Cost of video games becoming absurd

[--Code--]

Umm... fuck no.

I think I'd rather be a scum than a sheep.

*scurries back to dark corners of internet*

[Cosmic Janitor]

If you think indie games are about 2D side scrollers, you really have no clue what you're talking about.

It's the same quality statement as mashing every AAA game into 3 franchises, with the difference that your statement doesn't fit 50% of the titles that come out, where that is pretty close for Indie games and being 2d side scollers .

[Eroginous]

So just bought Doom tonight for the PS4. The original price tag 59.99 but the DLC content is like another 100$ on top of that. So to access the full game, you gotta drop 150$. Being that it is a Bethesda game, I'm already angry at myself for purchasing but it's Doom, how bad could they fuck it up? Starwars battlefront was another good example (Didn't buy the DLC for this). It is getting to the point now where games are being released but actual access to the content is like 3x the initial cost without 3x the content. Anyone else bothered by this shit?

Which is why I avoid games in general. Sometimes a good one comes out and I'll get it and play the shit out of it. But mostly, just no. Fuck off DLC and greedy companies.

[Slant]

It's the same quality statement as mashing every AAA game into 3 franchises, with the difference that your statement doesn't fit 50% of the titles that come out, where that is pretty close for Indie games and being 2d side scollers .

You really ought to take a look at the indie scene. They don't have money, they don't have the best graphics. They have to rely on what made video games great in the olden days: Good ideas and innovative design. Tell me, when did Electronic Arts last do something new? Or Activision? And I'm not talking about "a new move in FIFA" or "a new weapon in COD".

So, while they rehash content year after year, I am looking at your "2d side scroller" where I can change the orientation of the entire game, switch the character's personality/nautre mid-jump. Or look at Cities Skylines, which is essentially a Sim City clone. Only better! It's an indie developer that basically said "Aww, EA, fuck it, you're just too damn stupid to do this" and did it better. With less bugs. With more features. Which an interface that makes sense. With a game logic that doesn't make you want to punch the mouse through the wall.

Portal 1 + 2 have been released by Valve, so that pretty much makes them AAA by definition. But their roots are deep in the indie scene, Valve just picked stuff up and put AAA production quality to it. Ask around, anyone here will tell you the game idea is what made the game great.

So excuse me if I am telling you that your head is full of bullshit if you claim that indie is all about 2d side scrollers. You're a baby that has no clue about fucking gaming and you need to shut up.

As for your claiming I'm mashing AAA into three companies... well, essentially that's how the cookie crumbles. Tell me who's really surviving outside of the Activision/EA/Ubisoft spheres? I mean anyone who's not gulped up by them is barely scraping by and I almost automaticlaly consider them indie already. So what was it you were saying? If those three pretty much own 80% of the market, I think it's pretty legit to keep on bashing on them.

[Knslyr]

[IMG]http://www.abload.de/img/dice_officeooqw.png[IMG]

Take Dice, they have there office in central Stockholm, lake/archipelago view and over the "old town" must be one of Sweden's most expensive office... they might as well have the office in the suburb of Stockholm and save loots of cash in rent, but they do not have to becuse peopel are ready to pay premium price for there games...

If people pay that price, then its probably worth it. Its not like Dice have monopoly on video games.

And so what if they have a fancy office? Is the video game industry not worthy of having nice offices for their employees?
What industries would you say are worthy of these offices then, or are any company in the world worthy of having a office like this in your opinion?

[Tech614]

You really ought to take a look at the indie scene. They don't have money, they don't have the best graphics. They have to rely on what made video games great in the olden days: Good ideas and innovative design.

Oh please this hasn't been the case for well over 3 years. The indy market is now as shit saturated as the app stores on your phone. Indy devs now rely on hipster press guys or youtubers to promote their shit. There hasn't been anything really innovative in the indy market for quite awhile. (In b4 dude tries to say a straight rip off of harvest moon is innovative)

The indy market is now pretty much just

1) rehashed ideas from older games
2) Shit games
3) Walking simulators that are about as much of a game as reading the damn newspaper on the john with zero ways to lose.

