100°

Sega thinks Nintendo should help with mature content on Wii

According to SEGA France & Spain CEO James Rebours, Nintendo should provide more mature games to the Wii to help third publishers making good sells with their games. But he also confirms that MadWorld has a rather positive sells sheet and that the success is enough therefore.

And Sega still have mature games to come to Wii even what was said before.

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N4g_null5227d ago

I think this guy should be fired. I mean why the hell was he hired to promote these games and get them to sell. Nintendo actualy went to malls to let people play their games. Doesn't sound expensive word of mouth never is.

Wii gamers are not sheep they are lasped hardcore gamers and adults. when you get that then you will have checks to cash.

Gr815227d ago

I mean 3 years in and third parties are still complaining? The thing I love about the Wii audience is they are not blinded by hype, like you say they/we aren't sheep.

I love how the Wii exposes the talented devs from the talentless devs. Capcom is going to find out real quick that they are a console developer, lol. The newest casualty will be Dark Void.

PirateThom5227d ago

Wii audience not blinded by hype?

Top selling Wii games, not including Wii Sport or Wii Play (since people bought that for the controller):

Wii Fit
Mario Kart Wii
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Super Mario Galaxy
Wii Sports Resort
Mario Party 8
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Link's Crossbow Training
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games

So, there's 6 Mario games, 2 Zelda games and 2 hyped casual games.

Way to go Wii owners, keep living the dream.

asdr3wsfas5227d ago (Edited 5227d ago )

"So, there's 6 Mario games, 2 Zelda games and 2 hyped casual games."

Nintendo franchises are hyped? Nintendo has made some of the highest quality games for decades and that's why we buy them. If there's any hype it's because nintendo has been making and reinventing these franchises before most of those other companies existed (bungie did but as a pc/mac game dev back then). Mario signifies quality because the core mario titles have been good games SINCE THE MID 1980s.

Oh yeah, link's crossbow training is a rail shooter bundled with the wii zapper, real good example. Have you even played these games?

6 mario games...like those aren't all fundamentally different game play. I can't believe you counted SSBB as a mario game. Hilarious, there's like 10 characters on the cover and IIRC zelda is bigger than mario so it should be 5 mario games, 3 zelda games...

"Way to go Wii owners, keep living the dream."

Seeing as you named several of the highest rated games this generation I think I will. SMG is what, the highest ranked game ever? You forgot metroid prime trilogy though.

The difference is when I want some change of pace I'll play mass effect and irkuga on 360 or maybe LBP on ps3. Enjoy missing some of the best franchises out there. Is that what gamers do now? Years ago we used to buy them all. Need more allowance?

Wii sports resort is fun but there's no convincing you I guess. A sword fighting game where you swing the controller like a sword is hyped for a reason.

"Man, I just hit X, O, O, X and I did like this wicked sword slice."

"I swing the controller like an actual sword."

Which is cooler?

PS, you have wii fit, wii sports resort, and mario party on your list yet you count 2 casual games and 6 mario titles. Casual is a bullsh!t phrase but you can't even apply it consistently because you don't know nintendo games that well. Hilarious.

mastiffchild5227d ago

There's some truth to what I suspect he means though, isn't there? Nintendo could look at doing a lot more for third party developers as well as third party devs could learn a lot from seeing the work Ninty themselves put into their games and marketing techniques on the Wii.

It's all well and good moaning at Capcom who've insulted Wii gamers with some truly awful games of late(seriously, MH3 aside what have they done? Zack and Wiki is their best actuallly made FOR Wii title and they didn't market it at all, that apart there's the two great ports and what else? Nothing but reheats, rail shooters noone wanted and dross like CTYD! Crap that wouldn't be tolerated on PS360 so they CAN shut the hell up!)but I think Sega should at least be listened to even if this guy isn't the best example of it. Sega have supported more mature Wii games then anyone except mayube SE outside of Ninty themselves and if they feel the other console makers support them better than Ninty SHOULD listen as a strong third party library is essential to them holding onto their new market in the long term.

