The Video Game Thread

[Reality]

The standard price for video games may be increasing to $70 for the PlayStation 5 and next-gen Xbox, ending 15 years of $60 games
https://www.businessinsider.com/video-game-price-increase-60-70-nba-2k-xbox-ps5-2020-7?IR=T

When this year's annual "NBA 2K" game launches, it'll cost the same $60 it has always cost for current-generation Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles.

But when the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X arrive this holiday season, the next-gen version of "NBA 2K21" will cost $70 — a precedent-shattering shift in the price model that the game industry has used for console games for over 10 years.

Found these comments on another forum which pretty much sums it up for me.
1) The "development costs have gone up" is a myth only an idiot would believe. In fact, dev costs have remained relatively stagnant, compared to the total income increase of game companies in recent years. Game companies, with the help of their favourite shills, ahem, excuse me, "game journalists", base this lie on the graphic quality increase, which really is not costing them more money if you actually understand how game development works. Yeah, perhaps a little more for a couple of more texture artists, but that's about it. It is a myth that just because a game has 2x-4x more pixels on the screen or an improved water shader, somehow it costs more to make. But gamers buy this myth, especially kids.

2) On the other hand, the marketing costs have gone up, and keep going up, because now there are more shills. It used to be that only game journos were bribed, but now we have streamers, youtubers, forum trolls and redditors who pretend to absolutely adore the latest game and tell you to buy it, viewbots in singapore to help our shill get more noticed, etc etc. Tons of money to spend, really, for "promotion". THOSE costs definitely have gone up.

3) The income of most game companies has gone way up. The size of the industry kept expanding tremendously in the last 3 decades. They sell at the same price, but they sell far more content to far more people.... Also, with microtransactions and DLCs, games don't really cost 60$ no more. 60$ is the initial cost, if you want the full game, you have to pay for far more than that, usually.

4) Game distribution and publish costs have gone down. Digital distribution and the eradication of manuals have lowered the costs considerably. Quality game manuals, maps, game cases, cartridges, used to make up for much of the 60$ price of a game. Now those things don't exist. Game "journalists" always forget to mention that for some strange reason....

5) Increasing the base price of video games won't eradicate DLCs and microtransactions. This is another huge lie. They tell you this, to make you initially swallow the price increase, but you will see that DLCs and microtransactions will become WORSE, on top of the increased base price, not better. These scum are lying to you.

I agree with most of what you said and as I mentioned in my other post I have avoided buying consoles in recent years simply because PC games tend to have better discount sales.

However, there is another way to look at it

It is possible for example the platform companies are taking a larger percentage of sales now from publishers.

One of the reason that may be happening is that the platform companies are subsidizing more of the costs of the newer consoles to consumers as they tend to cost more to produce than they sell for, especially in the first couple of years of release.

From a consumer standpoint, paying $10 or $20 more for each console game when combined with the costs of the console still come out a lot less than it would cost to buy/build a good gaming PC and also buy the PC versions of the games.

For example, I recently started acquiring the parts (when available) to build a new short-term gaming PC that will be used more as a HTPC in the near future.

Now I could have bought a pre-built one but since this is the first PC I have built for myself in years, I have specific parts I want used in the build.

I did not go cheap on the parts but I also avoided buying the top level options and I still ended up spending way more than I planned to spend for this build.

For the money I spent, I could have bought a PS5 at its higher expected price when it is released along with a lot of PS5 and PS4 games and still spent way less money.

I still prefer PC gaming, but I can definitely see the appeal of consoles as they get more and more comparable to PC gaming.

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

Toss the console and play on the PC. Get a controller if necessary. (I have one for Golf) Then just wait until the price drops on a game before buying it. I think I saw DOOM Eternal for 50% off the other day. You have to wait a little longer for it, but you get it at a far better price.

Consoles are like the Apple version of phones. PCs are like Android. Handle up on it!

I do, I have a PS3/PS4 and a Xbox that basically just sit around and gather dust. Once I started PC gaming it was lights out for the consoles.

 

[Khartun]

Finished TLoU2.

Fantastic game! 9/10

I don't get all the user review bombing. Totally uncalled for.

 

[Juggernaut]

 

[BigStar]

Looking forward to this! I didn't realize it was the infamous/sly cooper (Insomniac) folks making it so it won't necc. be a Dark souls type game with grueling difficulty. You can do stealth but also charge right in and parry your way through it.

Supposed to have a really good story so kind of looking fwd to that after beating Surge 2 which has little to no story. Waiting on my sisters bf to run through TLOU2 and he's taking his sweet time...jerk

 

[Lutonio]

Back in the 90s there was a major trend of exploding barrels being placed all over game levels. I killed countless AI on PSX and N64 standing next to red barrels and always laughed at how nobody would ever stand next to that crap.

Turns out I was wrong.

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

Death Stranding will be out on the PC here in a couple days.

Anyone played it, thoughts?

 

[Reality]

Death Stranding will be out on the PC here in a couple days.

Anyone played it, thoughts?

Isn't that the walking simulator?

 

[Lutonio]

Death Stranding will be out on the PC here in a couple days.

Anyone played it, thoughts?