The indy market is shit now, you're years too late with your hipster ideology trying to white knight it.

[Slant]

Oh please this hasn't been the case for well over 3 years. The indy market is now as shit saturated as the app stores on your phone. Indy devs now rely on hipster press guys or youtubers to promote their shit. There hasn't been anything really innovative in the indy market for quite awhile. (In b4 dude tries to say a straight rip off of harvest moon is innovative)

The indy market is now pretty much just

1) rehashed ideas from older games
2) Shit games
3) Walking simulators that are about as much of a game as reading the damn newspaper on the john with zero ways to lose.

The indy market is shit now, you're years too late with your hipster ideology trying to white knight it.

If you stop looking when you find something like Goat Simulator, yes the indie market is shit. But just to list some games that came out recently: This War of Mine, Prison Architect, Swapper, Braid, Contrast, Transistor, Xenonauts (a viable XCom Alternative!), Unepic, Knight of Pen and Paper.... I mean sure, they do a lot of 2D, but it's good stuff. And let's not forget some 2D that's heaps better than any triple AAA title that came out recently, Giana Sisters: Twisted dreams and the Trine series (borrowing from TLV).

Success in the indie market brings leeches and repetition with it. But in comparison to the same old rehashed EA shit every year, it's a lot more bang for your buck. Especially with those steam sales.

There's few AAA titles these days that don't make me feel like I've been ripped. Divinity: Original Sin was a very, very good game. Easily 100 hours in that game for what, 20 bucks? I play any given EA title for an hour and my brain wants to crawl out of my ears.

[Vespian]

Not so very long ago most PC games were €50. Now most of them have started rising to €60, which is why I've started buying games from discounted retailers, like G2A. It's sad, but I'm not going to pay 60 or 70 euro's for a game, so I have to move to the grey market. I hope the developers see their money from my purchase, but they sure as hell won't see the full 60.

[Deleted]

Only way you do that is pirating it. Yeah no nobody should advocate that.

Numerous of countries have legal loopholes, where downloading becomes completly legal. so, honestly see no problem with that. In those countries, its ok by law.
There it is ok.

Other countries, I would agree with you.

[Azrile]

Cost of games correlate with cost of production.

Yes, it's absurd both way.

It's even more absurd when you know half the budget goes to marketing alone.

Movies, sneakers, coca cola all are the same way along with many consumer products.

I´ve basically stopped playing big budget games, it isn´t just the cost, it is the hype and then disappointment... and mostly it is the repetition. Much better off spending $10 on a well-reviewed indy game with distinct gameplay on steam rather than $60 on yet another derivative game.

[Zandalarian Paladin]

Movies, sneakers, coca cola all are the same way along with many consumer products.

I´ve basically stopped playing big budget games, it isn´t just the cost, it is the hype and then disappointment... and mostly it is the repetition. Much better off spending $10 on a well-reviewed indy game with distinct gameplay on steam rather than $60 on yet another derivative game.

Hype sells more than quality, sadly. Indies are fun, true - I, in fact, started the arduous process toward becoming indie - bit the truth is that you cannot live from that unless you're utterly lucky.

[Jester Joe]

If you stop looking when you find something like Goat Simulator, yes the indie market is shit. But just to list some games that came out recently: This War of Mine, Prison Architect, Swapper, Braid, Contrast, Transistor, Xenonauts (a viable XCom Alternative!), Unepic, Knight of Pen and Paper.... I mean sure, they do a lot of 2D, but it's good stuff. And let's not forget some 2D that's heaps better than any triple AAA title that came out recently, Giana Sisters: Twisted dreams and the Trine series (borrowing from TLV).

Success in the indie market brings leeches and repetition with it. But in comparison to the same old rehashed EA shit every year, it's a lot more bang for your buck. Especially with those steam sales.

There's few AAA titles these days that don't make me feel like I've been ripped. Divinity: Original Sin was a very, very good game. Easily 100 hours in that game for what, 20 bucks? I play any given EA title for an hour and my brain wants to crawl out of my ears.

