Video game industry say's they are struggling.

[sooner78wakeboard]

There seems to be constant news come out in regards to the video game industry, specifically the downfall of game or the lack of purchases.

My buddy and I were talking the other day about it. Why constantly buy new games when they just keep making expansion packs and extending the ones you already own. Yes, you can purchase a new game ( I am looking forward to Bioshock 3 next decade sometime) but other than that there have been expansions on CODMW, Skyrim, Batman Arkham City, ect. So there really isn't a rush to go out and drop another $50.00 on a game when you have a proven title already on your hands.

 

[bamabear82]

Yeah, I keep hearing they're going to try to shut down all the Gamestop type places to limit the sale of pre-owned games, which seems to be the biggest issue when it comes to new game sales. I'm not going to spend $40-$60 on a new game when Play & Trade has the same shit preplayed for half or less of the price and guaranteed to work. It doesn't bother me waiting a couple more weeks for someone to get tired of a game and trade it in.

 

[fordman84]

Yup, they need to drop the prices or people just won't keep buying. $30 is more than enough for a game. $60 is too much, especially when you figure in that most of the games I have bought recently then come out with 3 expansion packs for $10 a pop. $90 for a game? Not likely that I'll be buying them 2-3 at a time like we used to get for Xmas on regular Nintendo. I remember getting one from my parents, one from my grandparents, and one from my aunt or uncle. Then on top of that I would have enough money if I wanted a 4th game. There is no way I would hope to get $200 in games for one Xmas nowadays.


I won't even buy the new CoD because it A) looks stupid and B) looks like just an expansion pack for the last three. There isn't that much cool stuff they can release now, and so they are just pumping out similar stuff over and over. Gamestop isn't the problem. Pricing the next generation right out of gaming is. Games are geared and priced towards the 20 something male.

 

[NDHoosier101]

It's not only pricing but it's online game play as well. In the past when you beat the game that was it, and replaying it got boring so you went out and bought a new one. Now you can play multiplayer forever without it getting too boring, so there's no reason to go out and get a new expensive ass game.

As Sooner pretty much said in the op...

 

[rolltide14_0]

They are definitely trying to drain folks dry. I just paid $50 to get Battlefield Premium. That includes 5 expansions and some other shit that I don't really care about. I just wanted to get the expansions cheaper, because if you get them separately you will pay $15 a piece, and you get two weeks early access. That is on top of the $60 I paid for the game originally..lol.

I'm really worried that they're gonna try to shut down these game trading sites and stores in the future.

would probably be a nerd riot..

 

[NDHoosier101]

I'm really worried that they're gonna try to shut down these game trading sites and stores in the future.

would probably be a nerd riot..

It's already happening, eventually everyone will just instantly download games off xbox/ps that then are connected to your profile, it's convenient, but you won't be able to resell them. Although it should be happening quicker, I was disappointed I couldn't just download NCAA '13.

 

[Clayton]

Games are too expensive to make. Thats the big issue. That leads to the following problems:

1. Sequels. Lots of them. No one wants to take a risk on an original idea.
2. Dry months where there aren't any good games out because everyone wants to get in on the holiday rush.
3. A crackdown on the 'Gamestops' of the world. They'll be gone in less that 2 years.

The future of gaming is that all games will be streamed and sent to you online and you will always be online.

And people really can't be complaining about prices. We are paying the same amount for new games as people did back in the 80s and 90s.

 

[rolltide14_0]

Games are too expensive to make. Thats the big issue. That leads to the following problems:

1. Sequels. Lots of them. No one wants to take a risk on an original idea.
2. Dry months where there aren't any good games out because everyone wants to get in on the holiday rush.
3. A crackdown on the 'Gamestops' of the world. They'll be gone in less that 2 years.

The future of gaming is that all games will be streamed and sent to you online and you will always be online.

And people really can't be complaining about prices. We are paying the same amount for new games as people did back in the 80s and 90s.

I have to disagree here. I specifically remember in the 90's gradually watching the games go up $10 at a time. One year I was getting new games for $29.99, then it was 39.99, then 49.99, now 59.99.

Maybe it was just the hometown store that I was getting them at, but I don't recall any games being $60 back then.

 

[rolltide14_0]

It's already happening, eventually everyone will just instantly download games off xbox/ps that then are connected to your profile, it's convenient, but you won't be able to resell them. Although it should be happening quicker, I was disappointed I couldn't just download NCAA '13.

