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Study: Consumers Don't Dig 'Next-Gen' Pricing

by Blake Ellison, Sep 08, 2008 12:00pm PDT
Related Topics – Game Sales

Consumers are not quite comfortable with the higher prices attached to games in the current console generation, according to research released by Frank N. Magid Associates on GameDaily.

43 percent of surveyed "next-gen" console owners said they would wait for game prices to fall before buying, while 30 percent said they resorted to buying more used games instead. Only 17 percent said that "for the right game, the price would not matter."

Respondents to the Magid survey were allowed to choose multiple answers. 23 percent of those questioned said they would buy fewer games that retailed for $59.99. 17 percent also answered that they would turn to game rental instead of buying some games.

Console makers and publishers drew some ire from gamers at the start of the current generation of gaming consoles--Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii--as they announced that games in this generation would generally retail for $59.99, a $10 premium over the previous generation. Gaming companies claimed a number of justifications for the price hike such as increased production costs.


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Comments

23 Threads | 59 Comments
  • #48
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    By: araczynski x
    Reply
    the ONLY brand new game i've EVERY bought for the 360 was Mass Effect, and that was after using some $20 off gift certificate from my credit card.

    On the PS3 i've never bought anything at retail prices (other than 2 or 3 PSN games, well, one of which was on sale).

    On the Wii, i've only bought Link's Shooting Range (or whatever it was called), but that was only $25 brand new and i grabbed it at some $5 off promo.

    On the PC, the last brand new game i bought was Oblivion Collector's.

    Other than that, it's all ebay/amazon biotechs.

    That's a lot of gaming that I've enjoyed that the devs/publishers never saw a penny of.... their choice, i have my priorities in life.
    Sep 08, 2008 7:53pm PDT
  • #29
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    By: Brainiacrk x
    Reply
    Xbox 360 games I've paid full price for:

    Halo 3
    Gears of War
    GTA IV
    Stranglehold
    Mercenaries 2

    Mercs 2 was the first game of those listed that was a disappointment. With so many open world games to build on (GTA IV, Saints Row, Just Cause, etc.) I just assumed it would turn out better than it did.

    360 games I plan to pay full price for in the near future, though I may hold off on the last 3 until I see some reviews:

    Fable 2
    Fallout 3
    Gears of War 2
    Saints Row 2
    Deadspace
    Spiderman: Web of Shadows
    Sep 08, 2008 1:23pm PDT
  • #21
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    By: retarded talking dinosaur x
    Reply
    If publishers are worried about used games, this study makes it pretty clear that they might make more sales and thus MORE REVENUE by lowering prices. I would be 3x more likely to buy a game for $30 than $60. I have been saying this for years. Publishers maintain that high prices are required because they need the revenue, but they must have forgotten that the fixed cost attached to software is very low (just the disc and case) and thus much more money might be made by having half price games that sell more than twice as many copies.

    Games need to be priced by how good they are. I would pay $60 for gears of war, but some of these other games should simply be cheaper.
    Sep 08, 2008 12:59pm PDT