Is it just me or did game prices go up? $2.99 now the new .99

Discussion in 'General Game Discussion and Questions' started by Jayg2015, Jul 9, 2015.

  1. Jayg2015

    Jayg2015 Well-Known Member

    Jan 5, 2015
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    #1 Jayg2015, Jul 9, 2015
    Last edited: Jul 9, 2015
    Delete please . Didn't mean to start a disaster
     
  2. Fangbone

    Fangbone Well-Known Member

    Oct 30, 2012
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    That's just kind of the name of the game when it comes to technology. My 5 year old PC doesn't run World of Warcraft as well as it used to. Sure Blizzard has updated the graphics in the newer expansions but it's on me if I want it to run as smoothly as possible. Can't expect the developers to cater to you. They do everything they can within certain limits.
     
  3. nemerleb

    nemerleb Well-Known Member

    Jan 19, 2013
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    I have been noticing more and more apps are escaping from the freemium genre and presenting a more "premium" product (still riddled with IAP mind you). But yeah there's an onbvious shift in mentality coz they hooked the crowds on mobile gaming and app, so now they are profiting from people's habits.
    Also Apple has stated they wanted to change that run to the bottom and make the appstore more profitable for them and less shovelwar-y (although that remains to be seen).
    As for your second point on devices, I completely agree. I got a Mini and am seeing a bit more games not supporting it which breaks my heart coz I still didn't squeeze out the right amount of usage from it (for its price). There are cases where it's understandable for its tech capability, but other times it baffles me how a game like Adventures of Pip (pixellated 2D platformer) only run on newer devices (even iPhone 5 isnn't supported). So yeah there must a little lobbying from Apple to push out older devices with some devs.
     
  4. Jayg2015

    Jayg2015 Well-Known Member

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    You mean cater to everyone right . I'm sure I'm not the only one who bought a brand new device within the last couple of years to find its now outdated.
     
  5. CrazedJava

    CrazedJava Well-Known Member

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    $3 is still nothing for a game. Considering I will buy anything of interest for the PC at the $5 price (Well, $10 if we're honest but I at least ponder that) $3 usually gets you just as good of a game and sometimes better.

    Granted, I have to have some interest. The problem is often that games released at a lower price point are often not that interesting to me. There are some exceptions.

    Still, it's not a huge risk. I quit playing demos a long time ago because they are so neutered compared to what they used to be that they often weren't worth the time. In fact, I can't remember the game, but the last demo I played convinced me not to buy the game and it wasn't until a friend insisted I give it a chance that I discovered the demo basically sucked. Publishers are so worried about customers being happy with the demo that they never buy the actual product, so the tactic for nearly the past decade has been to release something to restricted and shallow it has become a pointless practice.

    All-in-all, it depends on the type of game to. $3 for any genre is nothing. $1 is better, but I almost feel like stealing. $10 for a match 3? Sure, if it's good. Otherwise I won't bother. It all depends.

    Unfortunately, to get away from freemium the flipside is allowing the developers to charge for real money instead of the pittance so many expect them to take.
     
  6. Elsa

    Elsa Well-Known Member

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    [​IMG]

    This thread should be moved to Above Top Secret, you'll get a much better discussion there.


    Have you considered that game optimization takes a lot of time, a lot of testers and a lot of devices? It's simply not profitable, considering the really small percentages of people who use outdated devices/softwares, let alone how little of those are actually potential consumers.

    More and more games are made with commercial engines (Unity3D specifically), which, granted does force iOS updates (example, newest Unity engine only supports iOS 6 and up), but a lot of developers don't even support iOS 6, simply because of the hardware. Developers will do anything to get 5 star ratings, so they rather avoid lower-end devices which could cause potential frame rate issues here and there, just to not recieve lower ratings because of that. Losing those few potential consumers is a better case scenario for the developers if it means higher ratings.

    If there really was some "hey man, we'll give you 10.000 bucks if you make your game only iOS 8 and up mwahahaha" going on, I'm pretty sure we'd know about it. There's so many developers and some are really trying to be as transparatent as possible. I don't think Apple would risk their reputation with silly things like that. By the way, Apple's main selling point of iDevices aren't hardcore mobile gamers.


    As for the price increase, that's probably a combination of freemium backlash and mobile platform popularity and respect. Though not to say that the games themselves aren't worth the 3$. Why there are no demo versions anymore? Well, they're simply not profitable.


