Buy NFL2K5...

Here is the deal. People (not anybody in particular) clamor for companies to catch a clue and release their games for less money so we, the consumers, can afford them. When talking about the movie industry, the music industry, and yes, even the games industry, people always use the argument "I would buy it, if only they would sell it for cheaper."

Well, Sega and Codemasters (and others) are taking heed of this "novel" idea and are selling games that are worth much more for only 20 bucks. Desperation? maybe a little, but the point is, they are finally doing what we have asked them to for years.

Yes, it has been done before, and yes, the concept is nothing new, but $15 (at Best Buy after using a $5 off coupon) is a small amount of money to pay for a game that is great AND starts to change the face of the industry. If we don't bite when companies offer cheaper games that retain the quality of their $50 counterparts, there will be more and more high-priced games.

Yeah, I'm rambling, but the point is: This is what we asked for. If we make a concerted effort to buy these games, and EARLY in their shelf-life, more and more companies will consider this route. In turn more companies will sell games for less to stay competitive, and everybody wins.

If NFL2K5 sells a bunch of copies this time around, and stays with the budget pricing next time around, nobody would be suprised if Madden dropped in price, even by $10 to stay competitive.

Thoughts?

I'm just glad I beat you twice.

I told you I bought it on principle, and that even if I hated the game, if it made games 5 bucks cheaper, I'd "profit". Turns out it's the best football game I've played since the old Blitz stuff.

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Originally Posted by Master

Yes, it has been done before, and yes, the concept is nothing new, but $15 (at Best Buy after using a $5 off coupon)

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$10 for people that drink Coke.

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If NFL2K5 sells a bunch of copies this time around, and stays with the budget pricing next time around, nobody would be suprised if Madden dropped in price, even by $10 to stay competitive.

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I believe this is Sega's attempt to get the games recognized by more people and is not to start a trend. IIRC it was said in an interview that they would be returning to the regular price point next year.

But truthfully, I'm half-tempted to pick up the NFL and NBA games just because they're so cheap, and I really don't care very much about realistic sports games.

I seriously, seriously doubt this is the beginning of a new trend. It just doesnt make sense for these companies to sell games at a price point so much lower than what they are worth - unless, of course, they have another motive in mind. Of course, Take 2 has one with this game, but most companies do not.

This is what I was thinking of:
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/sports/...s_6101436.html

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GS: What happens when the next-gen consoles appear? Does pricing remain the same or do you bump it back?

PE: Once the average sports fan, or even the casual sports fan, has the great gaming experience--and has played this game for many hours, and talks about it, and realizes the whole gaming experience--I think we will have the ability to move the pricing up.

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Yeah, we all know they aren't trying to change the face of anything, just trying to get more recognition. But, if we make it work, then great games that are yearning for recognition will go low to get their name out there in the same manner.

Regardless of their reasoning, lets tell them that dropping the price of a good game to something silly, like 19.99 for the 2K5 games, is something that people will support and that will work in the future.

Well Master, I havent bought and kept a sports game since Ken Griffey Presents Major League Baseball for the SNES, so I wouldnt spend $1 on the game.

Ultimately, it all comes down to the fact that people will pay what the game is worth. If this game ends up selling like crazy, then its clear that people think the game is worth $20, not $50. But there's plenty of $20 games that dont sell and there's plenty of $50 games that do.

It's not like games would drop to 20 bucks. But a larger percentage of games coming out at 45 or even 40 is quite likely if other companies follow suit with the "we have a game that sells well, but not as much as we'd like" theory and drop it to 20.

Simple shifts in a demand curve. When the substitutes go down in price, the demand curves shift downward for the things that is substituting for.

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GS: Are you worried about gamers dismissing the game based on price alone?

PE: If we didn’t have the quality of the product, and we didn’t have the support of all the editors writing about the product, I probably would be. In this industry, since a lot of [success] is driven by word of mouth--which comes from magazines and the Web sites--and [since] the product stands on its own, no, we’re not worried.

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OK, that is just an outright lie. I'm sure they, and everybody upstairs is terrified. But, on the other hand, there really is no nice way to say "we are betting the farm and we have no idea of knowing whether it will work..."

Like others are saying, I'm not sure how feasible this is as far as a new trend. But I do think that as far as yearly franchises, like sport games, this SHOULD be the norm. Why should we be forced to pay the same amount of money for games that are, all things considered, moderately updated at best? These games are less sequels and more glorified expansion packs. $20 per game is a much more reasonable asking price for these type of games.

But I'd really love to see general game prices come down, even to a standard $40. There are plenty of games I haven't bought because they're still full price and as of right now, I'm more of a budget gamer, aka very selective about my purchases.