The PRICE of gaming

Case in point - I own each of a PS3, 360, Gaming PC and of course a PS2. I praise each with rapturous accord and have recieved countless hours of entertainment and quality experiences from each. In other words, I do not have any intention of entering this point into the childish and fickle arena of a console war. Each are truly excellent platforms, case definitively closed.  
 
However, I must admit to feeling decidedly different aboout each. Particularly the PS3 and 360, both of which are of course my main gaming platforms - but also the source of the most ongoing expense. Its precisely because of this ongoing expense that I've generated a somewhat emotional attachment to each system, for better or worse.   

In particular, While I own more games for my xbox360 than I do my PS3, I simply do not enjoy - nor play - several 360 titles I own, whereas I have completely enjoyed and still regularly play literally all of my PS3 games. Dont get me wrong, I love many of my 360 titles and have enjoyed countless hours of entertainment on the system, but as a function of consistent quality and time enjoyed - my PS3 feels like a more economical system. 
 
Framing this issue is my own person situation, one that probably reflects many gamers current siutuation in one way or another (I fully recognise that this is my situation and mine alone, so dont read any console specific commentary into it please, i beg of you).  
Consider that both my 360 controllers have broken (neither battery pack works consistently, hence rumble must be disabled, plus some other minor issues), I therefore need to pay $80AUD for 2 controller chargers, I have no wireless connection to my 360 and hence have spend a great deal of time without an active internet connection due to my (totally normal) home network set up, must pay an ongoing fee for XboxLive on top of my ISP fee's (which I dont anymore), I would need to pay another $150AUD for a wireless adapter to be able to use my 360 in the same room as the HD TV in the home (which is again, several rooms away from the wireless modem), have destroyed my copy of lost odyssey (Disc 1) because I dared to move the console slightly whilst it was on, have narrowly escaped 3 encounters wich the RRoD and finally, I have run out of HDD space on my 360 (without using it for nearly any media storage, 20GB model) - and hence will need to pay $250AUD (!!!!!!) for a new proprietary Microsoft HDD at some stage. 
 
To quicly contrast this with my PS3, aside from purchasing another controller (which are hell expensive, I must say), Ive not spent a single dollar on the console since purchase, have had absolutely no problem with any accesories nor internet functionality, have enjoyed using it as a streaming wireless hub for my PC media onto my families HDTV, along of course with building a Blu-Ray collection, have tons of HDD space and have slowly made the shift over to PSN as my primarly online gaming platform. Without a hitch i might add, and for free.

Accordingly - I feel like my PS3 is a console I want to use and support, and feel a degree of confidence in the brand and its releases, both accesories and software.   
So to say the least, I utterly and completely feel that the economics behind my consoles are an enormous factor in deciding my future purchases - totally aside from the quality of the games released themselves. It simply has to be, because the outgoings for each consumer these days are just so enormous.  
This was not the case, even last generation, when games were the sole factor determining my interest in each console. 

Hence, I feel the principle consiquence of the economic factor in our everyday gaming lives is two fold -  
Firstly, the reliability and the feature sets of the hardware along with its effective and economical utilization by the consumer (ie. me paying for both a 360, PS3 or Wii, but then utilizing the feature set of one more than the other) has the effect of building confidence in the brand and ensuring future purchases. This could go either way this generation, since many people have had good/bad experiences with each console, given theres no clear superiority of either, even the Wii (for some). 
  
The reason this fact is immensly important is simply because of the magnitude of purchases we make these days. It's a shitload a cash for a regular person like you or I, and its just so much more economically sound for an individual to support 1 platform more than all of them, simply because its unfeasibly expensive to buy into the full feature sets of each.  
The effect this has on the market is excellent however, since the upside of consumers spending big across (ignoring the Wii) 1 of the 2 platforms is that both Microsoft and Sony are forced to provide an increadible breadth of value and entertainment to justify any and every decision a consumer might make either way.  
In other words, the more we spend, the better both platforms get - but very importantly, the bigger we spend, the more emphasis we put on negative experiences (after getting our fingers burnt, we have long memories). Hence, the premium on quality goes up. Hence the sales of $80-100AUD 'less than triple A' titles skyrockets into the stratosphere of irrelevance. Ouch to creativity.

Secondly, the impact on software purchases is immense, since our investment in software for one system over the other determines our general exposure to the feature sets of that system. For instance, im unlikley to appreciate the quality of an application like say, VidZone on the PS3 if I never actually turn on the console to play my games, just as im unlikley to subscribe to a series like Red vs. Blue over XboxLive if im never actually using the box to play games in the first place.  
 
