The $20 Game Question
by Jerane Alleyne · in General Discussion · 06/21/2001 (3:44 pm) · 14 replies
Not too long ago, I tried playing Serious Sam again, just to see how a game like this, which is generally mindless fun, can be a top seller over games like Deus Ex and NOLF. Now, I can say that the game is fun, it has nice visuals, but it is by most definitions a mindless shooter.
With Serious Sam being one of the current top selling games, I was wondering, despite its being fun, if the $20 price tag has anything to do with it. I'm pretty sure that it makes the game more accessable. Coughing up $40+ for a game can be too much for some. I wonder...would it be possible to start making games that can be in the $20 price bracket? I know games like NOLF and Diablo 2 ( another game I personally find mindless :) that have monumental budgets with all the voice acting and publicity can drive the price way up. But maybe, for some of us yokels just coming out the gate can make games that are, in some fashion, more sophisticated than your Serious Sam, but can offer the more accessable price range.
Just a Though :)
With Serious Sam being one of the current top selling games, I was wondering, despite its being fun, if the $20 price tag has anything to do with it. I'm pretty sure that it makes the game more accessable. Coughing up $40+ for a game can be too much for some. I wonder...would it be possible to start making games that can be in the $20 price bracket? I know games like NOLF and Diablo 2 ( another game I personally find mindless :) that have monumental budgets with all the voice acting and publicity can drive the price way up. But maybe, for some of us yokels just coming out the gate can make games that are, in some fashion, more sophisticated than your Serious Sam, but can offer the more accessable price range.
Just a Though :)
#2
I guess I'm trying to say that, if the game is something I'm not likely to have seen before, I'm not shelling out very much to buy it, but if I've seen it and enjoyed it (In the case of TA it was the demo off their website).
Unfortunately it seems to be very hard to get people to realise your demo is out there for them to look at and enjoy so that they can then mortgage their house to buy the full game...
Late night post again, my apologies if this is completely off topic, doesn't make sense, and is boring to read...
06/22/2001 (5:03 am)
Most of the games I own have been picked up when they dropped down to around NZ$20, the only ones I bought for more were Total Annihilation Commander's wotsit, Starcraft Battle Chest, and the Game Programmer's Starter Kit 4.0...I guess I'm trying to say that, if the game is something I'm not likely to have seen before, I'm not shelling out very much to buy it, but if I've seen it and enjoyed it (In the case of TA it was the demo off their website).
Unfortunately it seems to be very hard to get people to realise your demo is out there for them to look at and enjoy so that they can then mortgage their house to buy the full game...
Late night post again, my apologies if this is completely off topic, doesn't make sense, and is boring to read...
#3
06/22/2001 (8:55 am)
Serious Sam is not a budget game here in Australia. Full price of AUS$89 dammit! Why the difference between the US and Australia? Just like we get stiffed on DVD releases too.
#4
06/22/2001 (10:36 am)
I plan on releaseing all of my games I have in planning accept two as budget titles. Those two are also the only ones I think I'll actually need to assemble a team to work on (thus the pontentially higher price tag. Got to pay the team somehow LOL).
#5
I remember reading a study done on purchasing habits. IIRC, it found that when the amount of an item is about $20, they are more prone to treating it as a 'big purchase' and will spend more time considering whether to buy it or not. Conversely, for items $20 and less, they tended to buy them with less resistance.
So if this is true, then as independant developers we have an edge of big game companies; we can afford to sell our games for <= the $20 mark, so more people will be willing to buy our games casually, as opposed to going 'oh gee, $60 for a game..I'll have to think about it'.
Anyone else heard of this study? Anyone??...Anyone at all?
06/22/2001 (12:19 pm)
This is based entirely on a vague recollection, if anyone can back it up let me know. Otherwise this may just be from a dream or something, I've had stranger.I remember reading a study done on purchasing habits. IIRC, it found that when the amount of an item is about $20, they are more prone to treating it as a 'big purchase' and will spend more time considering whether to buy it or not. Conversely, for items $20 and less, they tended to buy them with less resistance.
