What Are Video Games Worth?My Journal here is called 'What Are Video Games Worth?' for a reason: I'm curious as to how much any of you might '
ay to Play' a video game. It's something I've been thinking a lot about since I started working at GameStop a few months back, and find myself pondering all the more at this particular moment.At this particular moment, I'm thinking "Man, I really liked playing City of Heroes". This is because, 1) I do enjoy playing City of Heroes and 2) I was playing it all this weekend... oh, and 3) I don't actually pay for it.
You see, a few times a year, Cryptic Studios (the company that makes City of Heroes) reactivates your account so you can play it for a whole weekend. Usually, they do this right after a new Issue (read: Free Expansion for those of you who've never played) so that those who have been wondering if the stuff that's been added is worth reactivating their account for. I mean, I did play for CoH at one point (obviously) and I enjoyed the hell out of myself. But, really, the problem is I have played other newer-feeling games that don't charge me each month.
There are people paying $15 every month to keep playing World of Warcraft, for example. I've played WoW. I've played the Burning Crusade. It's fun. It's good. There are things about it I like better than CoH, and things I like better in CoH. Oh, for MMO's sake, I also have played The Matrix Online, RF Online, EverQuest (quite briefly, unlike some), Star Wars Galaxies, and... does Adventure Quest count?
The point being, I don't pay for it (CoH) now... or WoW... or any of those others (though Adventure Quest is Free). Would I play CoH/CoV (City of Villains, CoH's connected counter-part) and WoW more often if I didn't have to pay for them? Heck yes. I could run with friends (online and off) all the time in CoH... and for WoW, I was part of the nicest Guild I've ever had in any MMO (or any game) ever. Those guys rocked... and I'd probably still be hanging out with them if it weren't for the cost. Actually, I know I would be. But, once again, I'd also still be playing CoH.
I wouldn't, probably, still be playing Galaxies, Matrix, RF or EQ, though, for the record.
But this isn't just about MMO's, ya know. It's about games in general. It now costs way more than I want to spend to pick up an X-Box 360, though I'd like to get one. Similar for the PS3, I can think of two games I'd like to play (MGS4 and Ratchet and Clank Future) that I'd like to play for it... but besides Blue-Ray, I see no reason to play $600 for a freakin' system. And, even for Blue-Ray, I'd have to pick up a whole new TV just to see the new pretty.
However, on the other side of things, there's the Nintendo Wii. It only cost me $250, and it came with a game (unlike X-Box 360 and PS3 [for the moment]). However, Wii's problem are two-fold... Crappy Ports, and it not being as powerful as the other two. Oh, wait, there's also those people who absolutely hate the idea of moving around to play a video game. After working in GameStop for a while, I hear that one way too often.
Seriously, I've gained muscle since I've gotten a Wii because I two-handed Wii Sports Tennis... that is to say, I have two Mii's... one Right Handed, one Left Handed, and I hold a controller in each hand. You get up to Pro with those, and you really start to get challenge... and a work-out for that matter.
However, would I pay $50 for Wii Sports? Hell no. If it came packaged with a Controller like Wii Play? OK, yeah... probably. Wii Play, however, not so much.
Would I pay $50 for Pokémon Battle Revolution for a game that did less than the last one I played (on N64)? No. Glad I didn't, but people did. How about a less-than-steller Mario Party 8? Nope. Prince of Persia: Rival Swords? Already own the Cube Copy... and it costs less now, and you get an M rating.
But this is trouble all over the place. Each time I look to the 360 and think "Hm, I could get that, sure", I always end up reminding myself that games cost $60 fucking dollars (uh... is profanity allowed on IGN? I might need to go T for Teen). $60 for a game. Who's idea was that? Oh, I see... HD costs you more to make, well... Hello, I already own a Wii! I don't care about Graphics, I want Gameplay... but if Graphics are supposed to be better—and it's the natural evolution for that to happen—then why am I being charged more for them? I just spent $400-$600 on a new system, you asses.
Guh. So, this is me. I'm debating paying $30 for a GameCard to play CoH for two months because I get a GameStop Store Discount... but I could just as easily spend 75 more cents worth of savings instead to just get it for one month by buying it online. Then, I still only get to play it for a month... Rah. I spent that much on GTA: San Andreas, and have pumped 200+ to beat the game three times... Or spent $50 on Disgaea 2 to also pump 300+ hours into it.
