The "Sweet Spot" Of Game Prices

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Banana King

Weaksauce
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Aug 14, 2006
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What is the price point for which you wait for a new game to fall before you consider purchasing it? I have friends that are die-hard members of the get-it-the-day-it-comes-out mindset, while others insist upon waiting for an interesting title to grace the bargain bin before doing so. For me, it really depends on the game, though I often have trouble justifying a $50-60 purchase just to have it sooner.
 
If its something that I have been waiting for, I will buy on release day for $50. If its a title that I am interested in but wasn't waiting for it $30-40. If its a game I am really unsure of $20.

I have no problem shelling out full price of admission for a great game.
 
it depends, if its a really good game i dont mind paying almost $70 (forza 2).
 
I stop at the $59.99 mark for games.....on release day. :D Otherwise i wait till the $29.99 price tag.
 
The full 70-80$ price tag at launch ($100+ for the CE or LE if it has extras that interest me) or Ill play it at a friends house.
 
At launch: $49.99.
30 days later: $39.99
6 months later: $29.99
12 months later: $19.99
18 months later: $9.99
24 months later: Bundle the game with all the patches and mods and call it a "Warchest" and sell it for $49.99 to catch the slow-witted fish.

I'll buy a hot title like Halo3 or GTA4 at launch. I'll buy something like Mass Effect 30 days later. I'll buy titles like Gears of War 6 months later. I'll buy stuff like Prey when it hits $10, or $5 on sale like it was. :)

Making $10 a game off me nearly 2 years later isn't much, but it's better than zero. Someone tell EA that.
 
wildfire99 said:
At launch: $49.99.
30 days later: $39.99
6 months later: $29.99
12 months later: $19.99
18 months later: $9.99
24 months later: Bundle the game with all the patches and mods and call it a "Warchest" and sell it for $49.99 to catch the slow-witted fish.

I'll buy a hot title like Halo3 or GTA4 at launch. I'll buy something like Mass Effect 30 days later. I'll buy titles like Gears of War 6 months later. I'll buy stuff like Prey when it hits $10, or $5 on sale like it was. :)

Making $10 a game off me nearly 2 years later isn't much, but it's better than zero. Someone tell EA that.
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Nice price structure, now if only you can get the decision makers to see and agree to it, I'd bet we would all be happy! (18 months later and GoW was 80$ new, WTF!?!?!?!)
 
$19-$29. An absolute must have, maybe $39, but I usually wait for cheaper deals or clearance and bargain bin games. I just play everything a few months after everyone who buys at launch. I'm used to waiting after waiting months for "exclusive" console ports to eventually come to PC.

The most recent handful of games I've picked up were $25, $15, $20, $10, $3 and $25.
 
Most games I wait until they drop to $20-30, although if it's a really good game or something that I'm really interested in, I'll usually buy it at full price. Most games just aren't worth $50-60 to me though.
 
$20-30.

If its an awesome game like Bioshock, Ill shell out the money. If its a game like Crysis, which don't get me wrong was fun in its own right, Id rather pay $20. Shame I bought it at launch. The next one I will wait for, Crysis was too short and the ending didn't justify the $50 price tag.
 
Well most PC games are 30-40 Euro here on launch so i get hot titles then. Things I'm not obssesed with I buy when they go to 15 euro series
Things i wanted to try but never had time (and/or determination to buy previously) at 5-8 euro.

At least for PC, for consoles i have a policy of buying used or when they come into 30 euro platinum series range. I might shell money only for stuff like SC IV, FF13 on launch.
 
I dont really care about price as long as the game is what i have been looking for when i buy it. Thats why i think a demo is important.
 
Best Buy and Circuit city have been having price wars lately with new PC releases, resulting in $40 copies on launch. I don't buy excessive numbers of games, but $30-40 is something I don't mind for a good game, but I often buy others when they hit the $10-20 mark.

I don't buy collector's editions though as I don't need a couple plastic items for a $20-$40 premium that are just going to end up in the trash at some unspecified future date. I have yet to see anything worthwhile in a CE.

As a new owner of a PS3, none of the games are lowered in price no matter their age. R: FoM is still $60, are you kidding me? I still went and bought gta4 and uncharted, and Gamefly is suddenly starting to look very appealing. >:|
 
$0 - free pricerange is about my sweet spot.

seriously though I'd pay $60 if its a GREAT game, like with gta4 and mgs4 lately. heck i would have paid $120 for mgs4 regular edition.
 
What was the last PC Hot first day launch title you found for $49? I see many pushing up into 55/60 on Day 1
 
I like the $30 to $40 range, but I will pay $50 on launch for a game that I have anticipated. Last game I payed $50 for was Assassin's Creed, and I had a blast playing it. I will be getting Fallout 3 on Launch. I did pay $40 for Grid the week of the PC launch.

I really hope PC games don't reach the $60 mark like consoles cost now. That is really pushing it as far as prices go.