Not personally, but I read a lot when it came out. It sounds like it was a lot like the The Last of Us 2 but on a smaller scale. People either loved it or people thought it was a game for smug people who like the smell of their own farts. The gameplay never grabbed me, but I would think Kojima deserves the benefit of the doubt.

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

Isn't that the walking simulator?

Possibly, I just wanna know before I shell out 60 bucks.

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

Not personally, but I read a lot when it came out. It sounds like it was a lot like the The Last of Us 2 but on a smaller scale. People either loved it or people thought it was a game for smug people who like the smell of their own farts. The gameplay never grabbed me, but I would think Kojima deserves the benefit of the doubt.

Ummm ok
Really at a loss for words as to what to make of your comment.

 

[BigStar]

Ummm ok
Really at a loss for words as to what to make of your comment.

Me too, Death Stranding was just boring to many, great graphics, convoluted story, but tedious gameplay with minimal combat. Long cutscenes as well, so felt very stand back and watchish.
TLOU2 is just a violent game involving 2 gay women far as I can tell. I think Ellen Page is getting "played" by that love interest, etc. Still great gameplay, graphics, etc. I don't know the full story, but that seems to be the major gripe for some.

 

[BigStar]

Not personally, but I read a lot when it came out. It sounds like it was a lot like the The Last of Us 2 but on a smaller scale. People either loved it or people thought it was a game for smug people who like the smell of their own farts. The gameplay never grabbed me, but I would think Kojima deserves the benefit of the doubt.

Sightly different take but that's kind of how Souls players are mocked as with the "just get good" label with games like Sekiro Die Twice, Bloodborne, Surge , Nioh yada, etc. I like those games so learned what that really meant later on.

I do get your joke concerning the Death Stranding game now tho, it feels like Kojima was probably just smiling a bit smugly while everyone else is wondering wth is actually going on. He was loving his cologne

I feel ya, give him another game or two to get rolling with his weird tastes.

 

[Lutonio]

Sightly different take but that's kind of how Souls players are mocked as with the "just get good" label with games like Sekiro Die Twice, Bloodborne, Souls, Nioh yada, etc. I like those games so learned what that really meant later on.

I do get your joke concerning the Death Stranding game now tho, it feels like Kojima was probably just smiling a bit smugly while everyone else is wondering wth is actually going on. He was loving his cologne

I feel ya, give him another game or two to get rolling with his weird but talented perspective.

I’m hopeful that Silent Hills comes back in some form. P.T was so unsettling.

 

[BigStar]

I’m hopeful that Silent Hills comes back in some form. P.T was so unsettling.

Me too most deftly. Resident evil and Evil Within are ok but not the same env even with all these graphics. I did like EW 2 tho

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

I’m hopeful that Silent Hills comes back in some form. P.T was so unsettling.

Silent Hill 2 was awesome

 

[Juggernaut]

Enjoy a free copy of Watch_Dogs 2 for the PC through Ubisoft's UPlay program:

 

[Reality]

Microsoft Flight Simulator will launch on August 18th on PC

There are three different editions that include additional airports and planes.

Read Full Story

 

[darthseinfeld]

Take it with a grain of salt, but rumor is PS5 details like price, release date and pre oders will be announced tomorrow

 

[SlammedZero]

Ok, I'm going to play some catch up.

Price increases: While I'm not actively rooting for game prices to increase, I'm ok with it as long as the content is there. I understand games are insanely more complex to create these days and take more man hours and production, so I do get that there is probably more overhead for these developers. If the game is worth it, with great content, you will not hear me gripe. My issue is with some games that charge you full price and then turn around and shove micro-transactions in your face the whole time. The Call of Duty franchise was the worst for awhile. They've got better but I know the model for that cash cow is still there. If the game is free, by all means, I understand the micro-transactions. I'm still a sucker for gaming consoles though as they are just easy and convenient for me. These days I have to know I will love a game for me to buy right away. Otherwise, I do wait and generally prices do seem to fall fairly quickly.

Digital Games: I was so against digital games at first. I felt I needed a copy of a game in my hand to feel satisfied and like I got my money's worth. These days, I prefer it. For starters, you don't have to go anywhere to buy a game (anybody remember waiting in lines at midnight for a game release?) Second, and this may be the ultimate laziness, but, I love being able to switch between games without getting up. Plus for a person like myself that has 2 two Xbox consoles, I can walk from my living room to my man cave without having to carry a disc. It's just super convenient. I guess the only drawback is not having a second-hand market. I used to like trading in my games I didn't play anymore, but really, you don't get jack for trade in value anyway. So may as well just delete it and have it in your cloud in case you ever want to play it again. Honestly, I have some games on disc that I wish I could trade in for digital copies now. I'd probably play them more. lol

Death Stranding: Played it. Really tried to like it. But meh. I definitely get the walking simulator label. The graphics were fantastic and I thought the story line was quite intriguing, but dang, continuously trying to walk around a map while not falling over definitely gets boring. Just not for me but I understand some people enjoy different things.

Microsoft Flight Simulator: I used to play one WAY back in the day. Was a pretty fascinating game really. Would love to peek at what a new one would look/be like, but, I'm not sure my PC would qualify. The graphics card (or lack thereof) being the very limiting bottleneck. Thought about upgrading but I have a SFF frame and it really limits me. Plus, after my last PC, I love how quiet this one is.