Games are (too) expensive!!!

then don't buy them....

No I don't think they should take that into consideration, because every mans budget differs, so for them to say 'its worth the money to X degree' would not apply to everyone. Hell, they get their games for free anyways.

Games are not too expensive IMO, they are well priced. Look what you are getting in some of these games, its huge.

Are you talking about Australian prices? If you are then yeh youre right, its ridiculous at the moment, new releases cost $100 for PC and $120 for consoles, with collectors editions hitting past $140.

You mean they should be allowed to demerit a game because of its price?

Fail.

No, reviewers shouldn't do that.
it sucks, but oh well.

Actually, price is oftentimes a factor in the review text, but not the review score.  This is because you can (arguably) compare games directly with a quick glance at the scores, but cannot do so with written text.  If scores were shifted up or down based on price, you would have budget titles looking like awesome games, and big-budget titles looking like crap, when it's usually just the opposite.

In the review text, a good reviewer will usually note if the title is discounted in any way, or has a steep entry price (say, due to a peripheral bundled with it), and then assesses whether or not the game is worth the entry price.  Things like replayability and whether it's worth buying are always, always addressed in a review.  What, exactly, is the complaint here?

I think (most) retail games are reasonably priced, considering development cost.

It could be an issue to judge the value of some games though, particularly downloaded console games (PSN, XBLA, etc).

Wait a few months after its released and get it used on Ebay, Craigslist, Amazon, or Gamestop for half as much. There's also a ton of cheap games on Steam, PSN, XBLA, WiiWare
I don't see a problem with the pricing considering you can avoid paying full cost.

I rarely buy games when they just come out, I usually wait awhile, if I need to play it now so that my friends dont spoil it for me I rent it and buy at a lower price down the road.

Here in Norway most new games cost around 500 - 550 kr which is 92$ - 101$. That is a lot more than what people in USA are paying for games.

Games aren't as much as they used to be years ago. "While most PlayStation games rarely exceeded $50, N64 titles could reach $79.99" (Wikipedia) That was before all these limited editions with extra stuff... So right now, the price of games are not as bad as some people make it seem. Plus in other countries, a single game will retail for about $100... I'd say right now we have it pretty easy. I would recommend saving your money, buying what games you "must have," and either wait for price drops or buy other games you want used.

Reviewers do take price into an account, to an extent.

You better believe that your average XBLA title wouldn't get the scores it does if it cost $59.99 (ignoring the whole Braid/quality/$15 discussion for the sake of sanity). That works in reverse, too.

Isn't this the guy who said piracy is good?

"Games aren't as much as they used to be years ago. "While most PlayStation games rarely exceeded $50, N64 titles could reach $79.99" (Wikipedia)

"
Games are expensive. To buy I mean.
With the recession thing going on, people have less hard earned cash to spend.
I think reviewers should take that in consideration.
Is a game worth buying? Is there enough replayablility?"

In Canada it's $40-$50 dollars for new PC games, which is fine by me.
The console games I think are a tad too expensive though being $70-$80 dollars, I'd like to see them be the same price as PC games.

I agree $60 is expensive for games but it takes me 2-3 weeks to save up for one so it's not that big of a deal.

"Isn't this the guy who said piracy is good?

"

"
Games are expensive. To buy I mean.
With the recession thing going on, people have less hard earned cash to spend.
I think reviewers should take that in consideration.
Is a game worth buying? Is there enough replayablility?"

I think gamers already take this into account themselves.  How many of us refuse to buy a game unless it gets 8s or higher across the board, maybe even 9s or higher?

"I think gamers already take this into account themselves.  How many of us refuse to buy a game unless it gets 8s or higher across the board, maybe even 9s or higher?"

"Yeah, I just read that a few days ago. It's a load of horseshit. Or, more accurately, a load of wikipedia. I payed $59.99 for a couple premier 3rd-party N64 titles, the rest were $49.99. Furthermore, there was an entire generation after that one (PS2, Gamecube) where games were 40 and (more often) 50 dollars. (I never owned the original Xbox.)

You're right about other countries, though. Games are cheaper here."

 A 6 or a 7 isn't really that bad of a score, but because we're talking about putting our 60 bucks down for these things, most gamers won't pay for a "pretty good" or an "okay" game.

Same goes for Giant Bomb.  A game that gets 3 stars isn't bad, but most people won't consider buying a game unless they see it gets 4 or 5 stars.

Gaming itself is too expensive, I try to focus mainly on the heavy hitters of gaming.