Interestingly, the 'spill over' from gaming to feature browsing required to promote many such features illustrates the importance of tiered game pricing.  
Its utterly insane that the power of staggering the price of games hasnt been utilized by either console as yet, since its undisputable that while it may be less profitable on a per game basis, the 'halo' effect felt by increased PSN or XBL purchases and general use would be staggering - More games on your console means a greater probability of 'noticing' and utilizing the non-game feature sets of the 360 or the PS3, leading ultimately to a more profitable and higher quality experience in both the software and digital feature sides of the industry thanks to the increased profitibility per user.  
 
As it is, after spending upwards of $500AUD on just the consoles alone, along with another $100-300 for accesories, consumers are naturally hesitant to spill another $80-100AUD on regular game purchases.  
The problem is, thanks to the manufacturing/production cost of all of these games, online services and hardware features for the games companies and manufacturers - its literally never been more important for the industry that people are buying games, are using PSN or XBL, are utilizing their consoles as media centres and are simply spending more time utilizing their damn machines! The bottom line is that the console wars will only be able to continue in a healthy and positive manner (and avoid MS, Sony or Nintendo monopoly) if people are buying games and then experiencing the broader applications of these amazing platforms.  
The fact is, its never been less feasible to do so - we spend all our money on the damn machines and their exhustive features. Games matter more than ever, but today, are contextually harder ($$$) to access. Hence we see hesitence and cynasicm toward everything without a Blizzard, Valve, Epic, ID, Sony Computer Entertainment or Microsoft Games Studios seal on it. This is no paradigm from which a healthy industry can grow. 
 
At least, that what I think.
 
It'd be great to know how people feel about how important money is in determining their attitude towards gaming, and the effect you feel it has on your likelyhood of actually using the consoles you have (or want).

How does economics effect you as a gamer?

You know, adjusted for inflation, gaming used to be more expensive. I'm really tired of all these complaints about how expensive it is.

Considering that I paid 100 American dollars for Virtua Racing on the Sega Genesis in 1994, I'd say that you're completely crazy.

" You know, adjusted for inflation, gaming used to be more expensive. I'm really tired of all these complaints about how expensive it is. "

I just don't know about people who complain that the habit of gaming is costing too much. They need to come to grips with one of two things. A.) You need to cut back. There is such a thing as getting too much crap in your living room. B.) You need a better paying job. I can't tell how many games I buy a week. If something good comes out then I'm at the store on wed. to pick it up. I'm not going to rattle on about being lucky enough to afford that because there is no luck involved. I get up. I go to work. I gets paid.    
 
Nice ramble though I enjoyed reading it.

You need a better paying job. I can't tell how many games I buy a week. If something good comes out then I'm at the store on wed. to pick it up. I'm not going to rattle on about being lucky enough to afford that because there is no luck involved. I get up. I go to work. I gets paid.

And yes, gaming did used to be at least as expensive if not more.  Need I remind people of $70 Nintendo 64 games?

@wfolse1:
@Novyx:
@onyxghost:
@lordofultima: 
 
..........ahh yeah. So its probably my fualt for rambling and ranting my through the issue in such a lengthy and possibly incoherent fashion....but you guys totally missed what I was saying. 
 
Maybe I did mention something explicitly about games THEMSELVES becoming more expensive, but if I did, then I meant it as an aside and even then its a stupid one because I myself, as a gamer, obviously remember paying everything up to $100AUD+ for SNES games when I was a kid. Or rather, I remember my mum reminding me of the fact. 
 
WHICH brings me to my point - the entire post was supposed to be illustrating the way that the things auxillary to games themselves have spiralled into not only pricey, but near essential and certainly commonplace features of the industry. Sure, games have always been expensive, all 'cutting edge' tech. always has been. The issue I wanted to raise was how the undisputible fact that gaming as a whole is an expensive habit then bleeds on to effect the games market itself (with $500AUD+ consoles, online subscriptions to Live and MMO's, hell expensive accesories like HDD's, Eye Toys, Motion Controllers and all those god damn toy guitars and so on).   
 
Your missing the issue because gaming has unquestionably become more expensive - particularly for parents or god forbid, single parents who are the sole means a younger gamer has to access these things. Maybe my part time jobs sucked, but I couldn't have saved the extra $400AUD for a 360 wireless adapter, HDD, Live subscription and control charger just for my xbox - and then saved up enough to buy another $500 console, then support any kind of 'regular' game purchases. Nor could I have expected my parents to buy me two consoles plus all those accesories, then put together much of a regular flow of $100 game purchases. As I expect most kids cant.  
 