Historically, too, Ninty have been weak at recognising the needs of other devs on their platforms and it would be silly to let it happen again when they're in such a good position. Fact is, yes, a l;ot of third party games have failed because they've been weak but the better ones that have sold lesser numbers than you might expect even on the smaller install bases of PS360 could have been helped more by Nintendo by things as simple as demos on the Nintendo channel perhaps-things like that and more trailers would be a start and I'm pleased to see steps being taken in that direction with Wiiware games.

So, to me, there may be long standing paranoia on both sides here and I think it's fair to say Ninty could do more for other developers and publishers wishing to support their console-even if I also fdeel there's a lot of unfair moaning too as many devs just haven't tried like they have on other platforms to make the best of what Wii offers. It's a two way street and if Ninty did make the first move it would only do them, and us gamers, untold good. IDK why they always have this issue with third party devs but it's time to bury the problem if they wish to stay ahead of the game, imo. Maybe Capcom wouuld have made better games iof they felt more at ease with niontendo and, certainly, Sega have been one of the better supporters of so called "core" gamers on the Wii and deserve, at least, to be heard out by Nintendo.

asdr3wsfas5227d ago (Edited 5227d ago )

Look at the comparison of sega M rated game sales from vgchartz here and consider wii games cost 1/4th or 1/3rd as much to make as HD games.

"The House of the Dead 2 &3 Return (Wii) 1,100,000
The House of the Dead Overkill (Wii) 470,000
Condemned 2: Bloodshot (360) 470,000
Condemned: Criminal Origins (360) 460,000
Viking: Battle for Asgard (360) 410,000
MadWorld (Wii) 370,000
Condemned 2: Bloodshot (PS3) 310,000
Viking: Battle for Asgard (PS3) 280,000
The Club (360) 240,000
The Club (PS3) 150,000
Golden Axe: Beast Rider (360) 120,000
Golden Axe: Beast Rider (PS3) 80,000
Stormrise (360) 50,000
Stormrise (PS3) 50,000

Average sales per console...

Wii: 647,000
360: 292,000
PS3: 174,000"

http://www.vgchartz.com/for...

They have video demos of the conduit and other M rated games on the nintendo channel. Also, see above, the games did not fail.

"Maybe Capcom wouuld have made better games iof they felt more at ease with niontendo"

Yeah, they had no problem on Gamecube.

PirateThom5227d ago (Edited 5227d ago )

Listen, kid, I grew up playing Nintendo games. I know the quality, and it doesn't exist outside Mario main series games, Zelda main series and Metroid (which they're outsourcing).

Nintendo, reguardless of the one or two good games they put out a year, are a shell and Wii owners, as shown considering this is a top sales, not highest ranked charts, are buying nothing of note, apart from the same Mario/Zelda team they've bought since the NES, and then complain when third parties don't put real games on the system.

asdr3wsfas5227d ago (Edited 5227d ago )

"Listen, kid, I grew up playing Nintendo games. I know the quality, and it doesn't exist outside Mario main series games, Zelda main series and Metroid (which they're outsourcing)."

You mean your Mario and Zelda examples of hyped nintendo games are quality? So you just destroyed your own point?

They outsource games...that are still produced by Iwata and Miaymoto. And Miaymoto still upends development when the game isn't meshing right and completely restarts. Real arm's length development there.

Punchout, Paper Mario, SSB, wario, wii sports resort, sin and punishment 2, excite bike, and fire emblem all tend to disprove your argument that only mario, zelda, and metroid are good. Oh...you don't follow wii games.

Third party wii AAA titles that sell over a million are years old ports. COD, RE4, and HOTD 2 and 3. The ones that are unique to the wii get no ads and/or are rail shooters. NMH is suda's best selling game ever and it's on the wii. How'd killer7 do on ps2? How about when okami sold more on the wii than on the ps2 when the latter had more marketshare?

Call me kid all you want, I'm still smarter and better looking than you.

mastiffchild5227d ago

"They had no problem on GC"-well, maybe they didn't, but are you saying that there's any real reason other than them feeling they get more support from MS/Sony for their odd choices this gen? You'd think they'd try harder to appease and sell to the larger Wii market than to the PS360 markets wouldn't you seeing, esp, as it only involves makimng one version and without the added cost of HD-but they don't do that do they?