I mean, if I go for costs a hour, GTA:SA comes out to... about 7 Cents an hour. For Disgaea 2, it comes out to about 16 cents an hour. Assuming my Beta Time and all, I've probably pumped about 800 Total into CoH... having paid for about eight months, at $15 a month... that comes up to $120 total, so... 15 cents an hour. Hm. Wait... Maybe it is worth it... Gah!
OK, yeah, so... We Sports, almost 500 games of Bowling alone, for Free. That throws off the equation. However, $35 Pokémon Pearl for DS of which I've crammed in maybe 50 hours, that's about 70 cents an hour.
This is all too confusing.
I think spending $60 on a copy of Dirt is fine compared to what it would cost to upgrade a PC to play it and then only spend $40 on the PC Copy. However, $50 for Battle Revolution, or a watered-down port of PoP: Two Thrones on Wii is way too much. I would pay $10 for Prince of Persia Classic on XBLA, but not $10 on StarFox 64 on the Virtual Console.
But really, you can see where I'm torn. I'm thinking I'll end up paying for CoH online for a month, but I don't want to spend give or take $400 on a new system even if I think GTA4 is worth $60. I'll spend $5 on Punch-Out on the VC, and $8 for Super Punch-Out when it comes out... but Battle Revolution and Rival Swords are both a rip-off. I think paying for an MMO, on some level, is wrong... but you end up putting so many hours into them, I guess they work the price down over time.
What do you all think? This Journal is called 'What Are Video Games Worth?' for a reason, after all. I didn't mention Guitar Hero, Rock Band, the Wii Zapper, or anything like that as far as extra costs go. What's your take on these things and others?
See you in the Future,
—Huntermun
Bemused
Devious Comments
In all honesty, I don't think games should be fifty bucks a pop. I understand that there's graphics and stuff involved.. but when you pay as high as six hundred dollars for a console (PS3 when it was first released, for anyone curious), you're not really going to want to invest several hundred more of your well-earned dollars on the games to play on it. I guess I can kind of understand some games being fifty dollars when they're first released, like the FF games... They put so much into the graphics and the programming of their games that they kind of have to charge that much to warrant the labor they put into it. But still, it's such a waste in the long run.
Then again, I suppose it's really all about the pleasure you get out of playing the games.. I just wish that it wasn't so bloody expensive to be happy these days!
There are some companies that put out multiple games in a package of like, three or four for the same price as a single game, which I think is royally awesome. I bought three new Crash Bandikoot games as a set for fourty bucks, where in some stores it's the same price or more for a single game. Then again, now that I think about it, how long the game has been out kind of has an effect on the price, too. And there's always the option of buying online. More often than not, you can get games or other media on the 'net for a fraction of the price.
With Guitar Hero, it's always the safe bet to buy the game when the guitar controller is included.. at least when you're first starting out. After you've bought the first two games (guitars included), then it's better off buying the games on their own. That way, you're saving money at first, and you're not building up a collection of guitar controllers. "Let's see.. what's my guitar color of the day?"
Also, for the games that companies put out to hold off the general public until the next release (example: the Guitar Hero 80's game) should not be the full price of a new release. It should be like.. maybe half the price. Guitar Hero: Songs of the 80's is great, it really is, but it looks almost exactly the same as the second game was, and it didn't even have any extras. It was only half of what a Guitar Hero game really should be. Therefore, I don't think it's appropriate to charge fifty bucks for what can really be considered filler. But it was still a great game, and I'm looking forward to the third one coming out in October. I already have it on reserve, hehehe.
But anyway, to wrap things up, I guess I'm saying that it really depends on the game, the quality, the labor.. overall everything as to what I'm willing to pay for a game. What I'd really love to see are some game reviews before a game comes out so we know if it's good stuff to play, and what the game is all about. I've picked up a dozen PS2 RPGs that didn't say diddley squat about what the game or even the storyline was all about... How the heck am I supposed to know whether or not I want to play it? Sheesh...
So there ya go ^_^ That's my humble opinion. Take it with a grain of salt, sprinkle it over shrimp poppers, and enjoy! Mmmm.. shrimp poppers...
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~VelvetMaiden~
1. I live in a country that's almost all games are piracy. You could buy a PS2 game only for a dollar.
2. I'm not really an objective gamer. I'm easily addicted to one genre/same old series. If it's not I'm likely to play it, I'd skip it and prefer making artworks in my computer, so I would save my money.
