Console game pricing-is these feasible?

[ninzel]

So I'm hearing all this talk already of the next consoles and reading an article outlining how despite increased revenues the game industry is having a hard time making net profit because of increased budgets. I was also thinking of the complaints about the used game/rental market and how it hurts new game sales.
So while game devs and console makers are thinking about their next gen systems which is just gong to be another expensive transition and even higher budgets,why not start utilizing the current systems to their fullest and address why people are turning to the used/rental game market.
Each of the next gen systems has a hard drive and internet connection yet despite this the games we are getting for download are fine but smaller simpler games.
Why not offer more pricing flexibility like is done now in the music download market,
Allow me for example the options with a game like Killzone 2 to:
1. buy the full retail version for $60CDN.
2. download just the single player portion for $25 CDN
3. download just the multi-player portion for $25 CDN

Isn't this a way that the industry should be utilizing the "power " of these systems?

 

[Squilliam]

Retailer would have a fit and then pull your games off the shelves and stop selling them.

 

[tuna]

Not if you:
1. buy the full retail version for $60CDN.
2. download just the single player portion for $40 CDN
3. download just the multi-player portion for $40 CDN

Then everbody is happy (retailers seemed pretty happy with GT5rologue).

 

[ninzel]

Retailer would have a fit and then pull your games off the shelves and stop selling them.

What about Itunes/Amazon,this is a model that offers more flexbility in terms of pricing which is what I thik the gaming industry needs? This couldn't work for the gaming industry?

 

[ninzel]

Not if you:
1. buy the full retail version for $60CDN.
2. download just the single player portion for $40 CDN
3. download just the multi-player portion for $40 CDN

Then everbody is happy (retailers seemed pretty happy with GT5rologue).

I wouldn't be happy paying $40 just for the SP or MP,I would go as high as $30.
With GT5 P you are getting the same full experience as you do if you buy at retail.
But that's just a detail to work out.

 

[Rangers]

Retailer would have a fit and then pull your games off the shelves and stop selling them.

Gamestop for one.

Gamestop supposedly has dealt harshly with some of Sony's download initiatives when they feel like they are encroaching retail. I forget the game but they supposedly immediately sent all inventory of the game back to Sony in a truck as soon as download was offered for one title. I'm thinking it was Warhawk, I cant remember..

 

[Rangers]

Not if you:
1. buy the full retail version for $60CDN.
2. download just the single player portion for $40 CDN
3. download just the multi-player portion for $40 CDN

Then everbody is happy (retailers seemed pretty happy with GT5rologue).

Interesting I suppose. But I think the online parts would sell very little. People would just pay $20 extra for both halves. Thus rendering the experiment irrelevant.

I dont think many would be interested in "just" one side or the other. Although I suspect a hella lot more would be interested in only SP (this could be a problem as well if too many people buy the $40 SP over the full version).

Another possible flaw would be how the press treats it...they're likely to scream about gouging or something (why do we have to pay $80 when the retail is 60 for the full game??) this could set a negative connotation around the idea.

 

[LeeC22]

I won't download anything but small games or add on content. I like disks, I like originals, I wouldn't turn my collection into a digital one under any circumstances. For me, one disc, one game, one price, all features. If I don't use half of those features, I really don't mind if the other half gives me value for money. If it doesn't, then it gets traded... I bought (for £45), completed and traded MGS4 within the space of a week for example. Yet I still have J-League soccer on the N64 that I paid £75 for when it was released.

The other problem with that pricing model of course is, what if the game only has SP? Does that mean that all SP games should be dropped to $40 to make them the same price as the SP portions of other games?

GT5P was the prime example of the argument against digital distribution. When it was released, I could have downloaded the online version for £24.99, or I could have bought the disc version (as I did) for £19.99 in most places, £17.99 in other online locations. So for £7 more, I could have bought a version with no resale value... why would I do that? As it was, I sold it to my work colleague for £12 and didn't lose too much money.

Retailers were happy with GT5P because they were selling more than the online version because it was cheaper to do so. They could undercut online and generate more sales for themselves, it worked well for them. I did also hear that the disc version had more content than the download version, but I don't know if that was really true or not.

And just to make one point clear here... I'm a game developer and yes, we too buy pre-owned and rental games. Some of the people who make the games are normal people with normal incomes and the same expenditure as everyone else. If we can save money, we will, it's just one of those unfortunate facts of life.

 

[holsty101]

... I did also hear that the disc version had more content than the download version, but I don't know if that was really true or not.

IIRC the intro vid (& I think whatever else was missing from the download version) were available to download separately to the actual game, for free, to make them content equal.

I've got a question about game prices, something I've wondered about since I moved from the UK to the USA ... How come there's no online discounting (from new) of games over here? WTF is that all about?

 

[Mobius1aic]

IIRC the intro vid (& I think whatever else was missing from the download version) were available to download separately to the actual game, for free, to make them content equal.

I've got a question about game prices, something I've wondered about since I moved from the UK to the USA ... How come there's no online discounting (from new) of games over here? WTF is that all about?

Are not games in the UK much higher than the direct download version due to import tariffs? I'm not too sure, so enlighten me please

 

[ninzel]

I dont think many would be interested in "just" one side or the other. .