Also adding Undertale, but I believe it was Tech once who tried saying the game made no sense at all (which honestly just makes me think he didn't really pay attention while playing it, no offense to him, since most the questions at the time were pretty easy to answer)

[SodiumChloride]

If people pay that price, then its probably worth it. Its not like Dice have monopoly on video games.

And so what if they have a fancy office? Is the video game industry not worthy of having nice offices for their employees?
What industries would you say are worthy of these offices then, or are any company in the world worthy of having a office like this in your opinion?

Pretty much. Companies charge what they can get away with - i.e. to maximize profit.

People are paying, so they continue to charge at the current prices.

[Vankrys]

They should just make it online, which guaranteed no one can pirate it.

because everyone likes online DRM like sim city.
Pay for your freaking game, if you can't then wait for a steam sales.
you are litterally the cancer of PC gaming.

[Orange Joe]

Why do people always say stupid shit like this liek its some kind of consolation prize? You know what else hasnt kept up with inflation? Mother fucking wages. Which means games can still be fucking expensive. Basically the entire fucking point of the thread.

? wages have almost doubled here in the same time. Was about 4.75 now it's I think 8.50

[Deleted]

Be a PC gamer, wait 4 months after a new game comes out and buy it 50% or even 75% if you keep looking out.

[Tech614]

Also adding Undertale, but I believe it was Tech once who tried saying the game made no sense at all (which honestly just makes me think he didn't really pay attention while playing it, no offense to him, since most the questions at the time were pretty easy to answer)

Undertale's point made perfect sense. It was still childish and stupid, like a short story a kid writes in the 2nd grade. The characters and dialogue throughout most of the game is nonsensical.

This is besides the point, you're trying to tell me I'm wrong and that undertale did some major innovation in gaming? What was that innovation? Story telling that made some of it's ridiculous fan base cry? Pretty sure that's been done before. Different paths to take through the game that vastly change it? Pretty sure that's been done before.

Using Undertale as an example of innovation in indy game is about as nonsensical as the character development in Undertale.

Innovation is as lacking in the indy department as it is in the AAA department now. Wonder why... probably because your cool idea you have in your head has already been thought up. Using "innovation" as a reason to hype up indy games is a foolish claim in 2016.

[Deleted]

Do like me, avoid paying for a stupid console and buy a computer, enjoy the best graphic possible and download all your stuff for free.

This. I really can't understand people who go out and give EA a season pass for greedy shit like SW battlefront after it's such a downgrade in the series (with the exception of graphics and sound ofc). Just sheer madness as by doing it you are just giving them the go ahead to do it again with probably more DLC shit.

[Jester Joe]

Undertale's point made perfect sense. It was still childish and stupid, like a short story a kid writes in the 2nd grade. The characters and dialogue throughout most of the game is nonsensical.

This is besides the point, you're trying to tell me I'm wrong and that undertale did some major innovation in gaming? What was that innovation? Story telling that made some of it's ridiculous fan base cry? Pretty sure that's been done before. Different paths to take through the game that vastly change it? Pretty sure that's been done before.

Using Undertale as an example of innovation in indy game is about as nonsensical as the character development in Undertale.

Innovation is as lacking in the indy department as it is in the AAA department now. Wonder why... probably because your cool idea you have in your head has already been thought up. Using "innovation" as a reason to hype up indy games is a foolish claim in 2016.

No one said innovative besides you. Almost nothing is innovative due to someone already doing it. What they said was games that are better to them than AAA games.

Not even going to touch your analysis of Undertale because obviously there's something it did great since it was really successful.

[bbr]

Tell your friends to stop torrenting games, which only contributes to the problem.

Yeah, that's the excuse the AAA title companies give you,. but it's never been proven.


Fact is, inflation,. bigger budget, decreasing interest in the console market, rise of indie development studios, competition, etc etc.
Piracy is hardly the big issue that they make it out to be.
And increasing the cost per game to 80 bucks is in no way going to reduce it,. And then addign 10 different zero-day DLC packs surely doesn't either.

Look at steam, sales are at an all time high due to nice and affordable game prices.