"Gaming itself is too expensive, I try to focus mainly on the heavy hitters of gaming."

"Jordan23 said:

"Gaming itself is too expensive, I try to focus mainly on the heavy hitters of gaming."

A lot of us do that, and that's how we miss out.  There could be a game that one of us would love, but we never play it because critics don't like it and it doesn't get a lot of word-of-mouth."

Yeah, the prices are high, but the used markets have the games cheap after awhile. I just buy them when they get down into the $40-ish price range or lower.  I just got Lost Odyssey for about $35.

"KillerFly said:

"Jordan23 said:

"Gaming itself is too expensive, I try to focus mainly on the heavy hitters of gaming."

A lot of us do that, and that's how we miss out.  There could be a game that one of us would love, but we never play it because critics don't like it and it doesn't get a lot of word-of-mouth."

Yeah I missed out on a couple of games last holiday season ( during that whole rush of new games) because I didn't have much money. I still haven't played Mass Effect yet. =("

There are only a few games that I would say are actually worth the $50 price tag. Unless it's a game that I really want, I will just wait for the price to drop (which usually happens fairly quickly with PC games).

Save up and buy a gun, then you can get all of your games for free.

Wow, I never looked at it like that.... Thanks for the tip!!

"Jordan23 said:

"Gaming itself is too expensive, I try to focus mainly on the heavy hitters of gaming."

A lot of us do that, and that's how we miss out.  There could be a game that one of us would love, but we never play it because critics don't like it and it doesn't get a lot of word-of-mouth."

I feel that reviewers do take that into consideration. For example, Braid was knocked a lot for being $15. If most XBLM or PSN games were priced at retail value, they would be scored much lower. That's why you don't see games on WiiWare or PSN or whatever being rated extremely low. It's because the price matches the amount of game you're getting. Since all retail games are priced at $60, then they don't really have to factor that in, because it is a constant.

A single next-gen game costs 100$ in ME.

"Jordan23 said:

"Gaming itself is too expensive, I try to focus mainly on the heavy hitters of gaming."

A lot of us do that, and that's how we miss out.  There could be a game that one of us would love, but we never play it because critics don't like it and it doesn't get a lot of word-of-mouth."

GET A DAMN JOB!

"I think gamers already take this into account themselves.  How many of us refuse to buy a game unless it gets 8s or higher across the board, maybe even 9s or higher?"

Definitely not.

Look at it this way, think of the cost of DVD's, around a fourth of the price of games, and your average game lasts a lot longer then four times the length of your average movie, and definitely offers a lot more entertainment.

At the end of the day, the more money we give to the games industry, the better the games will get.

just wait foreveything to go cheap unles you REALLY want it

Bionic Commando: Rearmed was like, £5. Games have always been expensive, if anything they're getting cheaper. Not just downloadable titles, but full retail titles too. And they're much, much cheaper when you consider inflation.

I guess my answer is, if you think games are too expensive today, you'll just have to buy them second hand or buy downloadable titles.

Games are definitely not expensive. Think of the massive production values, and the fact that if even one game bombs, a company can be put of business for good.

"KillerFly said:

"Jordan23 said:

"Gaming itself is too expensive, I try to focus mainly on the heavy hitters of gaming."

A lot of us do that, and that's how we miss out.  There could be a game that one of us would love, but we never play it because critics don't like it and it doesn't get a lot of word-of-mouth."

Good point. One game for sure that I can't miss out on is  Little Big Planet. This game is going to be spectacular and most of the gaming community is excited as well.

Check out this podcast... 1UP Yours Podcast"

"Games are definitely not expensive. Think of the massive production values, and the fact that if even one game bombs, a company can be put of business for good."

"Save up and buy a gun, then you can get all of your games for free."

You're right! We need the government to give financial aid to people who can't afford games!

You can get everything off the internet for free

"
Games are expensive. To buy I mean.
With the recession thing going on, people have less hard earned cash to spend.
I think reviewers should take that in consideration.
Is a game worth buying? Is there enough replayablility?"

Game prices in the US <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<game prices in the rest of the world

Also, what the hell? Do you collect games? Do you get off of having shelves full of games you don't actually play, and never will, ever again? Buy games, play em till they aren't fun anymore, then sell them. Otherwise videogaming is just ridiculously expensive.

Actually I collect games lol. I buy any game that is worth playing in my opinion. Games are like a collection to me, of ok-good ones that is. ;P