game-prices posts

We've all heard comments from game industry reps saying how "cheap" PC and video games are compared to other entertainment media. However the fact is that no matter how many hours you may spend with a game you still have to deal with higher prices up front compared to renting or buying a DVD or downloading music.

Legendary game developer Warren Spector (currently head of Junction Point Studios) says it's time that the game industry take a good hard look at the pricing of their products. Gamesindustry.biz reports that Spector, speaking at GDC last week, stated, "We've been a niche medium that over-charges for its product and therefore generates a lot of revenue which makes us a little bigger than Hollywood, which is crazy."

Spector says the industry should go after the impulse entertainment market for its prices. He says in the article, "If I've got a 20 dollar bill in my pocket I can go buy a book, go to a movie, but I can't buy a game. I can buy a CD, I can do so much even now, but you cannot buy a game." To be fair you can in fact buy some games for $20 out of the box or wait until their prices go down months or even years after release. However it's clear that Spector's comments go after the vast majority of retail game products that are priced at $40, $50 and $60 (even more if you talk about collector's editions).