(I did pay $80 for GH3, but then again it has a guitar controller with it too.)
 
I haven't bought a game that cost over $40 in at least a couple years. Just not willing to spend that much. My sweet spot tends to be around $15 to $25, but that's only for major stuff like BF2 (spent $20 total for BF2 plus Special Forces expansion, nice little find in a discount shop). Sad to say, I'm the guy that likes to wait until a game hits the bargain bin before I'm willing to buy it.

That reminds me, I need to go buy that Star Wars Tie Fighter game...
 
For used, 20-35 is about my max. Going into Gamestop the other day, I was able to pick up Assassin's Creed for less than 30, which I had no problem paying, but they had "used" games like GTA4, Ratchet and Clank, and Heavenly Sword for $50+. There is absolutely no way I will accept ~5 bucks off the list price and take an opened game over a new.

As for new games? I really don't want to pay more than $50 for a game, as I am a college student and at this point in my career, I have to gauge it by how many hours I have to work for the game. I can't afford new games right now, which is fine by me, I can just borrow them from others until they drop in price.
 
I would like the price of game to be determine by the review/quality of the game.

sucks- $10-20
average - $20-30
good - $30-40
great - $40-50


of course, after a 6 month period, i would like a drop in price avg: $10.
 
day 1, PC games tend to go for $99 AUD (~$95 US) in Australia, with console games around $110-120 (~$105-$115 US). Makes buying many games pretty prohibitive. I'll usually only buy the very best games when they're at full price (while looking for discounts if possible) then wait for the price to drop to around $50-$60 AUD before I consider buying less quality games.

Sad to see that the lower end price i have to wait for, is similar/higher than many of your high end prices...

PS; I just preordered the Warhammer Online Collectors edition for $150 AUD (~$143 US)... please be worth it :p
 
It really depends on the game. Like most people, if it's something I've been waiting for (new Zelda?) I'd be willing to pay a little more for it. But if it's a lot more, then I'm just going to hold off and wait for it to come down in price. $50 is my limit, and I really don't think any game should be more than that, and I'm not willing to pay more for it.

I'll buy just about anything off steam or an endcap for $5. At the $10 point, I'm going to make sure it's something that I at least thought about playing. At $20, It better be a decent game. I'm open to the $30-50 range, but it really depends on the game at that point. I usually just wait until it comes down in price or I forget about.
 
2fast4u2c said:
day 1, PC games tend to go for $99 AUD (~$95 US) in Australia, with console games around $110-120 (~$105-$115 US). Makes buying many games pretty prohibitive. I'll usually only buy the very best games when they're at full price (while looking for discounts if possible) then wait for the price to drop to around $50-$60 AUD before I consider buying less quality games.

Sad to see that the lower end price i have to wait for, is similar/higher than many of your high end prices...

PS; I just preordered the Warhammer Online Collectors edition for $150 AUD (~$143 US)... please be worth it :p
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Crap like that is why pirating happens. Your game cost as much as the new video card I just ordered! (4850).


I usually prefer not paying over 39 for a game. If its a really good game I will pay 49. Anything over that and I will wait. It doesn't bother me spending the money, I just don't like paying more that I think something is worth. Also increases my chances of feeling ripped off.
 
I *rarely* buy new games, I usually just borrow them from friends to play the single player, and if I really like the game, I will buy it off them to use for multi-player (UT3 and COD4). That is just for PC games though, for console exclusives, I will go to a friends house and play through the single player. Looking at my collection, most of my games that I have purchased in the past 2 years were all bought for $20 or less used, many of them were given to me for free. I will be buying the new Stalker game on release day though...Stalker was one of the best games I have ever traded a 12pk for lol, some don't care for it, others loved it. Other than Stalker, I will probably just get Left 4 Dead on release day, and everything else will be bought used, which will bring my total for new games up to around 2...
 
Chombo said:
If its something that I have been waiting for, I will buy on release day for $50. If its a title that I am interested in but wasn't waiting for it $30-40. If its a game I am really unsure of $20.

I have no problem shelling out full price of admission for a great game.
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Pretty much the same for me... ;)
 
I'll purchase a hot new title that will 'make' a console or PC purchase worth it for that gen (i.e. MGS4, Halo 3, Crysis, etc) at its launch day price.
Otherwise, if its another blah game (like BF2142, Quake 4, ETQW, Haze, Timeshift, etc) between $10-$30.

The only way I would take a video game based on a movie is if they include it free with my pizza.
 
$30 to $40, someone usually has it on sale when or soon after release. Most often Circuit City.
 
$40 is my sweet spot.
I like to buy a used game and sell it shortly after beating it. Most of the times, it costs me nothing except a little bit of time.
 
I pirate :)


No really.. Release day, or normally I don't get it.. on PC.. 360, I just borrow a game, or rent it.
 
Because most of my friends are MMO junkies or are still stuck in the days of the SNES, borrowing is not an option. So, if it's a game that I think I'll like, I usually just shell out the $60.
 
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