No RE for the Wii(new and purpose built that is-and we all know the story behind those godawful rail shooters they try to cash in with)and no SF? Why not? You believe Capcom that all the gamers who'd like titles like that(and that bought Wii edition Re4) have now moved onto PS360? Unless you do then isn't it apparent that,somewhere and even if it's as simple as the lack of demos(which I doubt it is-and wasn;'t there some fall out from the protracted development of the then Gamecube exclusive RE4?)shouldn't Ninty help them out if it helps them-and it surely would, no?

Whatever, it's certainly not the first generation where ninty have been accused of a lack of understanding by third party developers, is it? Nintendo have domne loads right this generation and I'm by no means hating on them at all as i like my wii and just wish more was made of it by devs right now as I've still to play anything worthwhile that uses M+from a third party. however, I have to feel there's something in what this guy's said and also have to assume that it's something missing that these devs and pubs find they have with MS and Sony-otherwise making Wii games just makes more financial sense wouldn't it? It's a bigger base and it's cheaper to make games for.

If you think that there's enough tailers and demos on Wii to do the job that gets done with MANY more on both PSN and Live then fair enough-i can't argue with logic like that BUT you know there's more they could do and that they don't have as much available online to support games on their system. I just know 6this has happened before(or similar) and there's got to be an easy answer when you look at it calmly as to why thrid party games aren't selling as well as they maybe should on the wii even when the quality is there. We have to ask why Extraction and Zack and Wiki(and a host of others) weren't pushed inmarketing terms like they would have been on other platforms-why would EA and Capcom hamstring their products when they usually know what they're doing? There has to be something there when it's not one dev saying they think Ninty could do more but several-and esp when they aren't saying it about the othet manufacturers.

Ignore it and think Nintendo are doing everything perfectly if that's what you wish but, and i don't pretend to know what the issues all are-if any, I don't see how this all adds up and don't believe nintendo have nearly enough first party studios to fill the gap that would be left if support from 3rds ran down further and so I think ?ninty have some sorting out to do if they want to mantain their current market and current position. If it means more and better games that sell really well then why wouldn't Nintendo want to talk this out and see what can be done anyway?

Seriously, you can't ever say ytou imagine the world is less than perfect for any of the console makers without people getting way too defensive. I only want nintendo to listen because I want a healthy industry AND think it would help them keep what they've gained this generation if they did listen more to the other developers on their system. Sheesh! I wasn't digging anyone or anything otu and wasn't looking for pointless arguments-I was hoping to learn, maybe, why these developers feel how thye do and what might be able to be done as a solution.

PirateThom5227d ago

My argument isn't about quality though, I know there's still quality games Nintendo are putting out. My argument is that no one is buying them unless it's Mario and Zelda and my original argument is that Wii owners are as just as likely to fall for hype as anyone else. The Conduit, for example.

Gr815227d ago

If Wii owners fell for the Hype as you say for Conduit why haven't sales been spectacular? Your points are non existent and full of holes. Nintendo doesn't need to do anything, I've lost sympathy for third parties who want to treat Wii and its customers like second rate gamers and then complain when Wii owners treat their games like second rate games. I like Conduit but its a flawed mediocre game which sold better than say Wet or Wanted on the HD consoles and which do you think cost more?

See the funny thing about you guys is that on one hand you want to call a game garbage or mediocre on Wii and when the sales prove this you are quick to point out how this game doesn't sell. Why would it if its mediocre? How many rail shooters burn up the charts on HD consoles?How many 5 hr beat em ups sell on HD consoles? Bionic Commando had major marketing and bombed HARD so hard the studio had to close down. Strangley enough Wii flops get sequels (NMH, Boom Blox)

Third Parties wouldn't have any problem selling any sort of content on Wii if there was actual quality content made. MH3 in Japan is proof of that. Red Steel 2 looks very much like quality (its obstacle will be to sell to those who felt burned by the first game though)

This idea that games sell just because Mario is in it or Wii is in the title is hilarious. They sell due to the content. Wii Music flopped and that had Wii in the title so there goes that theory.

