Capcom's president and chief operating officer has said he thinks game prices should go up.Haruhiro Tsujimoto made the …
Capcom's president and chief operating officer has said he thinks game prices should go up.
Haruhiro Tsujimoto made the comments at this year's Tokyo Game Show, Nikkei reported. TGS is sponsored by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association, a Japanese organisation which aims to support the Japanese industry, which Tsujimoto is currently the chairman of.
"Personally, I feel that game prices are too low," Tsujimoto said, citing increasing development costs and a need to increase wages.
It's funny how it's "the game's are not expensive enough" and not "we don't know how to manage our or money" or "our profit are too high". Fuck those capitalists.
Oh the stupid shit head "games are 100 times more expensive to make now" but you sell thousands times more and there no physical media anymore is irrelevant I guess... Assholes...
You know what, I'll bite. For this to work though, let's agree on two things. First, the game they're selling shouldn't be a hot pile of garbage on day one. Second, I don't want to even catch a whiff of microtransactions or subscription based models. If we can nail those down, I would be fine with a price increase. As it stands, the sticker price is just the cost of entry in the vast majority of games. They are still bringing in cash well after the initial purchase.
Personally, I feel that game prices are too high. Patient gaming is where I'm at.
Besides all of that, I don't have the time for all of these games maybe cut down the scope of the game, go back to linear, 10-20 hour games and if its an open world don't make it a huge empty sandbox with most of it being unused or with a boring game loop. If a game publisher decides to jack up prices then I expect top notch quality with no fluff included anywhere and that it works day one the fact that I have to mention that is sad, then and only then to me such a high price would be justified which has not been the case for some games in recent years. Finally, if a full priced game incorporates f2p monetization and battle passes, then to me its price increase is not justified in my book.
I remember getting Donkey Kong on release for the Super Nintendo and it was more expensive than most games are right now, 66 usd. Name one thing that has the same price in 2023 that it did I 1994. It's insane.
"Man who stands to gain from an increase in game prices advocates for increase in game prices".
Seriously though I'm not sure there's much more room to go on the top end when it comes to prices rises. I've got to think at some point you'll just push more people into buying at sale, or waiting for a game to hit their subscription platform of choice.
Maybe it's time we re-evaluate what makes a AAA worth £75 in the first place? And, what role do micro transactions have in this system, because anyone who's ever spent £75 on a new AAA game will know there's plenty of other ways they try to skin the proverbial cat.
To be fair, he is partially right. It's insane that games have basically been the same price since forever, the only reason they stayed the same is cuz more people could afford computers/consoles and in contrast to every other industry, making a new either physical or digital copy of a game is dirt cheap, so the more users the more profit.
Idk if it actually makes sense for games to be more expensive yet tho.
The MSRP for Nintendo Entertainment System cartridges in the mid-80s, adjusted to today’s U.S. Dollar, would average around $150-200.
I don’t think games should cost that much, but we stuck with the $60 price point for literal decades so it’s not completely unreasonable for someone to talk about raising prices.
(I also write this while having only bought one game? two? In the past year.)
While I fully get wanting cheaper games, nobody wants to pay more money for something obviously, it does seem a tad myopic to expect games to always sit at the same sticker price even in the face of inflation. For reference, Mario 64, in 1996 sold new at ~$60, just like lots of games still do. And yeah, comparing the market then and now isn't really apples to apples, but really not much else holds a price over such a long time. Maybe those 99¢ Arizona tea cans? I definitely wouldn't mind $20 more per game if it meant games could get by on selling fewer copies and affording more room for less popular series or new ideas.