But yeah, aside of technology, in my point of view, making games aren't as simple as ever before. It's like making a movie. Cool effects, touching stories, voice actors, it's like you would make a total movie! Not to mention some programming. The more gameplay, the more it costs money. Aside of more technologies, they'll also try to put some "soul" into it, making some cinematic scene that it's like we're watching movies. Fun? Some is, some isn't.
I have been in the point of apathetic of game. It seems I unconsciously refuse to go along with it, because of I couldn't afford the original games (it's been from the PS Generation), or the genre of the game isn't my taste. And being a stuck retro, the technology advance leaves no soul on me, so I guess I have given up (mostly) gaming, because I think my bucks are worth to anything else.
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A wise man said, "The best kind of a humankind is the one who is the most useful for everyone else,"
Me, personally, I'm really bad with the Guitar, so paying $80 or whatever for Guitar Hero + Game is actually too much for me. I'm not getting anything out of the Guitar because my fingers just don't work like that, heh. Then, there's also the songs... much like DDR, if you don't like the Song List, you've got less a reason to pick up a new edition of the game.
Guitar Hero Rocks the 80's is, by Pricing, quite the rip-off as compared to Guitar Hereo II... the games look identical, save for color pallete. They play the same. 80's has less total songs. Ultimately, it's a much more shallow game...
...ah, but the songs. I grew up in the 80's, and most all the songs in Rocks the 80's, I've enjoyed more than II. I like the tracks, themselves, better... so regardless of it being a worse buy... I'd still think about it, ya know?
Did you know, since Guitar Hero (the first one) didn't come out on X-Box 360 that when Guitar Hero II came out, the first game's songs were Downloadable? Downloadable in 3 Song packs, for $6 a pop. I mean, that's just robbery right there. Yes, I think that it's great to have additional, downloadable songs... but charging them $6 for them? Madness.
This is one reason I think Guitar Hero III may be screwed when compared to Rock Band. After all, it's made by Harmonix... they made Guitar Hero I and II, and Amplitude and Frequency. Those making Guitar Hero III are not the same peoples... who knows how it will be...
But Rock Band lets you have two Guitars, Vocals, and Drums all playing. Furthermore, each and every week after it's release... you'll be able to Download entire albums to play in your game (in the PS3 and 360 version, anyway). That right there is awesome... and the prospect of making your game bigger and badder over time is something I'm down for.
$2.50 for Horse Armour in Oblivion? No. $10 for Prince of Persia Classic? Yes. $6 a 3-Song Pack for Guitar Hero II? No. Downloadable whole albums for Rock Band? Fuck yes.
Also, you made a quick note of another close problem for prices... Used Games. I can now pick up NHL Hitz Pro for about $5. That game rocked. I can get each of the new Prince of Persia or Ratchet and Clank, or Jak games for at or less than $20, mostly.
I mean, Used Games are huge... but would you rather have, own, enjoy, play a new game at $50... or pick up some cheap Used Games to enjoy? Me, it depends. I prefer new games, actually... but there are some games I think I'll like, but don't want to 'risk' the full price on. It's a hard call to make.
Why people plunk down $60 for Halo 3 (coming soon) when it looks to be just another First Person Shooter, I don't know. Why people are still buying Final Fantasy after about 20 iterations and about eight versions of each of the first six games, I don't know.
Retro? I've got a Wii, myself. You can go up on the Shop Channel and Download NES, SNES, Genesis, Turbo Graphix 16, and N64 games. Sure, if you're using illegeal ROM's, then you already have those games... but or people like myself who want to be legit... paying $5 for Punch-Out on the NES seems like a steal, or $8 for Shining Force for Genesis, or Bumberman '93 (5-Player and all) on the Graphix.
Over 100+ Games all waiting and ready for your enjoyment. I mean, I think the only Zelda's missing from it are Majora's Mask and the Handheld ones. Wii has all the other ones already, heh...
$1 for a PS2? Yeah, if it's an old Sport Game. Most PS2 games bottom out around $5 here. Still, I get what you are saying... You're from where, Indonesia? That's what your profile stuff says anyway. Uh... I is stupid American, so I had to look up where that was...
Right, so, how much are games over there? As much as I complain about prices, I do think the US gets the best prices for them... which is really quite horrible when you think about it... because trust me, the PS3 is Expensive, even by American's tastes...
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~VelvetMaiden~
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