ZoidsRaven5227d ago

Here is the thing about those kind of people.

*Wii owner spots chocolate cake*
*Wii basher yells at wii owner*
"DON'T EAT THAT, IT'S SH*T! "

*Wii owner replies with*
"Really? Thanks, man."
*Wii owner walks away from cake*

*Wii basher says right after*
"See, wii owners don't want this delicious cake." (The Conduit)
----------------------------- -

*What would have happen had the wii owner eaten the cake"

*Wii basher says*
"SEE! WII OWNERS EAT SH*!" (the double ported RE4)

Point? If wii owner don't buy a "hardcore" game, it is used against them. If they do buy a "hardcore" game, it's genre/franchise is no longer valid when talk about sales comes up. 7_7

BTW, what is said on N4G when this happens on the HD consoles? Nothing? Bias proven.

Gr815227d ago (Edited 5227d ago )

Excellent Analogy my friend. I find myself more and more amused by your posts lol.

Also, If Nintendo did do this and released "M" games then Third Parties next excuse would be "we can't compete with Nintendo's Mature games"

I love it. A game flops on Wii its the Wii's fault a game flops on the HD systems its the games fault..Here's the thing its always the games fault, not that consumer for not buying something that didn't interest them. If a movie flops, a book flops, a game flops its all because it wasn't what the customer wanted. Rail Shooters have been done to death on Wii. If EA made a third person Dead Space on Wii I'd've reserved my copy but a rail shooter? really? Make Dead Space 2 a rail shooter for PS360 and see hat happens lol.

N4g_null5226d ago

First of all conduit was exactly what I wanted I knew HVS capacity they got normal maps and sweet fps aim right without the motion plus. That's not hype it's fact. Did 5 million wii owners buy it like halo nope because this may have been great for me yet not every one else. Every one bought res evil 5 just off hype along lol then every one said they hated it.

You have to have a solid game on the wii even if it is a mini game. Just look at all the shovel ware that DOES not sell on the wii. Yes it's in the stores but you never see it on the charts because nintendos own games decimate them. If Sony or ms makes a better motion game pack than resort I will be buying those systems.

Again we have a list of high priced hd games above and which of those games was promoted by ethier hd console maker? Just because nintendo has been a dumping ground for the industry doesn't make it true.

After looking at the above post I can tell who is hard core and who are sheep. I don't mean that as an insult yet realize when and how you are getting milked. I do nothing but hd zbrush work and hi res modeling like many of my friends. The pay is crazy good, why because that is all that is needed to sell a game to the hd crowd sega and many others rely on this to increase sales.

Take any hd games graphics away and there isn't much to be excited about. Example choose any port to the ps3 from the xbox lol.

The gaming media is playing you all against each other lol other wise you wouldn't have a reason to keep the hype going. Also we have like 10 wii guys that actualy like the system and they totally broke Down all of your arguments.

You all know how lazy devs are example ps3 ports if you let them off the hook with the wii then you will reap what you sow while we keep getting solid games with years of replay value.

The hype king is dead and wii owners are adults which are more likly to want to try a game (the full version) out by renting it or playing it at some ones house. We are relaspe hardcore games and new gamers that don't care about the childish system wars. I've been there done that, it gets you no where like the mw boycot lol.

Message boards do not control gaming money does. If sega likes money then they will have to work for it, same goes for other 3rd parties. Their is little blind faith on the wii, your game better be arcade token ready and addictive.

Another thing is wow do I have alot of wii games snk is not complaining I got all of their collect disk too!

No one bought wii music or animal crossing, I have reason 4.0 and that game on the gc hype was suppose to Dell them.... It did not work. Hint stop using hype and figure out how to make fun games again....

Gr815226d ago

I think The Conduit needs more respect for what it was able to accoomplish. The customizable controls has revolutionized Wii FPS'. Every game following Conduit has (or better have) this option. That cannot be overlooked. Also To me Conduit felt like a test run for HVS something like Grinder will blow Conduit out the water. They are a good bunch of guys.

RE5 is the death knell for RE lol. Does anyone care about RE6?

