I came across an article posted by Mike Smith over at yahoo’s “Plugged in” blog, which makes for an interesting read and conversation. The blog post dives into questions and problems that we here at EBA have debated and tried to understand in the past.
In the post, Mike talks about key problems in the industry, like the high price of games and the low quality of games we often receive…at the same price as the great ones nonetheless. Specifically, with most games at retail being released at 60 bucks, a game that can be completed in under 4 hours isn’t really acceptable. Mike points out the difference on how “we are paying 15 bucks per hour for games that don’t have multiplayer and unlockable content, compared to games that do include these features, which give the game near-limitless replay value.”
He also talks about how we are just now receiving the full experience that Nintendo promised us with the Nintendo Wii. Wii Motion plus is just being released, giving us all the abilities that we had hoped for the Wii, and perhaps even THOUGHT we had when it was first released. Oh and wait, we now have to shell out 20-25 bucks more for that promise..? Sounds kinda shady to me.
Mike then talks about the PSP GO and of course, it’s high price point for the (cheaper to make than the last generation PSP) handheld. When you sit back and think about dropping 80 dollars more down for the new PSP compared to the old PSP, it’s hard for anyone to swallow. It only hurts more for those of us that just recently bought a PSP and now hear that a newer and better PSP is coming and is more expensive.
One of the biggest problems in the industry and possibly the biggest rip-off of them all is the Gamestop style game trade industry. How many times have you walked in with 5 or more classic games that you loved and bought for 40-60 bucks when it was released and now you are only receiving a measly 10-20 bucks for those 5 games? Oh, and then you have to shell out the extra money, if you want to buy that new 60 dollar game… This is why I don’t trade-in games. I would rather let my game rot away in a box locked up in a closet, than to trade it in for 2 bucks. I would be insulting myself if I went and traded in a game for that amount.
The last topic in Mike’s list is the Nintendo fiasco, on how Nintendo likes to do business in Europe. On how Nintendo “entered into export-forbidding agreements with seven distributors which enabled it to maintain price differences of up to 67% between different European countries.”
With money on everybody’s mind now a days and things heating up in the industry, we can only expect more rip-offs to surface in the near future and our pockets to become smaller with time. Of course, this is just my personal opinion, but I welcome you to share yours with us and everyone here on the site inside the EBA forums.
To read Mike’s post on Plugged in, click here.
