The Fair Play Campaign

anyone (ie, most of you) who visit Penny-Arcade regularly have already seen this.

http://www.fairplay-campaign.co.uk/

basically, its a bunch of but Englishmen who think that video games are a ripoff.

and while $50 is expensive (its even more in japan, right?) i dont think they really know what theyre paying for.

i looked over the site and read that they dont think Retail price should have anything to do with the cost of development.

bullshit! thats why games cost so much! because it took a lot of money to make THE FUCKING GAME.

it costs millions (sometimes) to make a video game. and thats why they sell for so much. and there lots of other things that that $50 goes towards. factory workers who made, packed, and shipped the games. developpers, artists, composers, coders, testers, marketers, and countless other people who actually created the game. they need YOU to buy the GAME so they can have a PAYCHECK to feed their families.

personally, i think these people are selfish. playing videogames is an expensive hoby. like drugs. if you dont have the money, dont play the goddamn video games.

today in my Economics class, we learned a little something about the Substitution Effect. it states that when prices rise, people will opt for the cheaper substitute.

someone needs to buy these guys a deck of cards.

bitching and moaning wont help. the campaign isnt going anywhere.

(/rant)

so, comments? :jest:


edit-
ooo, new buttons...

So you're telling me you'd be OK with new games costing 70 USD?

since when in the hell do new games cost $70?

(shit, this doesnt look good for me...)

God bless pirates.

If people go for the cheaper solution, I think that workd in the favor of their argument. If all games retailed for $29.99 or less, I bet we'd see a huge spike in sales that would compensate for the lower price. I also bet we'd see record sales steadily for the year following such a change.

And you have to deal with the reality that most people are ok with game piracy, like with music, movies and tv shows. The onlything holding back game piracy is it is more difficult for the average user than d/l mp3s, or using a VCR. Companies should deal with that reality and try to convince consumers to stay legit by offereng the best value possible, which isn't $50 for a single 'entertainment experience'.

45 UK pounds is roughly 70 USD. I think they have every right to be bitching about the prices over there, though the problem is hardly exclusive to videogames.

If games were cheaper, I'd be buying tons more, that's for sure.

But since I really don't know all the facts about how it'd impact the industry, just how much money really goes into each disc and how many must be sold to cover costs, and what sort of financial changes in companies would happen by dropping prices, I really can't say that prices need to drop.

But I'd like them to.

I have no problem with certain games being expensive but some games should be alot cheaper, I mean how can something like Shenmue, FFX etc cost as much as some fucking Tetris game?

Well seeing as how Tetris is a far superior game to FFX...

Oh, you were discussing production values, not game quality. My bad.

Yeah, all games came out brand new at 39.99 USD then I would buy signifigantly more than I do (which - belive it or not - is supirsingly little). I can only manage playing maybe 10 - 15 games a year and I can live with only 5.

I think that prices IN OTHER REGIONS should drop, but it doesn't directly affect me anyhow. If games were 60 - 70 USD regularly then I would just play what I've got untill they are cheaper (without a thought to it). Expansions to PC games ARE however over priced. They could be free, but I don't mind paying $20 for them if they are really good and expand a game I actively play (ie Morrowind, Empire Earth). But expansions are coming out at $40. Unacceptable.

ºTracer

Another thing - collections and re-releases shouldn\'t cost anymore than $10 unless they have some super special neat thing added to them somehow. Namco, Midway and Sega - º_º <--- I\'m looking at you.

ºTracer

I do find it amazing that UK gamers pay so much for their games. New imports are about 60 quid I think, whereas the same game would likely cost you 60 dollars here. When you convert the price to US currency it's a lot of money.

ugh. I don't even want to think about it.

The boycott makes no difference to me, I haven't brought a game in the UK for years. Importing is the only way to go for us Europeans.

Oh and I\'ve never seen people moan about prices as much as the Americans. Alot of them don\'t realise how hella cheap stuff is over there. Petrol is like $4 a gallon and ciggys are about $6.50 here.

You have to realise that a lot of Americans are stupid people. Just look at the cars people here drive!

Padman, how much is tax over there? Something like 17.5%? I tell you, Americans have been complaining about taxes since they were just thirteen colonies, even though our taxes were lower than that of the motherland.

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Originally posted by Tones
Padman, how much is tax over there? Something like 17.5%?

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That's what thinly veiled socialism does for you.

Yeah the value added tax is like 17.5%. Its the tax on the wages thou that really hurts, but then I think every country is like that. What is it like 20% or something, I'm not sure exactly.

Wait until the prices drop. Thats what I do.

Who says they have to buy the games when they come out?

Oi...this discussion is way off base.

Money Illusion is a factor, as well as Cost of Living expenses as they pertain to the different regions.

This is all wrong, outside of Yoshi's socialism comment. I agree with that.

Master, prices basically DON'T drop until games are re-released under some kind of budget range like the Playstation Platinum series. That could be anything up to a year after a game is released.

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Originally posted by Master
Who says they have to buy the games when they come out?

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Jesus said so... listen up.

Games are cheaper than they've ever been when you factor in inflation. If you want to bitch about things being ridiculously expensive these days, you better start with cars and houses or I can't take you seriously.

I agree, but those aren't 'entertainment' products that are just disposable experiences. Games are, and they compete with other cheaper entertainment. I dunno about you, but I can get 100's of hours of use out of a music cd I like, which is more than any game I've played except Morrowind, and CDs are what, $15?

It takes alot less money to make a CD than it does to make a game, as long as you're not counting marketing.

In the end, it's all about what the market will bear, and apparently the market will bear $50 games, because gaming is the fastest growing segment of the entertainment industry.

sorry, EThugg, i've tried to hold this back for a while now, but here goes:

everytime i see your avatar, i get nauseous.. if that's what it was meant to do, then i guess it worked.. :\

i mean, the poor guy just looks like an ass.. aren't there any other pictures of him you could use? Like, maybe from a much further distance?

The first time I saw it, I thought it was Dennis Quaid.

I am in concurance. Try UGP; there are tons of good pictures of him there.

Quote:

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Originally posted by padman
Petrol is like $4 a gallon and ciggys are about $6.50 here.

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Well, that's cheap compared to prices over here, in NYC. They get like 6 bucks just in tax slapped on. A box cost around 7.50. My mother, however, imports cartons from www.Yesmoke.com (switzerland) for 13 bucks a carton. If anyone smokes, go there, now!

Quote:

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Originally posted by Saint of Killers
It takes alot less money to make a CD than it does to make a game, as long as you're not counting marketing.

In the end, it's all about what the market will bear, and apparently the market will bear $50 games, because gaming is the fastest growing segment of the entertainment industry.

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I bet the game markets ceiling is still lower than the other industries. I'm so freaking impressed a industry that's much newer is growing faster than established markets that don't need to grow. :rolleyes:

I don\'t have my scanner hooked up, and I\'m lazy... gimme a better pic, I\'ll use it.

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Originally posted by Saint of Killers
The first time I saw it, I thought it was Dennis Quaid.

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I still don't know who the hell it is.

Don't know about the rest of Europe, but London is quite expensive in most cases... I feel for them.