Fierce Musashi5226d ago (Edited 5226d ago )

I certainly don't. After playing the RE5 demo I can never trust for there to another good RE game again. It wasn't even scary, even with the lights off. Which probably explains why they keep rereleasing their old Survival Horror titles every gen.

The only thing scary about that game was aiming with that dual analog.

If I paid full retail price for that game, I would have to kill somebody.

+ Show (12) more repliesLast reply 5226d ago
Fierce Musashi5227d ago

It seems Capcom of France thinks that the opportunity for "hardcore" games has dried for the Wii, due to their sale of Darkside Chronicles. Perhaps if they weren't "testing" the Wii audience by giving them the double ported Resident Evil 4 and the rail shooter Umbrella Chronicles (nothing against rail shooters) just to see if it was safe to put Resident Evil 5 (or any RE4 style game) on the Wii and then giving them another on-rails Resident Evil, things might be different. No one wants to be a lab rat, espscially twice. And in result of this act, just made them look like they were taking the Wii audience for a ride, considering they both sold over 1 mil. but ah well, RE5 wasn't that good of a game, imo. And now we are getting more re-makes/rereleases like RE Zero.

EA is also guilty of this with Dead Space: Extraction being a rail-shooter when the original game's core fans known it to be a third-per shooter. Not that it's a bad game, but still.

5227d ago
Pozzle5227d ago

I don't know why third-party devs continue to complain about working with the Wii. If they're that unhappy, then move to another console! Stop complaining and do something about it.

Zackstorm5227d ago

Sega should not bite the hand that feeds them. Their highest selling game ever, in their entire company history, is Mario and Sonic at the Olympics. Second is Sonic 2. In fact three out of their five top selling games have been on Nintendo consoles. From this generation too.

mastiffchild5227d ago

I think the translation made him seem a little more abrupt than he possibly really means to sound. however, it's not a one way street is it? Sonic and Sega also put inot those games with their characters and talents and they've also been a supporter of the console with good, quality games as a developer and publisher-more than most others in fact so some of their issues deserve some listening to by nintendo.

I'm not saying the guy's totally right but there has to be a reason that he's saying it and a lot of devs/puubs share the opinion that nintendo don't help them/understand their needs as well as Sony or MS do-mayube that's why Capcom have been even worse on Wii than they have on the HD twins, y'know? You either have to believe there isn't the market for mature games on the Wii that there is elsewhere or you have to give remarks like this some, but not, again, total, credence-also it isn't as if ninty don't have a bit of history with a lack of support for third party devs on their consoles, is it?

I just think that there's a lot of room for improvement between the two factions on the Wii and it would really help Nintendo, 3rd parties AND, most importantly, Wii gamers if it were to happen and I don't think we should get up in arms just because some guy from Sega France words his statements poorly/gets translated poorly. Can it be a coincidence that so many Wii developers have said similar things? I don't think so and feel there's definitely things to be conceded and/learned on both sides of the debate here. Don't they both want more huge selling and quality games available on the little white box-I know that's all I'#m after at the end of the day and if Nintendo making the first move and being the bigger(morally) company is what's needed to get the ball rolling then they should do it and start talking more about what's to be done to help each other.

Zackstorm5227d ago

I agree with a lot of what you're saying. I would also love to see those types of improvements. However, third parties have got to stop short-changing Wii owners and then grumbling when their attempt at fast cash doesn't pan out.

The Conduit, although I think there's some hope in its sequel, is a bad game. Madworld is extremely niche and shallow. Mature does not equal quality.

My gripe is more with Sega, because their business decisions and reactions to things often confuse me. Things can definitely be improved at Nintendo, but I would love to see Sega give their head a shake.

N4g_null5226d ago

Mas thhere is a problem and it's not nintendo it's greed. Sony paid for the wins in the last few gens and they simply got beat at their own game. Ms bought se's ff13 and they are even getting a metal gear money....

Ms is the best hype machine ever. They perfected it with the os. First you get it to ship on time after you've gotten every one and mello yellow to do promos. Suddently a mediocre fps is the best multiplayer game ever. Yet killzone barely sells more the res evil remake lol. Sony is running low on funds so they can pay off people as well. All they can do is fan the rrod hate flames.

