Anubis2005X

$60 a game? Back to N64 cartridge prices, doh!

mrpayroll

Yes, but you get so much more for the money.

Now whether they are as fun as N64 is another question. New technology, better graphics does not equal a better gaming experience.

Chris

Chris_D

$60US sounds good, some new release games here start out at about 85 USD .

jeffdsmith

Yeah, now you poor bastards will be paying even more.

Chris_D

Next-gen I will be importing .

Josh H

Again, I expect Sony and Nintendo to launch with $50 games and thus leave MS with no choice but to drop them down.

Still, not a bad idea, never much worth playing in the first few months of a console, and no budget games yet, so it's an easy way to rake in some more $$$ from gamers for a while.

DJ_Longfellow

Yeah, I can see prices coming down eventually....they will get people with the $60 tag right away though. I'm excited, and I usually get a deal on most of my games anyways. I haven't paid $50 in forever.

Also, there will be budget games for 360. I think Ebgames has World Poker Tour (the 2K games one) for $30

PixyJunket

If the typical Xbox 360 game is anything like the typical Xbox game, they'll be falling to bargain bin prices a few months after release anyway.. so the $60 thing is only going to hurt people who need to have the newest Spider-Man Extreme game on release date (or the few top-quality games that DO come out).

Josh H

True, but people who buy a 360 will have no choice but to buy $60 games.

Of course the logical thing to do is wait 6 months or so until some game prices drop and some more decent games are out before picking up a 360.

jeffdsmith

In order for Sony to launch at $50 and MS to eventually lower to $50 for games at debut, the saturation of the consoles will have to increase @ 20% over current levels to maintain the same profit windows. This is not going to happen out of the gate, I fully suspect the 360 and PS3 to retain $60 as the price of their launch titles throughtout the lifespan of their respective systems, assuming both are a "success" in sales.

To put it simply, Sony and MS must sell 20% more consoles then they did this generation or face reduction in profits. Despite Sony and MS's appetitie for "eating" loses on hardware, they are much less likely do so on software. As pointed out, the very fact that games tend to drop in price quickly will force the $60 cost even more as publishers will want to pull in as much as possible early on. And do not think that "value games" are safe either, an increase in the MSRP will also force the value eddition of games higher as well. The only, and obvious, exception to this is lack of demand, and that is something no one here can predit.

-----

Profit aside for a moment, the real problem is the risk each of these games represents for a company. Some games for these systems are going to cost beyond that of modern movies. The risk for a title that fails to sell even when it is a "quality title" is huge. (Beyond Good and Evil, Physconauts, etc.) The game industry is shifting from being about games to being about marketing, just like the movie industry did years ago. The market is saturated with titles, and gameplay is not enough to differentiate a product any longer. Will good games go away? No, but being a good game will not be enough to get you published any longer.

mrpayroll

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=10605

Xbox 360 to launch in Europe on November 25 - senior UK sources

Rob Fahey 16:55 05/08/2005

High price tag expected for hardware and games following Kutaragi's PS3 price warning

Highly placed sources in the UK industry have told GamesIndustry.biz that the Xbox 360 is set to launch in Europe on November 25th, with the US launch preceding a few days earlier - and the price tag may be as high as UKP 299.

According to our sources, speaking under conditions of strict anonymity, the official announcement of the European date will be made by Microsoft to its trade partners on the 15th of this month, two days before a public announcement at Game Convention in Leipzig.

While they were confident of the dates being mooted, the price of the system remains less certain - with our sources indicating that Microsoft itself may not have made up its mind on the matter as yet.

"The original plan was UKP 249, but now that Sony is talking about the PS3 being expensive, UKP 299 is looking more likely," according to one source - although it was admitted that this pricing is a "best guess" based on information from Microsoft, not an official figure by any means.

Even allowing for the higher tax rates here in Europe, a UKP 299 price point would translate as around $500 in the US, which is significantly higher than is currently anticipated by most market watchers - among whom the general consensus is that the system will launch at $300, suggesting a UK price point of under UKP 200.

One area of pricing which our independent sources were more certain of was the pricing of software, with Xbox 360 titles likely to hit shelves at around UKP 44.99 - a price premium over current generation software which Microsoft is said to be unhappy with, but which has been driven by demands from third party publishers.

