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Has anyone else noticed how software prices have'nt changed much.......

C

CorCentral

Banned
I remember hearing that when all the software makers switched from cartridge based games to disc based games, that prices would be slashed because cartridges were so expensive to manufacture. I don't remember prices ever dropping though.

Is it just because of inflation? Prices are about the same today for new games as they were 15+ years ago, but discs are cheap as dirt today.

 
It's because games these days have a lot larger budgets than they did back then, so they need to keep the prices up to gain a profit.
 
Yes. Its amazing. Gas has went up $3 a gallon, (400%) but games have went down or stayed about the same. At the same rate as inflation, games should be $150~$200. It just goes to show, they can charge whatever they want for a necessity (need) but not a want. The gov't really needs to step in and regulate gas prices better.
 
Did you make the same income 20 years ago that you do right now? How about your parents?
 
Originally posted by: austin316
Yes. Its amazing. Gas has went up $3 a gallon, (400%) but games have went down or stayed about the same. At the same rate as inflation, games should be $150~$200. It just goes to show, they can charge whatever they want for a necessity (need) but not a want. The gov't really needs to step in and regulate gas prices better.
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$4/gal where i live
 
when you consider that teams of 4-5 people could make games 15+ years ago in a short time period, and now there are usually well over 100 people working on blockbuster games for years, we should be thankful for this.
 
It just seems to be the sweet spot for game prices. $60 is pushing it though.

But try living in NZ where a new games costs $120.
 
It would be great if the games were priced based on production costs relative to the rest of the market. Instead they establish set prices based on nothing more than what they think all games are worth. Just take a look at the prices of games for the XBOX 360: $59.99, $49.99. Did all of the $59.99 games require a lot of money to produce. No, not at all. That's just the price that is set on most new releases. Same goes for the $49.99 games. It's a made up value, nothing more.

 
Originally posted by: CalvinHobbes
It would be great if the games were priced based on production costs relative to the rest of the market. Instead they establish set prices based on nothing more than what they think all games are worth. Just take a look at the prices of games for the XBOX 360: $59.99, $49.99. Did all of the $59.99 games require a lot of money to produce. No, not at all. That's just the price that is set on most new releases. Same goes for the $49.99 games. It's a made up value, nothing more.
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They probably have to do that to make up for stinkers that cost a lot to produce but didn't sell well for whatever reason.
 
The price will be decided by the market just like everything else. It seems that video games have actually stayed very low because people just won't spend a ton of money on a game.
 
has anyone else noticed how software prices haven't declined since the advent of direct-download?

i remember hearing that when some software developers made direct-downloads available, that prices would be slashed because we wouldn't have to pay for retail packaging and distribution. i don't remember prices ever dropping though.

😉
 
Yeah the digital download bastards get a huge profit, they don't need to pay for salesman, shelf space, manuals, game boxes, distribution, etc so their profit margin on games is HUGE, one could argue the price is compensated by server costs but I doubt it's as expensive as setting shops all over the country.
 
Originally posted by: austin316
Yes. Its amazing. Gas has went up $3 a gallon, (400%) but games have went down or stayed about the same. At the same rate as inflation, games should be $150~$200. It just goes to show, they can charge whatever they want for a necessity (need) but not a want. The gov't really needs to step in and regulate gas prices better.
Click to expand...

I love how you equate gas prices to video games. The price economy on these two things are completely NOT related. That's like saying "Taxes have increased these last 8 years, but Oreo cookies have remained the same" - It must be a conspiracy!
 
Originally posted by: zerocool84
Originally posted by: austin316
Yes. Its amazing. Gas has went up $3 a gallon, (400%) but games have went down or stayed about the same. At the same rate as inflation, games should be $150~$200. It just goes to show, they can charge whatever they want for a necessity (need) but not a want. The gov't really needs to step in and regulate gas prices better.
Click to expand...

$4/gal where i live
Click to expand...

So you are paying $5??

He said went up, not went up to. To have a % increase you need a starting point greater than 0 and I assume he is using $1 as the starting point. (or something close to that)
 
Is it just because of inflation? Prices are about the same today for new games as they were 15+ years ago, but discs are cheap as dirt today.
Click to expand...
Yes. A dollar in 1990 was the equivalent of $1.65 today. So your game prices have done down significantly, even if they've gone up 10%-20% nominally. Certainly the production costs have gone up much more than that, too.

Anecdotally:
1. I remember paying something like $70 for my new copy of Dragon Warrior 4 back in 1992.
2. There were no "greatest hits" way back when. That's something that disc replication enabled, and it's why I can pick up a copy of Final Fantasy 9 for $20 instead of $50.
 
Games have always been between 40-60 bucks since 1970-1980. Games for the Atari 2600 were 50 bucks in the early 80s, with the occasional 70 cart. But for the most part games prices have always been about 50 bucks retail. Thats why I always wonder why people complain that next-gen games retail at 60 bucks. If the game sucks then yeah, i'd be pissed off too. But considering that the prices for the last 30 years have been the same thats not too bad.
 
The best part is the odd differences between where you get the game.

Bioshock for the PC vs bioshock for the 360. Its under 30.00 now for the pc, but still 59.99 for the 360.
 
inflation

devaluatiopn of US dollar

supply/demand

profit margins

I'm sure the formula gets more complex. Simple fact though ... if games were $100+ would you buy them? Neither would I and I am sure that game makers know this.
 
Originally posted by: spidey07
The price will be decided by the market just like everything else. It seems that video games have actually stayed very low because people just won't spend a ton of money on a game.
Click to expand...

That's pretty much it. I don't think development costs or inflation factor into it nearly as much as that does.
 
I remember paying $70 plus for SNES cartridges, so if anything, videogames cost less today than they did in the early to mid 90s. Considering the increase in development costs, increases in hardware costs and inflation, it's kind of a miracle games are as cheap as they are...
 
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