So if this is true, then as independant developers we have an edge of big game companies; we can afford to sell our games for <= the $20 mark, so more people will be willing to buy our games casually, as opposed to going 'oh gee, $60 for a game..I'll have to think about it'.
Anyone else heard of this study? Anyone??...Anyone at all?
#6
06/22/2001 (3:32 pm)
SS was tagged at
#7
jeez in Australia we pay upt $100 for a new released pc game. we get ripped !!
06/22/2001 (5:12 pm)
hehe $20?jeez in Australia we pay upt $100 for a new released pc game. we get ripped !!
#8
06/23/2001 (4:52 am)
most pc games in the U.S. are 39.99-45.99 PC Games rarely hit 50, even though Console games do all the time.
#9
I personally wait till the games have been out long enough to go down in price, which generally takes about as long as it does to afford an upgrade... So it all sorta works out in the end...
06/23/2001 (10:39 am)
We pay about $100 to $120 per new release here in NZ, and if you consider the exchange rate that's about what everyone else pays...I personally wait till the games have been out long enough to go down in price, which generally takes about as long as it does to afford an upgrade... So it all sorta works out in the end...
#10
06/23/2001 (11:43 am)
You do have to take into consideration the exchange rate.
#11
A game like SS doesn't need some pretentious and obnoxious quasi-storyline cobbled together from a dozen other sources, it just needs to be FUN.
06/23/2001 (11:45 am)
I don't think it matters if Serious Sam is "mindless". It's very fun, and has brisk gameplay with tons of guys on-screen to blow up.A game like SS doesn't need some pretentious and obnoxious quasi-storyline cobbled together from a dozen other sources, it just needs to be FUN.
#12
A game begin fun doesn't neccessarily have to remove any sense of a storyline, nor does it have to be a matter of how many bad guys you shoot. Hey, I like a good deathmatch as much as the next guy, but i like to have a FPS game that I might have to stare at for an hour or two to solve somthing even more :)
06/23/2001 (1:16 pm)
Well, a storyline for a game doesn't have to be obnoxious or pretentous...sometimes you just want to have something to play by. I don't think there's anything wrong with a game being fun, but on occasion, we might like to play a game that has us think for a while rather than just shoot whatever moves, and not have to pay $40+ most of the time. A game begin fun doesn't neccessarily have to remove any sense of a storyline, nor does it have to be a matter of how many bad guys you shoot. Hey, I like a good deathmatch as much as the next guy, but i like to have a FPS game that I might have to stare at for an hour or two to solve somthing even more :)
#13
I mean Max Payne might look really cool but apparently the single players is 10 hours long. 10 hours cmon youve been making this game for what 3-4 years and 10 hours for a single player. C;mon.,
06/23/2001 (2:43 pm)
I don't care if a game is mindless or has a DeuxEx plot line or is Civilzation 3. I wan't a game that is fun and that I enjoy playing. Sure DoD and CS's graphics are trailing behind NOLF, SOF2 (soon to be released) and Max Payne. But I will play DOD, CS and TFC atleast 10 times more than I will probably play those games combined. Why?? Cause they are fun. I mean Max Payne might look really cool but apparently the single players is 10 hours long. 10 hours cmon youve been making this game for what 3-4 years and 10 hours for a single player. C;mon.,
#14
I agree in that I don't equate a fun game with how intelligent or mindless it is...I just wish more games like I mentioned were in the lower budget end :)
As for Max Payne...there are just some things that should stay buried....
06/23/2001 (10:09 pm)
Well, CS, TFC, and DoD (I haven't played DoD yet) are not what I would call mindless anyway. They're team-based, and can be played intelligently. An organized team will almost always take out one that just runs around and shoots. I agree in that I don't equate a fun game with how intelligent or mindless it is...I just wish more games like I mentioned were in the lower budget end :)
As for Max Payne...there are just some things that should stay buried....
JoeSmith