Price Of Games

[jupman]

I know i am flogging a dead horse and this topic has been brought up a million times, and probably will be a million more times still.....but geez....games are seriously expensive!!!!

I remember the furor when Condemned 2 came out and it was R700...didn't last long before it was down to R500 odd. Recently 95% of games cost R600.

Today i went to Look and Listen. Their 2 newest releases, TNA iMpact Wrestling and Hellboy are both R750 !! Do they honestly think they will sell 1 copy of those games at that price??

You can get away with a game at price if it's a quality A Grade release like Gears 2, GTA 4, Rainbow Vegas, COD5 etc. But surely they are just wasting their time trying to sell these games at such a high price.

I would have bought those games for R500 each - purely for the GS, as they both are relatively easy GS titles. But R750 is way out of my league.

I know that BT Games have got their games listed cheaper on their website for online purchase. But even looking their upcoming new releases....the prices have all gone up.

Even Lego Batman is gonna be a R699 game at shops like Look and Listen, Incurable Deception & CNA. It will sell for R649 online at BT Games.

I am BLEAK. :(

[SlappY]

yip. It is one of those things that the capitalists do. Slowly bump the price up till before you know it the new price is the norm, then rinse and repeat.

Personally these days I keep a list of what I really want to play, then anything else can wait till it is in the bargin bin.

[rainy]

I dunno, as a PC gamer this somehow doesn't faze me... The max I've paid for a new game lately is R350... :D

[Ruslan74]

Sadly its only happening in SA it seems. I pre-order region free games from Play Asia when available and they cost me R400 ex postage & VAT. The total seldom goes over R460 per game after all that is taken into account.

Its the SA game suppliers ( MI Digital, SK, etc ) who are making life difficult and at the same time killing the 2nd hand market.

I still recall when all PC games seldom bordered on R299 considering their low re-sale-ability and system requirements.

Region Free is the saviour for me. :)

[Voicy]

Nah, the only time i've paid more than R300 for a game was when I bought the Orange Box (which is a bundle of 4-5 games for those who don't know), so it wasn't so bad.

I won't fork out more than that.

[stoke]

Profiteering is getting out of hand, but, people keep on buying them, so ... hey.

[doobiwan]

Ditto for Ruslan - anything Region free I ger from Play-Asia and it's usually around R400 including shipping.

If you want to buy locally start with Kalahari their prices are usually the best, and you get free delivery.

[jupman]

So, i have had my eye on Guitar Hero World Tour. It was listed at about R1800 - R1900. Fully prepared to pay that.

The price has been changed to R3299 !!!!

So, the Guitar Hero : Aerosmith Bundle costs R900 and includes Guitar and Software. Basically you will pay an extra R2399 for a Microphone and Drums!

Crazy. I dont know who's at "fault" - but i dont care. That price is ridiculous.

-scratches World Tour off of list of games to buy-

:mad:

[Noodle]

Yeah the price was pushed up on avg round R800 this is due to the first batch being flown in to here in time for Christmas.


After the Dec rush apparently the price wil go down once the stock from the ocean gets in...

[TheBradster69]

I herd somewhere gaming industry is more profitable than the movie industry !
hard to believe ... dont know hoe true it is , but with games going up so much ! you can understand it !

I think its a few factors :

#1. Weaking rand : Importers pay more just because the rand is R8.32 to $1
#2. Petrol/transport costs increase, as it needs to come up via trucks from the harbors.
#3. Increase in demand for gaming , greedy Sterkinikor etc

p.s : i dont see it decreasing any time soon !

Maybe when our economy is a bit more stable after the elections, and the petrol prices decreases as well as the lending rates !

[Noodle]

Maybe when our economy is a bit more stable after the elections, and the petrol prices decreases as well as the lending rates !

Don't forget world peace and the Return of Elvis!

[TheBradster69]

I forget that when cows start to fly , games will be below R500

http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures/16500/Flying-cow--16791.jpg

[Ruslan74]

I dont think its any of those factors or else it would affect PC games and PC hardware as well. Its just greedy suppliers who want to make quick bucks.

Just look at how much the Wii is being ripped of customers in SA by the Apple distributors. Greed, pure greed.

[jupman]

I am going to agree with Rus on this one.

A few years ago the gaming community in SA consisted of PS2 players and PC gamers only. I think that back then piracy was a lot more previlent as well.

