Amy Developer Asks: “Do You Want To Pay Less?”

You’re right to be confused by the above headline. Heck, I still am, but here's the bottom line: who wants to pay more for anything?

Amy is an interesting looking (and hopefully scary) horror game arriving next week on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network from developer VectorCell and publisher Lexis Numérique. As it stands, the game would be several dollars more on PSN than it would be on XBLA, and understandably, people complained.

The response was to poll potential consumers about the problem.

Amy would be 800 Microsoft Points ($10) on XBLA and $12.99 on PSN. The poll asks users if $12.99, nearly $3 more, “is a good [price].” Take a wild guess at the results.

Lexis Numérique CEO José Sanchis explained the difference in a press release, citing Microsoft’s “points” system as the reason for the price discrepency. Points have the same value worldwide, even if actual currency values are not the same. Sanchis points to 800 Points being $10 in the US, but 10 Euros overseas--or $12.8.

“Because we didn’t explain the situation, we understand the reaction of certain US PSN gamers who don’t understand why they should pay a little bit more than their friends who play on XBLA,” said Numérique.

The poll stands at 464 votes, as of this writing, with 71% voting in favor of changing the PSN price.

“Because we value the opinion of the community, we commit to apply the voters’ decision,” he continued.

If users demand the price should be changed, it will be changed. If that happens, and there’s no reason to think it won’t, the PSN release will be pushed back a week, as the change ripples through Sony. The XBLA version would still come out next week, however, as it currently has the lower price, and the poll would not impact it either way.

Thought some person's name was Amy Developer

Yeah... it's a weird one.

I- ..what?

Not gonna lie, I have no fucking clue what this article is about. Might be because I'm trying to read it while listening to the Radio Show though.

US customers getting the short stick instead of European customers. Now that is a fucking first.

There going to be quicklook of this oddity?

Who the fuck cares about $2-3? This is just another case of a bunch of kids raging on the forums about things they have absolutely no knowledge of.

I'm a hard working, white collar dad who cares about every dollar I spend. So I'll just get the 360 version. No big deal.

Come on people! Yes the economy has gone to shit but it's only $3 more. If you own a Xbox 360 and are paying for live gold (Can you buy XBLA games with a non gold account?) and CAN"T spend a few extra bucks then you have much more serious problems.

@AlexW00d said:

US customers getting the short stick instead of European customers. Now that is a fucking first.

Actually, it looks like American 360 owners were getting a better deal than Europeans and American PS3 owners. Now all Americans will get a better deal than Europeans, but American PS3 owners will get the game at least a week later.

If I were an American PS3 owner, I'd rather pay the extra $3 than wait while everyone else already gets to play the game on 360. However, I am European. So I probably get to wait longer to pay more. :-( Having said that, I don't think I'd be interested in this game either way. So I really have no reason to complain at all. :-P

I'm looking forward to this, didn't realize it came out this soon.

I would totally pay more for something if I could afford it and felt invested in the well being of the seller or the project. I totally voted 15$ on that Bionic Commando Rearmed thing they did.

Well that's one way to deal with it.

This going to be a good year for horror games. AMY, Alan Wake American Nightmare, Shadow of a Soul, can't wait!

Man the Xbox really does seem to mess up so many things for other consoles. I wonder if it's all kind of intentional.

So... $3 is a lot to some people? I mean, a regular video game is $85 here in Sweden because of retarded "$60=€60" bullshit. I feel there is bigger fish to fry than a tiny XBLA game.

$13 is already pretty cheap for a title like this. I was expecting it to be at least $20.

I don't mind the extra $3 for the psn one. Such a little thing to worry about when the game is already at a good price point. Also, I would rather pay the extra $3 than wait another week for release. That's just me though.

I'm a hard working, white collar dad who cares about every dollar I spend. So I'll just get the 360 version. No big deal.

don't care if it's not for PC, but $=€ pricing is always shit, but they dont do it for pounds

Points have the same value worldwide, even if actual currency values are not the same.

This is something most U.S. gaming sites, bloggers, podcasters, consistently ignore when talking about value for money. I have met Canadian gamers who actually think 800 points cost them $10 because they've read it so often in parenthesis next to the moonbucks number, just as in this article.

In Canada (and other markets) the same game is cheaper 90% of the time on PSN than XBL, because most PSN store prices match USD but charge in CDN. Totally expected since it was on par for so long... but XBL point prices never benefitted the end user.

For exclusives its an easy decision, but then it comes down to your service preference. I waited for Renegade Ops on XBL, without a good reason for doing so, honestly...

Glad to see this being brought up by an upfront developer open to feedback. I can't wait to see all the Major Nelson blog comments linking to this game as an example of consumer pushback working. :D

@nutter said:

I'm a hard working, white collar dad who cares about every dollar I spend. So I'll just get the 360 version. No big deal.

well that is if you were actually going to get it to begin with

 "Sanchis points to 800 Points being $10 in the US "
 
Cmon now son...

I'd pay more for a quality product any day, but having a price discrepancy is a little iffy. Hell, the user demand to have cheaper things is why corporatism is so dominant.

I'm going to buy both the XBLA and PSN versions so that I can compare them and see if the PSN version is in reality $2.99 better.

It's a weird thing for a developer/publisher to do, but having followed development of the game for some time it almost doesn't surprise me. They're some interesting folks for sure.

Still, I understand the pricing and they probably didn't think it out clearly, but props to them for basically saying "hey if you think this is unfair we'll change it." It will delay release of the game for a week though on the US PSN store. Even if it was $15 the game looks worth it from what I've seen.

Everything about this is really weird. Most of it is also dumb.

