or whatever on gamepass instead of buy. Doom was going to be ps5 pro but will be a pc gamepass jam instead.
Be fucking adults man. It's your money so spend it wisely.
If $80 is too much for a game wait for a sale. Or skip eating out a month in advance or two to scrounge up the $20 extra.
Or sell old games to afford new ones.
Or don't buy every single game to keep adding to your back logs.
—
Do I wish it was $60 or $70? Yes. Am I going to stop buying a game I want from Nintendo at $80? No. That's my limit, but I also buy Nintendo games very rarely. This year they'll give me Mario kart in the bundle, Metroid prime 4, and donkey Kong. I can live with all that.
It just changes where other titles I would've prioritized over those will now be wait for deep discount games on other platforms like Raidou or play Clair33 or whatever on gamepass instead of buy. Doom was going to be ps5 pro but will be a pc gamepass jam instead.
Be fucking adults man. It's your money so spend it wisely.
NeoIkaruGAF
Gold Member
This thread is absolutely hilarious.
We've had gamers pushing for increasingly better graphics and tech, throwing tantrums at diminishing returns in the face of increasing development costs and time. Gamers scoffing at anything that doesn't have the latest hoopla in graphics, calling it "indie shit" and "lol PS2 graphics".
We've had gamers screaming "into my veins!" at every full-price remaster of games released yesterday, at paid upgrades, at every TLOU rerelease ("it looks night and day bro, are you blind??"), at $5000 GPUs ("sucks to be poor!"), at the PS5 Pro ("I mean, it's actually a bargain if you think about it!").
We've had gamers scoffing at subscription services that offered dozens of games at the yearly price of 4-5 games, and declaring themselves ready to re-buy ROMs they were declaring themselves sick of having to rebuy at every new generation a full decade ago, when Nintendo didn't allow you to bring over your Wii VC purchases onto your WiiU and 3DS.
But yeah, sure, it's the Switch 2 that's pricing you out of gaming, pal. Sure. Uh-huh.
We've had gamers pushing for increasingly better graphics and tech, throwing tantrums at diminishing returns in the face of increasing development costs and time. Gamers scoffing at anything that doesn't have the latest hoopla in graphics, calling it "indie shit" and "lol PS2 graphics".
We've had gamers screaming "into my veins!" at every full-price remaster of games released yesterday, at paid upgrades, at every TLOU rerelease ("it looks night and day bro, are you blind??"), at $5000 GPUs ("sucks to be poor!"), at the PS5 Pro ("I mean, it's actually a bargain if you think about it!").
We've had gamers scoffing at subscription services that offered dozens of games at the yearly price of 4-5 games, and declaring themselves ready to re-buy ROMs they were declaring themselves sick of having to rebuy at every new generation a full decade ago, when Nintendo didn't allow you to bring over your Wii VC purchases onto your WiiU and 3DS.
But yeah, sure, it's the Switch 2 that's pricing you out of gaming, pal. Sure. Uh-huh.
Trunx81
Member
I just had ChatGPT calculate with inflation what SNES games used to cost in 1994. Between 92 and 139€, so between 131 and 196 US Dollar. We bought 2 or max 3 games a year and where happy.
Regginator
Member
What I haven't seen people talking about yet concerning the 80$/90€ physical games:
Is this a signal to retailers that they're being phased out? Usually physical games would be priced lower (or rather, digital games priced higher) in order for retailers to get a piece of the pie. Now it seems Nintendo (and very soon probably others as well) give retailers the finger, when a significant portion of Nintendo games are still being sold physically. I'm genuinely curious how this will play out.
Is this a signal to retailers that they're being phased out? Usually physical games would be priced lower (or rather, digital games priced higher) in order for retailers to get a piece of the pie. Now it seems Nintendo (and very soon probably others as well) give retailers the finger, when a significant portion of Nintendo games are still being sold physically. I'm genuinely curious how this will play out.
Cyberpunkd
Member
Absolutely agree. Gamers are fucking donkeys. They refuse to buy full price anything that is either GAAS or 100hrs+ ARPG, the rest they refuse to buy till it hits sub $20 during a sale. In the meantime they are happy paying for online + fuckton of games they are never going to play.
Cyberpunkd
Member
If you didn't notice Nintendo is the only one left at retail. What are you going to put there instead? Funko pops?
Regginator
Member
Which makes it even more baffling that they're the ones setting this precedent.
executor
Member
I understand that as an hobby if you have a work it's probably affordable, you can buy a ps5pro, you can buy 1000EUR graphic cards, you can buy a 470EUR switch2 (argh) etc, with a work people can make plans to allocate money to sustain an hobby. But how can a teenager afford that ? I highly doubt I will gift my daughter a Switch2 for xMas or birthday, hell it's 470EUR with no games here and every new game is like 80EUR to 90EUR ???, and here we do not have salaries as high as in the US nor we gift things that costs so much... and considering the costs of mobile phones I doubt that young people will have the option to choose at all... Seems that videogaming on anything else than a mobile is becoming an hobby for the 1% ???
Cyberpunkd
Member
Because once you are in a dominant position you dictate the terms. Again - what else can a store put there? It's 100% of their videogame section.
dDoc
Member
PC is looking more and more appetising.
Hopefully the RX9070 XTs availability will increase in the coming months and then I will make the jump from my Playstation 5 and humble rig.
EUR 90 for Mario Kart? Eff off Nintendo, you will not get any of my money.
All corporations are greedy of course, but in my opinion Ninty takes the cake.
Hopefully the RX9070 XTs availability will increase in the coming months and then I will make the jump from my Playstation 5 and humble rig.
EUR 90 for Mario Kart? Eff off Nintendo, you will not get any of my money.
All corporations are greedy of course, but in my opinion Ninty takes the cake.
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