Microsoft this afternoon declined to comment on the reports, saying simply that "we have nothing to announce at this time."


Chris

PixyJunket

Hell, I'd say we're ALREADY there. It's just going to get worse in my opinion. That's why I'm a bit afraid walking into this next generation of games. The number of Spider-Man and X-Man and True Crime Extreme type games are going to rise and the number of Katamari Damacy type games are going to sink lower than they already are (at least in the US). Nintendo seems to be the only company with their head still in the realm of good gaming and I'll probably be buying a Revolution at launch to offer my meager support for this line of thought. This is exciting news for those new kids who buy games based on concept (or specifications of the system.. as illustrated GREATLY in both the PS3 and Xbox 360 thread) rather than content, but for those of us who have been playing games for 20+ years it looks like (but doesn't mean) that the end is near.

fujishig

But in the movie industry, high concept movies with lower budgets can still be a success, and indy films continue to get made, as well as blockbusters. Not everything, after all, can be a blockbuster. I'm pretty sure something like Katamari Damacy did not cost as much to make as, say, Metal Gear Solid 3. And it was released at a lower pricepoint to boot! So these kinds of games aren't going away.

I do agree about the whole marketing aspect and how disappointing it is. The banner game for me is still the first next-gen Prince of Persia, which actually got a sequel but had pretty disappointing sales for such a killer update of a franchise.

PixyJunket

I'm not afraid they'll go away.. I'm just putting my tin-foil hat on.

Another thing to consider is that, at least in the US, the movie market is generally accepted to be very broad. Sure, there's an INSANE focus on the pre-pubescent boy market, but the industry knows that is not the only market out there. It's quite the opposite in the gaming world, where the general consensus is that the pre-pubescent boy market is the only market. Sure, there's still a pretty big kid market too, especially in the area of portable gaming. But, most suits will tell you that people who want to play games that DON'T involve big tits, big guns, big cars, gore and explosions DO NOT EXIST. At least that's the perception I get when I go to the store and browse the selection.

sdcrym

Let's not forget about the Hello Kitty game coming out for Gamecube soon. I don't believe that game's demographic is listed above

PixyJunket

Yup, but I bet you can count the number of games belonging to that demograph on both your hands. I bet you can count the number of QUALITY games belonging with your thumbs. But the Hello Kitty game looks like it may be a good one, my girlfriend is way too excited about it.

sdcrym

I hear that. Between that game and Nintendogs, I may have to read a book or something to keep myself busy while she hogs all my video game hardware. There might be some fist-fighting over the DS when Animal Crossing comes out.

fujishig

This is getting way off topic, but this sounds like my wife... I'm almost afraid when Animal crossing DS comes out. Just recently saw the Hello Kitty game is coming, but what kind of game is it? Like those Barbie or Mary Kate and Ashley games?

or GTA, Hello Kitty style?

sdcrym

It looks like a 3D platformer where Hello Kitty moves around on rollerskates with a magic wand of some type.

Apollo

Is This the Revolution forum?

PixyJunket

No.

Flay

Perhaps you should make your own thread about the Hello Kitty game since you seem interested in it. This thread is for Xbox 360 information and discussion please.

On that note: Teamxbox updated their 360 faq quite a bit:

http://features.teamxbox.com/xbox/12...x-360-FAQs/p1/

fujishig

Sorry, my fault for asking for more info about that game... for my wife, I swear!

On the other hand, if speculation holds true that Sony is willing to delay release of the PS3 beyond next Xmas, that certainly plays into my decision whether or not to get a 360 at launch. I also wonder if the rumored HD-DVD 360 will beat the PS3 out the door with next-gen DVD playback.

I am a little surprised that there doesn't seem to be a set pricepoint for the system yet. I was about to preorder the thing, but I'd balk at what that article about the speculated European price is at.

Chris_D

299 pounds in the UK? That would be the stupidest decision ever.. MS has done quite well in Europe and they should build on that success. Damn, UK gamers getting shafted again. You guys should all just import, and meanwhile beat a path to MS UK office and let them know how you feel.

A-aron

Somewhere near the beginning of this thread, there was an image of one of the kiosks that stores would have. It showed a port that you would connect a memory card so that you could download it there and then take it home and apply the changes to your system. Hopefully this happens.