I would like to ask back "Why the fuck are you charging more?"

@Jack268 said:

So... $3 is a lot to some people? I mean, a regular video game is $85 here in Sweden because of retarded "$60=€60" bullshit. I feel there is bigger fish to fry than a tiny XBLA game.

Its not that $3 is a lot, its that the price isn't the same on both consoles here in the states.

No steam version? Boo! =(

I have a full time job with a nice amount of disposable income. I honestly don't mind paying more for quality games that I put a lot of time into and really enjoy, in fact I encourage it.

I am more than happy to 'reward' developers who have managed to create a fantastic product that I really enjoy, with more of my hard earned money. I think DLC is a great way of doing this, I think its helps stop developers from creating increasingly generic games that appeal to a wider audience (to increase their revenue), and instead give their fans - the guys who really enjoy their work more of what they want.

By this I don't mean sequels. I hate sequels. A sequel can be nice in a story driven game, but just the one, cliff hangers and open ended stories with the hidden title card "SEQUEL?" after the credits just makes me feel dirty and think less of the developer. I'm not stupid, they need to make money, but they don't need to throw that fact in my face, I'm much happier thinking they wanted to create something for our enjoyment, and that the money we pay for the game as well as DLC, shows how much we appreciate that.

@ShaggyChu: I don't think that is the reason... "What..." is what I said after reading this.

It should come to Steam. MS messed up with the points, 1000 points should be 10$. It's so confusing 800 points being 10$

Amy Hennig should change her last name to Developer.

As a publicity stunt, this totally worked. I never even heard about this game before, but now I have...

At the very least its brilliant advertising. I never heard of this game before today.

@Demoskinos said:

No steam version? Boo! =(

PC version is in the works but no date (I first heard about this game on rockpapershotgun, after all)

For me, it's not just $3, it's the principle. If they can get away with it, other developers/publishers will follow suit. Look at XBLA's price change from 800 to 1200 points, project $10, etc. Don't stand for this!

I saw this story crop up on a few gaming blogs over the last few days... and was immediately baffled as to why this game in particular was suddenly held up as the poster-child for this "pricing difference" issue

This has been going on for YEARS... with just about every cross platform downloadable game released

I have ALWAYS bought my downloadable games on Xbox rather than PS3 for exactly this reason, because i've always been aware that the Microsoft points system works out at an average of £3 to £5 cheaper per game

The 'Dollars = Euros' fallacy is one of the worst elements of this industry.

I have a full time job with a nice amount of disposable income. I honestly don't mind paying more for quality games that I put a lot of time into and really enjoy, in fact I encourage it.

I am more than happy to 'reward' developers who have managed to create a fantastic product that I really enjoy, with more of my hard earned money. I think DLC is a great way of doing this, I think its helps stop developers from creating increasingly generic games that appeal to a wider audience (to increase their revenue), and instead give their fans - the guys who really enjoy their work more of what they want.

By this I don't mean sequels. I hate sequels. A sequel can be nice in a story driven game, but just the one, cliff hangers and open ended stories with the hidden title card "SEQUEL?" after the credits just makes me feel dirty and think less of the developer. I'm not stupid, they need to make money, but they don't need to throw that fact in my face, I'm much happier thinking they wanted to create something for our enjoyment, and that the money we pay for the game as well as DLC, shows how much we appreciate that.

@Jack268 said:

So... $3 is a lot to some people? I mean, a regular video game is $85 here in Sweden because of retarded "$60=€60" bullshit. I feel there is bigger fish to fry than a tiny XBLA game.

I share the same feeling.

In Canada some games like Fable 3 and Mortal Kombat were priced $69.99 for no apparent reason. The Canadian dollar was stronger at that time too!

@PenguinDust said:

At the very least its brilliant advertising. I never heard of this game before today.

GB actually posted a trailer a few weeks ago here.

@umdesch4 said:

As a publicity stunt, this totally worked. I never even heard about this game before, but now I have...

I thought this as well first, but then I figured that I would've probably been reminded of the game via a Quicklook following its release anyway. Well, I guess for everywhere else it totally works.

You don't think twice about paying the billionaire corporations $60 for recycled, rushed garbage year in and year out but can't spare a cup of coffee to help the creators of AMY who are offering an innovative downloadable experience. If anything, every true gamer should be asking to pay MORE for this game - not crying about a couple bucks like a bunch of sad, little, spoiled school girls.

Oh well, I guess we can all just go back to playing our tired old sequels and moaning about the lack of new IPs in the industry.

@xeno1053 said:

(Can you buy XBLA games with a non gold account?)

Yes.

Are they having a hard time negotiating a lower price with Sony or something?
Is this like a "See! We told you it should be lower!" thing?
 
Unless it's just a marketing thing, this is dumb. 
 
Also I hope this is a horror game, cos that'd explain why this kid is so fucking scary.

Id never heard of this game before, don't see too many downloadable horror games, will keep an eye on it.

@PenguinDust said:

At the very least its brilliant advertising. I never heard of this game before today.

Brilliant is a bit strong I feel personally, I won't care about this game till I hear about in action. But PenguinDust is 100% correct about his second statement, and perhaps he is right if the dev mainly cares about name recognition. But I could also hear of this game later after trail by fire and recognize it by name as sucky..we will see.

It's not that people want to pay the exta 3 bucks, it's that they don't want to use microsoft points anymore after so many have been screwed over. Just make a retail product please.

Frankly i don't give a hoot about such little money. Use the extra money to make a demo so i can decide whether i want it, then the question of $10 or $13 won't be an issue. Kudos for not shafting Europeans for f*cking once, though.