We Are Not Alone's Blog

Don't be a loser, play PC.

The cost of gaming is widely increasing and it seems that it will just keep going.

True. But consider that the quality of games keeps going up, too. Takes a lot of manpower to make some of those games coming out nowdays.

And your problem is you own a console. Easy target to overprice and milk out filled with casual gamers that don't want good gameplay but easy to play games.

As a result we pc gamers get games with giant performance problems, !@#$%* controls what forces you to buy a controller to even play it decently. Thousand of DLC's that are overpriced. Even games that are released for consoles and a entire year later for pc

True. But consider that the quality of games keeps going up, too.

There a lot of games that only exist to bring in money and offer almost nothing new.

There a lot of games that only exist to bring in money and offer almost nothing new.

Sure, but that doesn't mean they aren't expensive to make. The cost is passed to the consumer so that the companies can make their bottom line.

Be smart and buy a cheap system. Since systems are the only thing increasing.

You forgot the true cost of gaming...

Chicas

You want my advice? Go outside and stop complaining that you can't afford to play top of the line games. There's people out there who can't even afford real drinking water.

Toughen the hell up and get over it.

You want my advice? Go outside and stop complaining that you can't afford to play top of the line games. There's people out there who can't even afford real drinking water.

Toughen the hell up and get over it.

And in their honor I shall binge drink from the gallon of water in front of me while playing Aquaria.

I know that you are far too young to know this, but go back twenty years ago, when Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo were about to hit the market, those systems sold for $200 dollars with games in the $40-$50 dollar range, which is pretty similar to what new platforms go for now. In those same twenty years you can probably imagine a lot of inflation has taken place for many other consumer goods, but video game systems have always been in the same price range. They do get more expensive each time out for the most part, but the differences are not very big. Also realize that your $300 PS3 has vastly more computing power than a $1500 dollar computer released on the same day. Video game systems have always been the same thing, a moderately expensive avenue for home entertainment.

Play good games? I have invested nearly 200 hours into Oblivion, 100 hours into Dragon Age, and 60 hours into the two Mass Effects.

What's that, about $540 overall? Toss on sales tax and get close to $600, roughly $1.67 per hour of gameplay. Worth the cost, I would say. Significantly cheaper than "a night on the town"

I still remember gaming in the late 90s, when serious gamers would drop like $5K on their computers.

No, gaming is cheaper now.

I am here today to come with you with a problem facing the gaming community as a whole. The cost of gaming is widely increasing and it seems that it will just keep going. A look at what gaming can cost up to today.

How is it more expensive?

Consider going back to say 2002, when the playstation 2 was king of the market. At the beginning, it cost around $399 to buy the system, a second controller was $20, and virtually every game that was new ran for $49, so 5 of those would be $300.

The games seem more expensive for the xbox360 now, like $60 for the new ones, but I think that can be marked down as inflation. People forget there are alternate options they can take for gaming to save money, like older systems, refurbished systems, used games, or using your existing computer.

hey remember when the Xbox360 and PS3 first came out? they were more than just 3-4 hundred bucks. i also remember when the PS1 was the latest and greatest and it was 399.99 and the games sold for 49.99+

I remember people were complaining about the price of movie tickets that were like 11$. But adjusting for inflation the price of movie tickets have stayed pretty stable.

Plus taking a girl to a decent sit down restaurant costs at least 20 dollars, and you sh*t that stuff out a day later. Good luck reselling it. Alot of fun things in life costs money, deal with it.

Games should be free, like health-care, car insurance and beer.

goldielax and memoryproblems said what I was going to say. You can actually get by pretty well by buying a used system and sticking to either used/older games, or using Gamefly. With GF you're looking at a fixed cost of about $20 to play anything you want, short of games that just came out. I don't think an initial investment of a few hundred bucks for a system, plus about $250 a year for endless games is too much of a burden.

It's actually going down. The SNES games used to cost anywhere from 50-90 dollars. Inflation has caused the prices to go up, but in the end, you're still paying less than you used to.

