I went down a rabbit hole of emulation last year. I got PCSX2 and tons of games like Ratchet & Clank, Tak 1-3, Jak 1-X, the Sly series, Spider-Man 2, and so many others. I spent a good month and a half just playing old PS2 games and I had an absolute blast
Nice! I’ve been gradually playing through a bunch of NES classics: Faxanadu, Dragon Warrior, Blaster Master, Fire Emblem. The next game I want to go through is Castlevania 1 and then Ultima IV after that!
The $60/$70 price tag on video games from major makers is an entry fee, it doesn’t get you the full game anymore. You have to pay for luxury editions, expansions, microtransactions of some sort, battle pass. It’s cheaper to start a tabletop miniature army than play video games now.
Is it? What game requires any of that? Even the most microtransation heavy games lile NBA 2k and Fifa are perfectly playable without micro transactions. You’ll still get a top team you’ll still get 100s of hours out of it.
Paying for an expansion to a game you like doesn’t seem like it belongs that list. DLC from the Souls games (Bloodborne included) adds a ton to its respective base games.
This… Put games on your wishlist, set your wishlist to only show sales, and sort by price. Then only buy games from that list when they go on a significant sale. Plenty of decent games out there regularly go for $5-10 or less. With very few exceptions I refuse to pay more than $20-30 for a game and, even then, only if they’re like 50% off and not likely to come down.
Also… stop pre-ordering games. They’ll still be there when they do go on sale. You don’t need to play them as soon as they come out. Conquer that FOMO shit and develop some integrity.
I set a rule not to buy any game util i finish what I already have. I have not bought anything for the last two years. Any game that interest me is going to my wishlist for now.
These price hikes could not have come at a worse time, not just in the sense of the general cash people have but in the sense that video games right now are straight up not interesting.
Good games are not being made anymore. Bloated “experiences” designed to keep you hooked and spending money are being made. I can’t even accuse them of being casino games because that would more fun and interesting.
The rise in price comes at a time when we have virtually limitless backlogs of digital and physical games that are superb and high quality and indie games that get better and better. The price alone isn’t the issue, it’s the price and stagnation of game design
My rule of thumb is $1 per hour of gameplay. So if I don’t expect to get at least 70 hours out of a game, I’m not paying $70 for it. I don’t consider it a bargain until I get down to significantly less than a dollar per hour.
Great statement. But why?
Do the math on dollars per hour of entertainment. Games are comparably cheap at first glance.
They problem is that people are cheap too. So they won’t pay more for a better profuct. That has led the industry to invent more ways to get your money. Microtransactions, dlc… I would pay $100 for a game like portal these days. It would be less than a dollar per hour enjoyed. And no extra costs. But instead we have thousands of “free” games that are now geared to be most enjoyed by the people who pay the most.
That said, today’s games aren’t just a cd in a package. Most require servers running to be played for the most fun. What I would like is more of a subscription to a server provider that pays for servers for all the games. It’s more efficient if you play lots of different games. And a lot less hassle.
Lets say you get the 1 month pass, play any games you want and are part of that “service” for the duration, once it runs out you lose access to the games (unless you crack the downloaded files for them which would be like not returning the “rented” game I guess)
Personally just feels like the same scam cable tv was and now transforming into streaming services with ads.
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Great news!
They are!
… Just typically not the overproduced and overpriced corpo ones.
Wanna drive down AAA game prices?
Stop paying them!
Support your favorite indie or AA game today!
Don’t like games with predatory microtransactions?
You’ll never believe this, but you can also just stop playing games with them!
Get all your friends onboard with the plan, fight the man!
I just played Escape from Ever After. Every bit as good and polished as the old Paper Mario games. $25. They cost $50-$65 back then.
… I’ve never even heard of it.
But I do love the old paper mario games!
So wow, now we have a real life example of actual organic word of mouth spread of a game, as opposed to just being a passive advertisement sponge!
Have you met our lord and saviour, retro gaming?
And the Son, Emulation?
Or the step brother, piracy?
The only problem is too much choice!
Seriously, when you’ve got thousands of ROMs and vintage PC games to choose from, it’s really difficult to land on one to play right now!
I went down a rabbit hole of emulation last year. I got PCSX2 and tons of games like Ratchet & Clank, Tak 1-3, Jak 1-X, the Sly series, Spider-Man 2, and so many others. I spent a good month and a half just playing old PS2 games and I had an absolute blast
Nice! I’ve been gradually playing through a bunch of NES classics: Faxanadu, Dragon Warrior, Blaster Master, Fire Emblem. The next game I want to go through is Castlevania 1 and then Ultima IV after that!
The $60/$70 price tag on video games from major makers is an entry fee, it doesn’t get you the full game anymore. You have to pay for luxury editions, expansions, microtransactions of some sort, battle pass. It’s cheaper to start a tabletop miniature army than play video games now.
