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[belmakor]

Search didn't work, but I don't recall seeing this posted yet today.

http://money.cnn.com/2004/09/29/commentary/game_over/column_gaming/index.htm

Activision is going to raise prices next year by $3 to $5. Other companies haven't said anything yet, but analysts apparently want them to raise prices. Including one in the article who wants it done this fall, so consumers can be conditioned to higher prices for next year.

This can't be good.

 

[Gek54]

Circuit City conditioned me for $10 games.

 

[Wellington]

Well, I can find another hobby then. This season alone has been murder on the wallet.

Only Wario64 can save us now.

 

[bjork]

People bitch about a $50 price point, so they're going to raise it? How's that done...

 

[WarPig]

The market is broad enough right now that anyone who tries this is going to take an unmerciful shitkicking. Enough A-list games hit the shelves at $40 or less (or drop to that price within weeks of release) that jacking your price over $50 would be suicide for anything short of a GTA or a Halo 2.

DFS.

 

[dark10x]

They already did it with Doom 3...

Thankfully, there are no Activision games I want in the immediate future...

 

[Mrbob]

Consumers haven't exactly cheered the price increases, but sales haven't been affected. "Doom 3," for example, has topped the charts since its release in August. And 2002's "Warcraft III" sold over 1 million copies within three weeks of its release.

Why are they using PC games as a basis for a console article? Moreover, Blizzard game titles have always been priced a little higher than the rest of the PC game community. Not to mention that PC game prices plummet like two weeks after release. Something this article overlooked. I could find Doom 3 a couple weeks after release online for $37.99.

 

[bjork]

That whole "they have more disposable income" line doesn't wash with me... if it's for some limited edition bundle like Pop'n Music 9 had or something, I can see coughing up some extra money, but not just because costs went up, if they even did. Not every game needs a big marketing splash to gain recognition.

 

[M3wThr33]

Yeah. PC Games have a longer shelflife so I don't mind a $70 title, even. Console games would pale at $51.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Oh as if Doom 3 and Warcraft III are good markers for this. Try that shit on some decent, but not wildly anticipated game and see how far it gets.

I certainly won't pay $50, not anymore. I'd wait for the price drops, it happens to every game eventually.

 

[WarPig]

Oh as if Doom 3 and Warcraft III are good markers for this.

No fucking joke. HEY MAINSTREAM PRESS: GET A GODDAMNED CLUE.

DFS.

 

[Arcticfox]

Big name PC games have always been >$50. I don't see how the price of DOOM 3 or a Warcraft game will affect the price of an average console game.

I don't really care one way or the other, though. I haven't paid full price for a game since the SNES days.

 

[Alex]

I would think using Blizzard titles to show examples on "why it's okay to raise the general pricing on games" is a pretty poor example, period. Given the massive fanbase, and multi-year development anticipation building up.

Edit: Goddamnit. Beaten, with a far better summary at that.

 

[SyNapSe]

Yeah, I really have a lot less problem paying >$50 for a PC title. Generally, the replay is higher.. w/ free online play, and tons of help from mod communities, etc.

There aren't many games that come out on consoles that I put anywhere NEAR the amount of playtime into that most PC games are good for.

 

[Wario64]

Game Prices Set To Increase?

Hell no.

 

[jarrod]

DS/PSP games ~$40-$50?

 

[wipeout364]

Game prices should drop before they rise. Except for marquee titles it is hard to command full price for games. Really in my opinion they are overpriced, they should all be in the 30 to 40 dollar range. I buy a lot of full priced games but I pause when they charge 50 dollars. Activision has some good games but they would be commiting suicide charging extra across the board.

It would be interesting to see how their next Xmen fighting game, wakeboarding 2, BMX 3 and the rest of their second tier line up do at 55 dollars. They can barely sell them at 50. They get a hit with Doom 3 then start talking out of their ass, unfortunately most of their games are far from DOOM 3 in popularity.

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

This may be written from a US perspective but still you'd think they'd mention how every retailer in the UK ignored Atari's extra 5 quid premium price for Driv3r. And wipeout is on to something about Activision being flushed with D3's success. If anything it seems that if we are moving away from blanket initial release prices it's towards games starting at budget prices.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Search didn't work, but I don't recall seeing this posted yet today.

http://money.cnn.com/2004/09/29/commentary/game_over/column_gaming/index.htm

Activision is going to raise prices next year by $3 to $5. Other companies haven't said anything yet, but analysts apparently want them to raise prices. Including one in the article who wants it done this fall, so consumers can be conditioned to higher prices for next year.

This can't be good.

I called this what, 2 months ago ?

Still, STEAM and similar services will be the solution to counter-balance this increase of prices the publishers are pushing for.

 

[DCharlie]

hmm....

reducing prices would surely encourage more sales and open up more potential buyers, where as raising them excludes some portion of the populous.

$20 a game and you'd see a lot more people taking chances on titles they half know about
$55 a game and only the big titles are going to shift

somewher, the publishers have to find the perfect medium where the price is right for the consumer and enough to make profit on the product.

 

[Yusaku]

They already did it with Doom 3...

Thankfully, there are no Activision games I want in the immediate future...

This is VERY common for big PC games. Average PC game is like $40, but Doom 3, HL2, any Blizzard game, etc is gonna start at $55 minimum.

 

[Joe]

lets all take a minute to remember what happened when cd prices were going up instead of down...

 

[rastex]

Well the one thing is that maybe people (i.e. mainstream) are willing to shell out an extra $3-$5 because little Jimmy REALLY wants it, and they buy so few games anyway that the extra amount is insignificant. The hardcore gamer market is something totally different as we buy MANY MANY games, so any increase hurts us drastically. Think about the average Madden buyer. Madden is probably one of the only games they buy. If its priced is raised by a few dollars do you really think they'd care? EA might lose a FEW customers, but I think the casual market can sustain a small price increase.

Of course there's the counter-argument that when you lower prices and start getting into the impulse range.

 

[Panajev2001a]

hmm....

reducing prices would surely encourage more sales and open up more potential buyers, where as raising them excludes some portion of the populous.

$20 a game and you'd see a lot more people taking chances on titles they half know about
$55 a game and only the big titles are going to shift

somewher, the publishers have to find the perfect medium where the price is right for the consumer and enough to make profit on the product.

Publishers do not care about small innovative titles.

What they increasingly demand from developers is safe big hitters that make money anyway... the next sep is to price them higher to make even more money...

Of course there is quite a jump there from the hope to make that much money in the long run this way and actually have a healty future for the game industry, but publishers think only on a Quarter-to-Quarter basis, not any longer in the future,

 

[Auron]

I don't believe the broad market will accept an increase like this. $50 is already very expensive when you compare it to other forms of entertainment. If prices go up, people will simply wait for the sales or the eventual drop in price.

 

[Marty Chinn]

Ya but in comparison, video games is the only entertainment format that hasn't grown in price, in fact it's gone down if anything over the last 20 years. Despite inflation, video game prices have remained static. What was the price of a video game 10 years ago. Now what was the price of a CD and a movie ticket back then?

 

[The Faceless Master]

cd prices went up?

i know movie theaters did, but i always remembered paying $10-15 for cd's

 

[Joe]

a lot of the new releases and popular cd's were around $18 with tax a couple years ago. they've only recently really come down in price.