Nintendo Okie

I am really far behind on new games right now.  I haven’t played Mario Galaxy 2 yet.  Heck I haven’t played Uncharted 2 yet.  Some of that has to do with not having as much time to play games as I would like.  Really though, I just can’t afford to buy new games.  50 to 60 dollars is a lot of money to spend on something in my book.  I can’t really justify spending the equivalent of two weeks of groceries for a game.  It is much easier to spend five dollars on some three year old game in the bargain bin, the ladder of which I do quite often.  After noticing this trend, I have started to question what are games really worth. 

I love video games.  Chances are if you are reading this, you love them too.  So what is it that drives our rather expensive habits?  I can’t help to compare video games to other forms of entertainment.  A novel costs anywhere from eight to 20 bucks.  Comics cost around three.  You would probably spend eight dollars or so going to see a movie in a theater, or 20 to buy the DVD.  Music CDs cost around 12 dollars or you can just buy individual songs for 99 cents from iTunes.  I don’t know about other parts of the country but around here a basic cable package runs about 50 dollars a month.  Just in case you forgot, games cost 50 to 60 dollars.  Some justify the cost of games based on the hours of entertainment you receive playing it.  In some ways that makes sense but if you compare games like Red Steel 2 to Modern Warfare 2 (both of which I have yet to play) the time comparison begins to break down.  Nothing against Red Steel, but Modern Warfare can deliver many more hours of game play due to its online multiplayer.  I’m not saying all games need a multiplayer mode, but these are things that you have to think about when you are buying games on a budget, or buying anything for that matter. 

For the most part, console games have always been priced the same.  Sure there are outliers, like Will paying 70 bucks for Goldeneye, but 55 dollars has always been about the running price since the NES and Genesis says.  Hand helds have always been a bit cheaper at around 35 bucks.  Prices haven’t really changed but game quality has.  Compare Heavy Rain (yeah, haven’t played it either) to Yoshi’s Cookie.  If you look at them side by side, I think you will notice the difference in presentation.  Heavy Rain is practically a CGI movie in the vein of Shrek or Toy Story.  I imagine it took approximately the same amount of people to make all three, so why is it that I can buy Toy Story for 20 dollars but I need 60 for Heavy Rain?  Does the price difference simply come from the respective audiences they reach?  No doubt more people watch Toy Story than will probably ever play Heavy Rain.  Game developers are trying to make a profit after all. 

iPhone games fit rather oddly into the pricing structure to me.  Obviously a lot of people have iPhones.  Now I realize that it takes fewer resources to make a game for iPhone than for the PS3, but how can one justify a 59 dollar price difference on games that will take the same amount of time to complete?  I would say that the iPhone market is larger than the PS3’s.  I wonder if Apps are so inexpensive due to the larger market share.  Does one deliver more of an experience than another?  Games are all about having fun, and since fun is a relative term we can exactly compare one to the other.  It’s like comparing apples to oranges some would say.  I say it’s more like comparing apples to smaller, less expensive apples but whatever. 

Another point to note is the ever increasing trend of downloadable games from XBLA, PSN and WiiWare.  XBLA was the forerunner for the downloadable titles.  When they started, Live Arcade games averaged at five dollars.  Slowly the price has shifted to 15 dollars being the running price.  No doubt the games have increased in quality, but does that mean they have to increase in price?  Are developers just more confident that people will pay more now that digital distribution has been proven as a viable format?  I think it is a little of both.  What I wonder is, when does the price stop going up?  How soon till downloadable titles cost as much as retail releases? 

I think this is all just a result of me not having the money to buy all the incredible games that keep coming out, both on store shelves and on digital platforms.  I have reached a point where I have to wait for games to go on sale before I can buy them.  I’m certain I am not alone.  There is nothing wrong with it, waiting for something only makes you appreciate it more.  So next time you’re playing Galaxy 2, just think of me sitting in a dark room wishing games were cheaper.  HAHA pity.