Morgan Jolley
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2000
- Messages
- 9,718
I think your ebook example is flawed. I see ebooks on sale for $2 all the time. I never see real books on sale for $2. Also, wasn't there a lawsuit about publishers working with Apple and other companies to fix the prices of ebooks? Sony releases games on the PS Vita for X amount of dollars but the digital download is 10% lower. How can Sony afford to do this or even think it's a good idea if what you're saying is true? Brand new, big budget games on modern consoles are $60. Not-quite-as-big games are now starting to be made as digital-only games at a lower price. Look on the XBLA, PSN, or WiiWare/WiiU Store and you'll see them. Sure, it's not Assassin's Creed 3 for $40 but they're still cheaper. Further, games like The Walking Dead and Fable III have ventured into the episodic realm. I think this could lead to an a la carte system where gamers buy what they want from a game and nothing more. For example, you could by the single player mode, multiplayer mode, and challenge modes of a game separately for $20 each or all together for $50. Game developers release games on PC for $10 less than consoles purely due to console maker licensing fees, but games on PC are quite frequently available for a lot less. PSN and XBLA even do frequent sales on games of all kinds, so the choice of pricing is more about maximizing profit than being fair or competitive. Unfortunately, I think this means prices will have to come down to remain competitive. Will we get $40 disc games? Probably not, but I wouldn't be surprised if we eventually see games with fewer modes or features and at reduced prices with optional add-on DLC. I also think Call of Duty and Halo's competitive modes should be single games that get annual updates through DLC rather than be full-blown releases every year or so, but people keep buying them so nothing's changing. I don't think consoles will die. Yes, you can get most of the same experience on a PC but that's also like saying you can get a movie theater experience if you dedicate a whole wing of your house to building a home theater. Some people will do it and love it but others might not want to be bothered with it. Do you really think a more casual gaming market is going to be torn between getting the next Xbox or getting a good PC? Hardcore gamers (present company) will probably go for the approach of more than one gaming system. Personally, I have a Vita, 3DS, PS3, Wii, Wii U, 360, tablet, droid phone, and a good gaming-capable laptop. I'm going to buy consoles because I like them. More casual gamers will buy them for the convenience. It's not that hard to set up a good gaming PC and it's not much more expensive than buying a couple consoles, but there are a lot of products that are made simply to make things easier and they sell extremely well. People buy consoles because they're used to them and they're simple. PC gaming is better and easier than it used to be, but it's not as easy as a console. Maybe Valve's Steambox will fix that, maybe Ouya is a step in that direction, but that's not changing any time soon. (Also, I think Windows 8 could make games easier to access/use on a PC but everyone seems to disagree.)