On top of that, TODAY, as a student, I can barely cobble together the funds to do the same, and I know MORE people who want a console, or a second console, who simply cant afford it, than those I do who are regularly buying new games for their set up.  

Add to this the effect the price of entry has on families and those who are yet to make the transition into gaming at all - they were 100000000000000 times more likely to pick up a N64, PSone, SNES or PS2 for the $300-400AUD bracket that those consoles spent most of their lifecycles in - we've YET to reach that stage of this console cycle - and you have a pretty goddamn convincing arguement that not only has the concept of becoming a serious gamer become a hell of a lot more expensive, but that as a consiquence there is very likely to be some very significant ramifications for the industry at large. 
 
PLUS - why precisely do you think that you are so 'tired of people complaining'? 

Is your proposition that people are just manufacturing there own finacial hardship for the sake of it? Perhaps its some elaborate plot from the board game community to sabotage the video games industry?

I mean, jesus.

Still - Sorry for my continued long-winded rambling and thanks for your thoughts, frustrating as I find them :)

Sam. 
 
   

I afford what I can. I pick wisely with what and on what I play. Overall I don't feel very effected by pricing. Sure there are times when my goat's been got. Such as overpriced lower tiered games, the starting price of the PS3 due to features for which I would never ask, and how much Microsoft expects me to pay to play online the games I've already bought. But if I shuffled a few priorities around, I could end up gaming very differently with no more/no less money spent. 
 
I generally get what I want out of my hobby for what I consider reasonable prices. I find the entertainment value of video games far surpasses any other medium on which I could conceivably "waste" my energy, time and money. 
 
But I'm in control of my own expenses. I'd be interested to hear from someone who plays on another's dime (as I did growing up).

woah...paragraphs.

I suppose I really should point out that I wasnt by necessity implying that the increased price of gaming as a commodity is a bad thing. Raising the financial barrier to entry is a simple and proven business practice that often generats little other than postive outcomes - consumer confidence, product quality, mature audiences, high expectation and of course creating a higher profile industry.  
I brought it up to open a discussion about the possibilties of how such a change is (or could, if you dont think its real) affect the industry. 
 
Anyway,
@Damian:
Such a good point. The issue is most radically different for people playing on borrowed money. Now, maybe im biased because being 24, Ive spent at least 10 of my 12 or so years gaming relying on other people purchasing my games and hardware/accessories. In other words, the issue is immensly relevant and very important, since thr young gamers of today grow up to be the developers and consumers of tomorrow. Hence, I stand by my general assertion that gaming is not only more expensive on a whole, but that this fact does have a great capacity to effect the industry (ie. scew gaming towards a more mature audience etc.) - and is as such an important issue hardly worth sighing over. 
 
On the other hand, im going to be a doctor, so I've already spent many years at uni and still have just as many ahead of me - the issue would be completely different for someone who didnt contnue on to unversity after high school, or even left before completion and begun earning a wage from 16 or so.  
 
I suppose this highlights how utterly subjectve the price of any commodity is - its unlikey they spend much time discussing the price of mercedes benz at a country club, because its not such a big deal, etc.  
 
Anyway, I love how practically every forum on this site gradually takes any given topic in a direction I generally didnt expect. Its a good crowd. 
Cheers guys  
 

People who know me know that I don't care about money. If I want something I buy it.
 
Of course, they also know of my $5000 of debt, all from video game related purchases (A Wii, a TV to play my 360 on, and lots of games).

" Considering that I paid 100 American dollars for Virtua Racing on the Sega Genesis in 1994, I'd say that you're completely crazy. "

I live in Norway, where hte price for games are ridiculous.
The price for a new game in Norway currently is between 90 and 110 dollars.
I found Disgaea 3 for the ps3 yesterday for the "small" price of 110,80 dollars american. 
If you then add the fact that i l currently live alone on a student loan, my gaming habbits has been reduced a lot and I can currently not afford a lot of games.  
For example this incredible gaming season I will only afford to buy Borderlands. This is a big difference from earlier years, when I would buy almost all of the games coming out between September and December.

" woah...paragraphs. "

"  we see hesitence and cynasicm toward everything without a Blizzard, Valve, Epic, ID, Sony Computer Entertainment or Microsoft Games Studios seal on it. This is no paradigm from which a healthy industry can grow."