I can’t remember the last game I paid full price for, but I can guarantee you it wasn’t a AAA game.
In the 2000s, before Steam or other online stores were a thing, and while I still bothered with a console, I was hitting up used game sections at various local stores. Main difference between that era and now to me is that there’s a better selection online, and prices are indeed cheaper if you don’t care about playing AAA games. I don’t understand how anybody “struggle[s] to find new games” as the article claims.
Elden Ring, good gake but my least favorite from soft game. Should have got it on sale.
Just a friendly reminder from an old fart that used to save their allowance to buy catridges:
Gaming is insanely cheap and accessible right now. You kids have no idea how good you have it, we used to go get our games twenty miles away, uphill both ways.
But no, seriously, that piece is a terrible take from somebody that either doesn’t understand how games are made and sold or is too young to understand why they’re so fundamentally wrong. Probably both. This comes to mind: https://indieweb.social/@emilygorcenski/111533761630028005
I dunno man, I started gaming with the Atari, C64 and NES, and I never paid full price back then either. Rentals, used games, piracy… that was a good 95%+ of my gaming experience.
The only time I got full price games was maybe a birthday or Christmas, but even that was rare for a major AAA release like Mario 3 or E.T.
Maybe your memory is just one person’s experience and not an absolute truth.
No, you and I are saying the same thing. The article (not just the headline) is a screed about how people buying on sales is a result of games becoming more expensive and game publishers becoming greedy. Except it’s not, people always dug for sales because games used to be way more expensive than they are now.
I may misremember many things about last century, but I don’t misremember the way I spent 90% of my spare time or how I acquired the games I played during that time.
You should only pay full price if the release quality is great. And even then, there’s a reason why #patientgamers is a trend. You save on hardware cost, game cost & get better quality games with extra post release content
YSK https://isthereanydeal.com/ lets you create a waitlist, set a price you’re willing to pay for each game, and notifies you when its on sale for ≤ that amount.
I spend as much as I did on console, the difference is that more projects get a share of the pie.
IMO it’s healthier for the industry if my 120 eurobucks, instead of going to just one or two AAA, go something like 40 to an AAA, 30 to another, 20 to a high profile sure thing indie, 10 for a risky experimental indie puchase, 15 for an old but deserving back catalog title, and 5 for someone’s crude low budget personal project. The lower prices across the board allow that.
I used to buy full price games pretty often… But I can’t afford it anymore. To the point I’m mostly playing free to play games or things I already own.
I think that’s true for a lot of people too.Praise be to St. Gaben, our Lord and Saviour!
The price is right. See Price Discrimination: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/price_discrimination.asp