Is it? What game requires any of that? Even the most microtransation heavy games lile NBA 2k and Fifa are perfectly playable without micro transactions. You’ll still get a top team you’ll still get 100s of hours out of it.
Paying for an expansion to a game you like doesn’t seem like it belongs that list. DLC from the Souls games (Bloodborne included) adds a ton to its respective base games.
There are examples that I can excuse. I’m more of looking at the likes of Destiny 2 or World of Warcraft.
Let’s go, another chapter of letting a small amount of AAA games dictate our perception of video game prices.
Become a patient gamer. This winter sale, I bought probably 25 games totaling around 30 dollars. It’s enough to keep me busy for the next 5 years.
This… Put games on your wishlist, set your wishlist to only show sales, and sort by price. Then only buy games from that list when they go on a significant sale. Plenty of decent games out there regularly go for $5-10 or less. With very few exceptions I refuse to pay more than $20-30 for a game and, even then, only if they’re like 50% off and not likely to come down.
Also… stop pre-ordering games. They’ll still be there when they do go on sale. You don’t need to play them as soon as they come out. Conquer that FOMO shit and develop some integrity.
Yep. I’ve been waiting a half a year to get the Dark Souls franchise. It has paid off well.
Yeah but then I wouldn’t get the sick Cardi B Wet Ass Pussy character skin 😮💨
I set a rule not to buy any game util i finish what I already have. I have not bought anything for the last two years. Any game that interest me is going to my wishlist for now.
You don’t even have to be that patient these days. I got Arc Raiders 3 weeks after release for 60% off, it was like $18.
These price hikes could not have come at a worse time, not just in the sense of the general cash people have but in the sense that video games right now are straight up not interesting.
Good games are not being made anymore. Bloated “experiences” designed to keep you hooked and spending money are being made. I can’t even accuse them of being casino games because that would more fun and interesting.
The rise in price comes at a time when we have virtually limitless backlogs of digital and physical games that are superb and high quality and indie games that get better and better. The price alone isn’t the issue, it’s the price and stagnation of game design
Im tired of early access hell, most games never reaching roadmap goals, never leaving early access
Games have been $60 forever, $70 is a relative bargain
The games have never been easier to make and the market bigger, fuck their margins
The margins haven’t changed that much, I’m making a point that $60 in 2005 is the equivalent of like $100 today
My rule of thumb is $1 per hour of gameplay. So if I don’t expect to get at least 70 hours out of a game, I’m not paying $70 for it. I don’t consider it a bargain until I get down to significantly less than a dollar per hour.
Great statement. But why?
Do the math on dollars per hour of entertainment. Games are comparably cheap at first glance. They problem is that people are cheap too. So they won’t pay more for a better profuct. That has led the industry to invent more ways to get your money. Microtransactions, dlc… I would pay $100 for a game like portal these days. It would be less than a dollar per hour enjoyed. And no extra costs. But instead we have thousands of “free” games that are now geared to be most enjoyed by the people who pay the most.
That said, today’s games aren’t just a cd in a package. Most require servers running to be played for the most fun. What I would like is more of a subscription to a server provider that pays for servers for all the games. It’s more efficient if you play lots of different games. And a lot less hassle.
They already are. It’s called - sales.
The problem are people going out in droves, willingly spending $70 or more on special editions. They’ve caved to FOMO and it is a them problem.
We’re still in the best age of gaming where there are sales in all directions.
They become cheap if you’re patient enough.
Except Nintendo. And the mentality is spreading, I’ve never seen sekiro below $40
That may be true but what about the devs who spent a lot of money in uni? Just to make all the work cheap? I agree with that, but not much.
That’s why you make good products that people cannot resist buying. Too much boring slop out there right now
Any excess profit due to higher game prices will go to shareholders anyway.
https://gg.deals/ is pretty nice for PC games at least
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Yeah but the IMPERATIVE IS ON US to make sure that the industry (AAA, AA & Indie) are on their best behaviour.
Like as an example, a game that looks like it would run on potato PC should run on one
Or do not allow a game to cross the recommended requirement of 8 GB ram etc…
Or live with AA and indie games like many of us do, at tell AAA publishers to get fucked by not spending money on their live-service crap.
Bring back rentals
Remember Gamefly?
Gamepass wasn’t a bad idea, and it was actually pretty cool when it first came out. It was basically Microsoft’s Gamefly.
Don’t microslop and friends peddle some game pass and similar subscriptions? Game rental with extra steps.
Subscriptions =/= Rental
Is it really that different though?
Lets say you get the 1 month pass, play any games you want and are part of that “service” for the duration, once it runs out you lose access to the games (unless you crack the downloaded files for them which would be like not returning the “rented” game I guess)
Personally just feels like the same scam cable tv was and now transforming into streaming services with ads.
The difference is I got to choose the game I rented and the duration, not some preselected list of which 95% of it I am never going to touch.