I don't know,I seem to remember reading something awhile back that said most people don't even finish games.
But more imprtantly the used game market and game rentals are eating into new games sales.Again why? Instead of the industry trying to fight it why not look at what the used/rental market are offering and try and work for consumers to offer the same. I suspect the answer is pricing flexibility due to a desire to only play a certain "amount" of the game vs having to commit to the full package.

 

[ninzel]

The other problem with that pricing model of course is, what if the game only has SP? Does that mean that all SP games should be dropped to $40 to make them the same price as the SP portions of other games?

Good point,but then again maybe single player only games should be cheaper.
It seems that most of the responses in this thread so far have been about what people feel is best for the industry.
Edit: Isn't this type of pricing rigidity what hurt the music industry and what lead to things like Itunes?

Interesting I suppose. But I think the online parts would sell very little. People would just pay $20 extra for both halves. Thus rendering the experiment irrelevant.

Well then wouldn't this be something the dev would want to know so they might not waste as many resources in the future on the online portion? Wouldn't this type of of model offer more specific feedback as to what's popular and what's not?
And I would hardly call flexible pricing an experiment,maybe for the game industry but not for the free market at large.

 

[holsty101]

Are not games in the UK much higher than the direct download version due to import tariffs? I'm not too sure, so enlighten me please

I'm not talking about the pricing for download vs high street, I could've been clearer, sorry.

I mean the cheaper prices for boxed games via online retailers like amazon.co.uk that doesn't seem to apply at american sites. Not being able to get a discount when buying games online came as a nice little surprise ...

 

[Silent_Buddha]

It has to do with a variety of factors. But the most important is...

You don't want to jeopardize your Retail presence overly much. So you don't want to make Retailers feel like they are just an advertising front for your online store. Thus at the very least online prices must equal retail prices. It is also why you'll generally see more generous pre-buy packages for retail than for digital distribution.

Gamestop is most notable for this second one where they managed to get 2 pre-buy bonuses packaged with DoW2 in order to appease them. Versus digital distribution which got 1 or 0. And other stores which got 1.

In a lot of ways you can think of boxed games selling through retail as "free" advertising. It's there when people go into the store to buy something else. They may see the box and it may stick in their minds. Sort of like window shopping.

And it's something no large software distributor would want to lose. Likewise, store employee word of mouth is another facet of that "free" advertising.

Anyways, it basically boils down to the fact that publishers don't want to lose that facet of free advertising or ability to sell to customers that still do not wish to buy online.

Regards,
SB

 

[ninzel]

Well I guess as long as nobody in the industry seems willing to stand up for the consumers,many people like myself will have money left on the table that the industry might have otherwise made directly. I will continue to rent most games as it seems many people will.

Article about game pricing from Gabe Newell.
http://www.edge-online.com/features/valve-are-games-too-expensive

"The reason why few have arrived at this conclusion is because you cannot easily experiment with pricing at retail"

"Although Valve was initially afraid that volatility or variability in pricing would confuse or anger its customers--or even cannibalize retail sales--Newell says that was not all the case."

"We were driving a huge uptick in revenue and attracting new customers." And while people believe that we're "screwing" retail, Newell showed that brick-and-mortar sales were unaffected by the online discount."

"Still skeptical? Newell said that a weekend sale of one third-party title drove that game's sales up by 18,000 percent and units-sold increased 36,000 percent. It energized the user base, says Newell"

"The conclusion: The games industry is not pricing its products correctly. It's only through the experimentation that such services as Steam allows will the industry be able to find the golden ratio of price and sales"

 

[Arwin]

There's a lot of experimentation with pricing these days if you go to online stores at least. I agree that at retail it's harder - even Sony's own RRP prices (which on the PS3 are typically 10 euros less than 3rd party games) are almost consistently pulled up to the prices of the rest (i.e. 65 euros).

But I just ordered Killzone 2 for 38,99 Euro. And during Christmas, a lot of new titles were temporarily offered for very low prices (like Far Cry 2 which I bought for 23,49 and which has subsequently gone back up in price). LittleBigPlanet has also received a very early pricedrop which it is still enjoying on the PS3. Also there's more and more being done on PSN (buying full games from there). It's interesting times for a consumer looking to save some money.

But good points by Gabe, I think I agree with him on this one.

 

[ninzel]

In order to satisfy retail they could make retail games a timed exclusive. For example retail would get the game exclusively for a one month period, which is when most of the hardcore who are willing to spend the most for a game buy anyway. Then after that make it a downloadable parted out option.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

In order to satisfy retail they could make retail games a timed exclusive. For example retail would get the game exclusively for a one month period, which is when most of the hardcore who are willing to spend the most for a game buy anyway. Then after that make it a downloadable parted out option.

Well they sorta kinda do that already. At least from what I've seen on Steam. Except a bit different.

Game is sold at retail prices on Steam for the first few months. And then heavily discounted below retail.

Regards,
SB

 

[ninzel]

Well they sorta kinda do that already. At least from what I've seen on Steam. Except a bit different.

Game is sold at retail prices on Steam for the first few months. And then heavily discounted below retail.

Regards,
SB

Well yes Steam is a great model,but I'm talking about doing this on PSN or Xbox Live.

 

[vanquish]

I wouldn't want to download KZ2 (or another Bluray game), would eat up all my monthly bandwidth. Not all parts of the world have competitive ISP's that offer hundreds of GB's of bandwidth for reasonable prices.