Hype is fun and cool but you guys yes hd gamers really have been suckers this gen. The games have almost no replay value, game play sucks amd you got taxed for blu Ray or live you choose. It's no wonder they are all so mad at the wii. They have a lot to be mad about yet I've never seen gamers expectations used against them so well.

I'll never trust another review again but maybe I get that from the 16 bit days, most hd gamers are actualy new to gaming so eventually they will learn.

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140°

Keoken Interactive lays off majority of team after failing to find funding at GDC

Deliver Us Mars developer Keoken Interactive has laid off the majority of its staff after struggling to secure funding …

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mastershredder15h ago

The industry model and standards and who's in place to approve/disapprove have changed ^ what Keoken is feeling now is much like the Mobile burst 15 years ago. Expect more to come out of your own finances. Investors are treating games like movies and now (thank$ a lot for involving yourself hollywood) only the big (and money blind) investors get involved, effectively killing a lot of content that would come out with proper non-gate-kept and/or with incentivized funding.

Markdn15h ago

And when you only make a fraction of your games worth on gamepass you suffer

Tacoboto12h ago

Palworld and Manor Lords are so suffering.

RiseNShine4h ago(Edited 4h ago)

Sorry but i couldn't care less, Deliver us Mars was as woke game as they come, climate change disaster, all female cast plus only a comic relief indian guy (it takes only 5 minutes into the game for the main female character to say how smart she is compared to the guy), evil white guys, ugly females, then add generic gameplay and puzzles (how many times do you have to cut things with a laser for gods sake), you can't change anything in how the events develop so 0 agency in the story, sub par graphics even while using UE4. So well, go woke go broke, that's how it works.

Miacosa7m ago(Edited 7m ago)

That stinks but with a 68 average critic rating on their games probably made it difficult for people to invest considering there is a bloat of games getting made these days.

200°

PS5 Was The Market Leader In Unit & Dollar Sales For Q1 2024 And March In US

Mat Piscatella of analyst firm Circana has revealed that the PS5 was the market leader in North America for both unit and dollar sales during not only March 2024, but the first quarter of the year as a whole.

Writing on Twitter, Piscatella revealed that spending for video game hardware in February 2024 dropped 32% in comparison to the same period last year, totalling $391 million. In addition, spending for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch each fell a minimum of 30% year-on-year.

Cacabunga18h ago

What will happen when Sony announce a new Uncharted, Killzone, Tsushima or Horizon ..

ChronoJoe17h ago

Ah yes, Killzone that'll light the world on fire.

I'm joking but I do wish it were likely or more popular.

shinoff218312h ago

I'd rather an upgrade over some fps personally. Like a true rpg not some action game with a couple of rpg lite mechanics in it.

Jingsing8h ago

To be fair Sony usually know when to let a franchise go dormant, They gave Killzone over 6 different games and it never reached that summit. You end up in a situation like Microsoft if you just keep hammering out Halo and Gears and Forza etc. Microsoft should be smart enough to let them games go.

Demetrius2h ago(Edited 2h ago)

I thoroughly enjoy my open world games, but highest interest will always be the shooter genre lol it's just something about a good well crafted shooter with lore to it something like the Max payne series

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 2h ago
Hofstaderman18h ago

But PS5 and Switch still outsells XBOX embarrassingly even with overall consoles sales decline.

Giga_Gaia17h ago

At this point, I think PS5 and Switch sell more in one month than Xbox does in an entire quarter...

Ironmike10h ago

Stop being sad mt just enjoy ur console of choice and just accept there's not only ps5 in the world

15h ago
Elda17h ago

This is not surprising in the slightest. The song will continue to remain the same.

romulus2315h ago

And in other news wet is water.

Show all comments (18)
280°

AAA Games Will Get More Expensive And That Might Not Be Entirely Bad

Najam from eXputer: "The norm of $60 AAA games is no more as developers now charge more for their games. Here's why this might not be a bad thing for gamers."