Yeah, it's going down as gaming becomes more mainstream. Back then, games were more of a niche, so you had to sell at higher prices to less people to turn a profit. Sure, production prices are higher these days, but some realize that they can make more money by selling for cheaper to even more people.

They're not getting much better, unfortunately. I get more fun out of the $10 bargain bin games than the latest $70 games (with Football Manager being the only exception). And hell, with all the expensive games out there, many of us spend more time on CN than those. I paid $10 for Fallout 1, 2, and Tactics, and $50 for Fallout 3, and I've enjoyed Fallout 1 way more.

Plus taking a girl to a decent sit down restaurant costs at least 20 dollars, and you sh*t that stuff out a day later. Good luck reselling it. Alot of fun things in life costs money, deal with it.

This is a flawed comparison that a lot of indie game developers love to take, unfortunately. I enjoy a meal and movie with a girl way more than any game out there. And you'll still have to eat something else later, it's just a more expensive meal. Games last longer, but they're often much less fun.

Don't be a loser, play PC.

This is all that needs to be said here.

i thought this would be a critique on the social costs of gaming rather than the fact that 'goods cost money to purchase.'

First off I work for a game studio so I may very well be biased.

But games as a whole are pretty economical, especially MMO's and RPGs, you get a LOT of play out of those before you have exhausted everything. A PS3 is more economical than an Xbox (sorry to say but it's kind of true cause of Xbox Live). Sure you have your cost you mentioned before, but there are plenty of games that you can go back and play again many years down the road. I wont tell you how many times I have gone back and played a SNES game, or anything else.

Lets say you get 60 hours of game play out of a game, that is like a dollar per hour. Now if you wait half a year it is probably half the cost. Or the case of one my studios games, after 8 months it was like a third the price. Making it 0.33 dollars an hour. TV lets say you have a satellite cable, you are probably spending about 60 dollars. Then you watch it two hours a day, it has the same entertainment cost per hour as a game of the same scope (brand new). If you can live in the "past" then video games are your far better option. This is assuming you buy a game you would actually like to play. Then again there is also apple games where your return on investment can be more massive.

I wont mention where I work but one of the games the studio did was mentioned here.

I still remember gaming in the late 90s, when serious gamers would drop like $5K on their computers.

No, gaming is cheaper now.

In his defence, he probably wasn't born in the 90's.

I remember people were complaining about the price of movie tickets that were like 11$. But adjusting for inflation the price of movie tickets have stayed pretty stable.

No, they haven't. lol.

In the early 90s, I used to go see movies on cheap night for two dollars. Now cheap night is normally eight dollars.

We've had inflation, yes, but not 300%.

Lets say you get 60 hours of game play out of a game, that is like a dollar per hour. Now if you wait half a year it is probably half the cost. Or the case of one my studios games, after 8 months it was like a third the price. Making it 0.33 dollars an hour. TV lets say you have a satellite cable, you are probably spending about 60 dollars. Then you watch it two hours a day, it has the same entertainment cost per hour as a game of the same scope (brand new). If you can live in the "past" then video games are your far better option. This is assuming you buy a game you would actually like to play. Then again there is also apple games where your return on investment can be more massive.

Sorry, but I think it's a poor estimation of what games are worth. It doesn't take anything into context. It's like saying that novels are cheaper than magazines because you're paying less per word. Games feel very expensive, and it's because you're not really getting as much fun out of it. A night out on the town or a concert is a heck lot more expensive, but they keep me satisfied for days after that. A typical video game, on the other hand, doesn't even keep you very satisfied while you're playing it. It's just better than doing nothing.

I don't know about you, but I'd much rather play Fallout 3 for two hours than watch Iron Man. Which is a decent movie, but eh.

The comment about concerts makes me sad. Another thing I remember from the '90s is going to see bands for five bucks, twenty if it was a big show.

Now it's several times that.