Somebody on another board said they bought their game directly through PSN, that they were gonna download it straight to their ps3. You sure you couldn't? That person might've been lying though.

 

[Clayton]

I have to disagree here. I specifically remember in the 90's gradually watching the games go up $10 at a time. One year I was getting new games for $29.99, then it was 39.99, then 49.99, now 59.99.

Maybe it was just the hometown store that I was getting them at, but I don't recall any games being $60 back then.

16 bit games were $60~ new. They went down to $50 when CDs first came out and quickly went back up to $60. N64 games were $80. the year they came out although the dropped back down to $60 once the craze died down.

 

[fordman84]

16 bit games were $60~ new. They went down to $50 when CDs first came out and quickly went back up to $60. N64 games were $80. the year they came out although the dropped back down to $60 once the craze died down.

Regular Nintendo games were never that much. I remember going down and buying Zelda, Rad Racer, and other games and they were never more than $29-$39. Hell, I can remember looking at the ToyRUs displays. You would pull the tag out of the little plastic sleeve under each game, take it up front, and they would bring up your game.

When SNES games came out, the most expensive ones were $40, but most were the $29.

 

[NDHoosier101]

Somebody on another board said they bought their game directly through PSN, that they were gonna download it straight to their ps3. You sure you couldn't? That person might've been lying though.

I looked everywhere, only found the demo, but I have an xbox. I'd be surprised if EA had a deal with ps for that and not xbox though.

You can download every EA sports game except that one from the marketplace...

 

[Clayton]

Regular Nintendo games were never that much. I remember going down and buying Zelda, Rad Racer, and other games and they were never more than $29-$39. Hell, I can remember looking at the ToyRUs displays. You would pull the tag out of the little plastic sleeve under each game, take it up front, and they would bring up your game.

When SNES games came out, the most expensive ones were $40, but most were the $29.

Yeah, if you go back to NES days, games were notably cheaper. But you also wouldn't spend more than $5 on any of those games today given the current competition.

 

[rolltide14_0]

16 bit games were $60~ new. They went down to $50 when CDs first came out and quickly went back up to $60. N64 games were $80. the year they came out although the dropped back down to $60 once the craze died down.

I never bought any of those, I just remember getting playstation games.

 

[bamabear82]

Ran across this pertaining to game prices then & now.

An inconvenient truth: game prices have come down with time | Ars Technica

 

[NDHoosier101]

Ran across this pertaining to game prices then & now.

An inconvenient truth: game prices have come down with time | Ars Technica

It may cost less but considering how many more people have game systems today I'd also say it's more profitable than ever.

 

[Clayton]

It may cost less but considering how many more people have game systems today I'd also say it's more profitable than ever.

But the games are also MUCH MUCH better. (unless you think you'd spend $60+ on Green Dog and Chakan: the Forever Man today).

 

[bamabear82]

It may cost less but considering how many more people have game systems today I'd also say it's more profitable than ever.

I would be inclined to agree. Not to mention there's lots of people like me nowadays, my son has 3 systems in his room and I have 2 in the living room. Not to mention whatever hand held shit he's got. That equates to a fair amount of video game purchases over time in one household, which in part is why we're gamefly-ing it now (<this hurts them I'm sure though). When I was a kid in the 80's-90's my brother and I had to share whatever system we got and usually didn't get something else until what we had broke and we only got games for it every now and then, my son has a stack waist high in his bedroom right now.

 

[Taz_Hokie]

It's already happening, eventually everyone will just instantly download games off xbox/ps that then are connected to your profile, it's convenient, but you won't be able to resell them. Although it should be happening quicker, I was disappointed I couldn't just download NCAA '13.

I really hope it doesn't get to this. Game systems have finite memory and once you hit that ceiling, you would have to either delete some game or buy more memory. I like having a library of games I can pull out at any time and just play.

 

[bamabear82]

I really hope it doesn't get to this. Game systems have finite memory and once you hit that ceiling, you would have to either delete some game or buy more memory. I like having a library of games I can pull out at any time and just play.

It's all going to the Cloud type shit before long, it's really already started. Like you, I do like have the disks on hand for some reason. I actually thought they should incorporate a multi disk changer on the new systems. I doubt that ever happens.