Kaii1d 5h ago

*Elden Ring type games, yeah sure. (scoring 8+)
(AAA/quadruple A) slop can shove it up their discounted ass

In recent yrs my purchasing In Indies has increased and its decreased for major IP's because I cba with the lack of innovative gameplay.

Focusing on the topic, why not mention Take-Two CEO getting his pay increased while axing 500 staff? I'm getting annoyed that those practices get ignored by the "gaming" media because ya don't want to burn potential bridges but seriously, gtfo.

fsfsxii1d ago

Im not contesting that triple a games are not innovative, but most indie games are 2D side scrollers with pixel art, fompletely lacking in innovation

CantThinkOfAUsername19h ago

Agreed. 99% of indie is metroidvania, rogue-lites and visual novels.

Sgt_Slaughter16h ago

That shows me you know don't anything about indies if that's the conclusion and generalization you managed.

Tacoboto1d ago

"I'm getting annoyed that those practices get ignored by the "gaming" media because ya don't want to burn potential bridges but seriously, gtfo"

What exactly is gaming media going to do that it's not already doing?

Welcome to capitalism and corporatism - every industry has this problem, it's not a gaming one.

Sephiroushin1h ago(Edited 1h ago)

They can start by saying the price increases is not good especially with all the micro transactions publishers put on games we pay for; but instead they tell people that the price increase on games is actually a good thing 🤦🏻

thorstein1d 5h ago (Edited 1d 5h ago )

It's a bad thing for gamers and for in the chair game devs. We just heard of massive layoffs across the industry.

I'd pay more if I read articles about how they were hiring. I'd pay more if I read articles about how the people who made the game scored record setting pay raises and CEOs were no longer given 1 year bonuses that could sustain a small studio for 10 years.

But that's not what happened.

Crows901d 1h ago

Yeah there's only so much people are willing to pay for entertainment. Especially in the form of games at the same time that there are free to play games and cheaper in the titles that compete with triple A. You're not going to be able to keep increasing pricing and get the same amount of sales. I already don't buy games at the new price or even at $60. I wait for $40 or less. And I don't believe I'm alone in that department. If you don't have any other expenses you can probably continue to afford buying games at the top price but many people eventually have other things that take priority and you're just not going to spend it that much money on a video game.

Heck if I have to play one game for the rest of my life I'd probably end up playing Warframe or Counter-Strike. These are all either free games or were paid games and now are free.

The AAA industry is a threat to the gaming industry. They're trying to continue to ride the way and keep increasing prices. They're trying to get all of the money as long as they're able to.

anast23h ago

Good point. I usually wait unless it's a favorite, but there are only 3 publ./dev. teams I can say that about, and 1 out of 3 gets day 1 treatment.

As for F2P, I'm a Path of Exile fan myself. I would just start hitting that hard and wait until prices drop.

Crows9020h ago

Path of exile would be an also pretty good alternative. I probably choose path of exile 2 since it'll be fresher and will receive more content most likely. I don't know

I did grow tired of path of exile after a while

Software_Lover1d 1h ago

It's bad. People just want good games at decent prices. Not everything has to be super realistic with 200 voice actors. Look at Palworld.

Ironmike1d 1h ago

Terrible article game prices go up any more u can kiss this industry goodbye

TiredGamer1d ago

The industry will and is already imploding due to double standards relative to prices everywhere else in society. Just as with food, housing, transportation, and other forms of entertainment, costs will increase even if only due to the constant rise in inflation.

Inflation is a fact of our modern world, and is a consequence of normal (usually healthy) economic activity. It is a result of a slow and continuous growth due to increasing money supply, and the complex relationship between consumer supply and demand. Inflation leads to the eventual increase in wages, whether through cost of living increases, yearly increases, minimum wage increases, or a higher demand of workers than there is supply.

The fact that the game industry has managed to keep game prices at or near the $60/70 range for DECADES is amazing in its own right. The buying power of a dollar has dropped in half in the last twenty years, so each year that prices don’t increase, it is essentially a price decrease for the previous year. Think about that.

Part of the problem is that games have been arbitrarily held at such a low price for so long that it has created a psychological ceiling in peoples’ heads that can’t be exceeded. MTs and other schemes have been created to try and mitigate this discrepancy, but those don’t work with every game/genre and have also received their own significant consumer blowback.