    You shouldn't complain about devices like iPods, iPhones 5C, iPad minis not being able to run the newest games. These things are out-dated on release, so if you consider yourself a gamer, you should do some research on what you're buying first.
     
  7. Fangbone

    Fangbone Well-Known Member

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    Just a generalization
     
  8. nemerleb

    nemerleb Well-Known Member

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    @Elsa OMG you went in on me! Hard! And with that pic! Ruthless...
    You are absolutely right. But I was talking about games that don't need that amount of power and optimization but still require to have the newer generation. Again, like Adventures of Pip; I am baffled as to why it needs to be on recent tech if it's a simple retro platformer.
    And come on! I am not a tinfoil-hat-wearer for thinking companies don't encourage dev to utilize newer hardware to phase out older ones. I mean, it's all business. I promise I don't relate to anything Lord Xenu and co say :p
     
  9. CrazedJava

    CrazedJava Well-Known Member

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    The simple answer, which most people will not like, is because companies don't want to spend the money on testing. All the little differences that make the iPhone 5 different from the iPhone 6 or the big differences between iOS 7 and iOS 8 means a lot of testing. It means a lot of (expensive) regression testing. They can't claim to support something they didn't test, and if the market is moving to newer devices the incentive is only to test enough to gain enough marketshare to make a profit.

    So while the actual resources need to run an application may well be within the capabilities of an older device and OS, the publisher or developer may just decide it's not worth the effort to make sure it works.
     
  10. Jayg2015

    Jayg2015 Well-Known Member

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    Next month each game will be $4.99 month after $9.99 and so forth . Every month you will have someone like me mention that prices are going up and defending gamers and we will have another guy defending the fact that well" x "amount of dollars isn't even that much , Apple deserves it and I should just suck it up .
     
  11. CrazedJava

    CrazedJava Well-Known Member

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    I know that was somewhat tongue-in-cheek but there is cheap and there is not.

    Some games aren't worth 99 cents. It all depends. However, $3 ain't bad and if you're able to afford a smartphone with all the extra expenses but $3 seems like a lot of money, maybe you can't actually afford a smartphone.

    For $3 I still want $3 worth of game. I recently deleted Card Crawl but while I played it I felt like I got a $5 game with a $2 price tag. It's hard to complain about a game being above 99 cents if that is what you get.

    Then there is F2P where I'm trying to keep them from putting their hands in my wallet.
     
  12. Elsa

    Elsa Well-Known Member

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    #12 Elsa, Jul 9, 2015
    Last edited: Jul 9, 2015
    Well, if you feel that games are becoming too expensive you could always... you know - not buy them. I don't think there's a person behind you with a gun forcing you to buy a game (unless you're in America, that is). A product is worth as much as people are willing to pay for it. So the problem isn't with the developers, it's with the market. The only way you can change it is to boycott games and raise awareness, though while you're doing that you might realize that there are better things to protest.


    Though I personally haven't noticed the price increase. There might be a few "unfair" prices here and there, but that was always happening. And I don't think the majority of developers would bump their prices up for no good reason.

    Any concrete examples?
     
  13. nemerleb

    nemerleb Well-Known Member

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    That makes a lot of sense. The fewer the devices they support, the less ressources they can allocate to keep pushing updates and continuous support. You are absolutely right. Shame apps' lifetime is so short.
    That's why mobile can never truly rival dedicated consoles. At least when you buy a game there you own it for life.
     
  14. klink

    klink 👮 Spam Police 🚓

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    I really hope the prices are going up. No developer is going to make a living off $.99 games. It would be nice to see people value their work because I sure do. As someone who grew up playing $60 dollar games we're living in a paradise right now. Every week loads of quality affordable games are released.

    Come on now we can all afford to pay a couple extra bucks for them. I
     
  15. Jayg2015

    Jayg2015 Well-Known Member

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    I hope they start charging $60 a game. That's what we pay for console gamea
     
  16. nemerleb

    nemerleb Well-Known Member

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    Maybe then devs will think twice about jumping to mobile, and will stay on dedicated consoles. The bubble is slowly inflating and close to pop. 3DS and Vita WILL be avenged! :p
     
  17. klink

    klink 👮 Spam Police 🚓

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    Oh Jay it's too late because the internet is forever. # Heading your way with pitchforks and torches.
     
  18. sapphire_neo

    sapphire_neo Well-Known Member

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    The prices are more likely to get on par with what indie games sell for on Steam. The usual price point there is $10-$20. We're already seeing some of that in games this year, This War of Mine will launch for $9.99 as well.
     

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