I'm sorry but I'm failing to see the point of... your point? You say that PC game prices should be £12.99 max, then you say that £25 is fine for a game you really want. Heres a suggestion, don't buy games you don't want, then its not really expensive now is it?
QF-f***ing-T. You wouldn't expect me to pay to see a film without a trailer, I don't usually buy books without reading the back, and I don't buy albums by bands I've never heard on the radio or TV. I want to see how the game plays, and demos are the only way to do that properly. I had to pirate GTA IV to see that it was worth buying, at which point I promptly did. That's the last game I'll pirate, but by extension it's the last game I'll buy that doesn't have a demo because I refuse to sink £25+ into a game it turns out I don't like (I'm looking at you, Far Cry 2 ). I used to pay £45 for PS2 games; now, I've spent £220 on 45-ish Steam games (Steam Sales Cheesecake). The same number of games at modern consoles prices would be almost £2,000. PC games are cheaper than they were back in the day, once you take inflation into account, and are also considerably cheaper than the other option (consoles). If you don't like either, take the third way, vote with your wallet and don't play them.
PC games also offer even more value than they did due to the multiplayer components. I've already played around 150 hours of MW2 and I paid £30, which works out at 20p an hour. Can't complain at that value.
True, there's FA market for second hand PC games (in the last few years) as they all want you to activate or assign the key to an account. Trouble is, places like GAME or Gamestation typically don't give a huge discount on the game, I've seen a battered one at £37, whereas new it was £40 (only 10% discount for second-hand) which is a bit of a shame.
Honest, when I first read the question I thought yes, they are over priced. However after thinking about it I've decided that no, they aren't over priced, more and more goes into games these days, for instance replay-ability is at an all time high (different endings and such). So yea, they cost a little bit more, but you get some much more for your money.
You can usually find the vast majority of cracking new PC releases for around about £17.99 on release day online, which is a pretty palatable price tag if you ask me.
Overpriced? Not at all. But then I keep myself about 3-6 months behind the release dates so I always get them at a good price. If you have the cash to spend a lot when something is newly release then go for it, I won't be doing that though. It's like hardware, not everybody spends over the odds when new kit is released they wait until the prices come down. The same with games for me.
I'm willing to pay £29.99 for most decent new games that are worth the money, or more if it's Bioshock 2 collectors edition (which I paid £39.99 for) because for £10 extra you got the art book, Vinyl (record) of the Bioshock score, Bioshock 2 soundtrack cd, and 3 vinyl posters which alone is easily worth the extra £10 and more, not to mention the box it comes in.
12.99 for games? steam doesnt have continuous xmas sales you know. having said that, steam does want to charge me 30 quid for new games, when a quick look on amazon says i can get them for 25 or less.
Actually there is a proviso to what I say, I am talking about real, hold in your hand, game purchases. I absolutely think that if you're sold a download game for the same price as a retail packaged game then it is way overpriced. There has to be some benefit to the consumer that the production, packaging and transport costs are not involved in a download purchase even if there still is a premium included in the early purchase near release date.
It is a bit odd to think that brand new releases can be very similarly priced, if not even a touch more expensive in download form. Admittedly it does mean a nice early Friday morning unlock rather than a trip to your local gaming emporium, but surely a few quid shaved off the price would encourage more people to head down the download route? I'd be happy to spend an extra few pounds if it meant a good old traditional huge PC gaming cardboard box, complete with hefty manual. Those were the days!
Lol, aye, I currently have one of those on the go, X3: Terran Conflict, giving me some Elite memories and you do get the cardboard box and huge manual to boot.
In India PC Games costs very less compared to UK, AC - II cost £ 14 , BFBC , Just Cause 2 , Metro 2033 , Alien V/s Predator , BioShock 2 - £ 10, the most costly game was Modern Warfare 2 - £ 21
I'll pay up 30 quid for games i really want - otherwise it's wait for steam sale time - one thing that does nark me though is the higher price for digital delivery (ie steam) on some popular new games...
Thats because on Steam, the publisher of the game has a lot more control of the pricing than a retail outlet like Amazon.
I paid around £49 for Mass Effect 2. Collector's Edition. I felt it was a bit much, but it was the only copy of the game that they had in Reading for PC - and I was the first person in the store too, so they only got one in. Now though, I don't feel ripped off. Really though, most of the games I buy are old ones - and not just because I get new ones for work, actually. I love scouting for bargains, like Planescape: Torment and Messiah packaged for £1. Lovely.
I've still got copy of Elite forthe Speccy, complete with novella and special eye piece for the copy protection - fond memories.