If games can’t exceed the $60-70 barrier even though that $70 is economically a lower “true” price than the cost of games even a decade ago, publishers will do what they can to make up the difference before eventually running out of options and exiting the industry.

I don’t like to pay more than I have to just like everyone else, but you have to be fair in comparing price increases (or lack thereof) in the game industry with the price increases across the rest of society.

anast22h ago

..."$60/70 range for DECADES"

This is false. Incomplete games have been this price for decades. For at least a decade or two, complete games have been $100 or more. They sell games as standard version and complete version, but now is some kind of version of deluxe, gold, complete, and ultimate. The tiers tell you that the standard version is not complete. It's explicitly stated. If the 60 game is sold for 70 and doesn't have tiers, micros and live service elements, I understand, but we most publishers aren't doing that.

"Part of the problem is that games have been arbitrarily held at such a low price for so long"

The have been held at a relatively low price, but gaming has never been cheap.

"If games can’t exceed the $60-70 barrier even though that $70 is economically a lower “true” price than the cost of games even a decade ago, publishers will do what they can to make up the difference before eventually running out of options and exiting the industry."

Most publishers need to leave the industry. This would actually be a good thing, but they won't because games complete games haven't been $60 for decades. It's usually $100 or more for the complete games and extra for the live-service elements, which rounds it out to a $50 game in the 80s, plus all of the micros and live-service fees and on top off this games are gravitating to being for rent in perpetuality via digital only releases. I would say they have more than already made up for it.

Ironmike22h ago(Edited 22h ago)

U should work with government mt nobody will pay 100 or even 80 for a game I do t how amazing u think it is that they kept prices down it not sustainable and only thing they kept down is the state they release have these games have
microtranscations this industry is going to hot Brickwall ppl already sick of prices then they release half finished games

TiredGamer21h ago

Everyone should have to study macro and microeconomics in HS so that they understand how a market economy works. I don't really hold college degrees with any reverence, as I feel that many degrees are outright scams, but I have studied economics for many years and at the graduate level. It's fascinating stuff and helps explain so much of the world we live in even since ancient times.

Not sure what you're going on about with complete vs. incomplete games. DLC and expansions are not a requirement for most (all?) games. I rarely buy expansions outright (unless part of a GOY edition) and never feel like I'm missing anything significant. Core games are still "complete" experiences for what they are. The digital landscape has just made extra content more viable. In older generations, when games were not massive development projects taking years to make, a successful game would be followed up with an "expansion" sequel a year or two later. Microtransactions are certainly a way that publishers are trying to pay their bills, and I understand that not everyone needs/wants them. Developers are more apt to make a DLC expansion today because the act of creating a true sequel to a game is just a monumental task. When a sequel is made, it's a whole new multi-year investment and a higher level of expectations.

I've been buying games since the 16-bit era. I remember when R-Type for the TurboGrafx was $69.99 at Toys R Us... in 1991. Most new games were in the $50-60 range. The N64 era commonly had titles ranging in the $70 range. So yes... prices haven't budged in decades, but the dollar has dropped by at least half in as much time. So that N64 Turok game was more like $140 in today dollars.

I don't disagree that some publishers should leave the industry. But the economics of the industry aren't and won't just affect some publishers... it will affect all of them, and it will lead to less risk-taking and a retraction from the blockbuster AAA games we are seeing today.

anast14m ago(Edited 8m ago)

@Tired Gamer

If people need an advanced degree to understand the difference between complete version and standard version, we are all in more trouble than I thought.

Example, AC Valhalla has a standard version, a complete version , and so on. Other companies hide this via other names. It's an actuality. There is not an amount of appealing to authority that can change this.

The fact that you have been doing something for a long time doesn't make your argument sound. This would be a fallacy of which we don't need an advanced degree to know either. If the games have tiers where the complete version is sold at a separate cost, then the standard version is not the complete game. Of course you can play an incomplete game, people have been doing it for decades.

Iron Mike

Your words do not mean what I say is not an actuality. You are not offering any evidence.

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