Suddenly the market explodes...Xbox360, P$3, Wii, DS etc....And the gaming base starts to grow and grow.

Suppliers see a chance to jump onto the bandwagon and we are experiencing the effects of that now i think.

But, as with everything, the bubble WILL burst....the question is when.

Soon it is going to become a viable option to purchase a second console which operates on NTSC - then you can import ALL of your games.

If you save just R100 per game it wont take long before the other console has paid for itself !!

[senorblinky]

Why don't we create a game library then? Member have to pay R100 a month and with that, one can buy games. Also, there are all the existing titles to choose from, that you've already bought. I mean, i have like 5 games, and i am happy to share them, provided they are taken care of, thus you can buy one game which 5 okes can play...

i just realised that's an extremely kak idea, as you all play online, and not single player goodness like me.

[Noodle]

Our game prices compared to other countries is not bad off actually.
Fair enough Core is ripping us a new one in compared to the price diff over the big seas.

Although our PC games are dirt cheap compared to the rest of the world. GO have a look online you will see that console games are on par with pc games. Hectic I know. The average mark up on games here compared to other countries is between R200 and R300 (RB:WT excluded) So not too much of a mark up, again core (nintendo) excluded.

[TheBradster69]

I will stand by my judgment and believe when (if) our economy gets better Prices WILL drop !

Economics has a big part in importing ANYTHING !

[doobiwan]

It's also all publisher dependant. For all their warts I support EA because their SA branch prices games locally. EA games are usually the cheapest and can be had for around R520 at Kalahari on launch.

[Ruslan74]

Greed never made prices drop, it was companies who investigate malpractice activities which may scare these suppliers into reverting to the regular prices. Same thing happened with the big car makers in SA who got slapped big fines for this.

If you look at it the US & EU economies have been in a limbo for over 6 months but that hasnt decreased game sales in those regions, much on the contrary!

SA is just a different ball game, as what the suppliers are doing is "If you dont like our prices, go elsewhere!" attitude. You simply have little choice.

[rainy]

Prices in Asia will always be lower, for games, DVDs, anything. If you look on Ebay, you can get APAC-versions of most games and DVD boxsets for a song, whereas the US or Euro versions are more expensive (read: at normal price). I did a comparison a while ago and the price ratio between PC games and console games was about the same overseas as it is here, with a new PC title usually coming in at EUR40-EUR45 (R400-450 these days). Console games were mostly over EUR50, up to EUR60.

[TheBradster69]

That is mainly due to the fact that almost all of the discs and covers / manuals are made over there ... and transport cost are then obviously A LOT Cheaper !

@ Rus ... i highly doubt Microsoft / Publishers will allow "suppliers"to dictate Price here in SA !
There would be chaos !

Its Transport costs / exchange rates & yes the suppliers 10/20/30/ % mark up !
but their mark up will be governed by Microsoft / Publishers them selves.

As much as we think the supplier is greedy, they are not.
Yes they are making a ton of $$$ but that is because of supply and demand ...

I cant believe that its in our suppliers hand to dictate price here in SA.
They are very small fish in a very big sea of publishers and king pins in the gaming industry.

[jupman]

Brad : - Are you like a financial advisor or something??? :D

[Ruslan74]

Guys, I have seen the markups MI Digital make. Believe me, this aint the same markup as the sales people in the US or EU.

Such markup existed for PC components ages ago until taxes got dropped and demand skyrocketed. How do you think Sahara Computers were able to buy themselves a cricket stadium in Centurion. ;)

MS is only interested in market sales. Did you see how much Core is making on a single Wii? :whistle:

I dont understand why you are actualy protecting the greedy SA suppliers. Just look at how much we get ripped off in everything else here? I had a conversation with the owner of Zaps and he was actually thinking of importing his own games since the 2nd market is dry due to the prices of new games. Sadly the FBV ( rating bureau ) wont allow such games to be sold without their ratings in SA.

[TheBradster69]

I dont understand why you are actualy protecting the greedy SA suppliers.

Because i dont see megarom / sterkinekor etc... having that much power to dictate game prices

These suppliers have to buy batches of games months in advance ( taking out forward contracts with banks - securing a rate ) So this could be a good forward contract or a bad forward contract

Then they need to pay some poor captain to cross the heavy seas to get all of them here

Then he needs to pay some poor truck driver to get it up to JHB / CT / Bloem etc

( bearing in mind these all use Petrol/diesel, which is pretty dam expensive )

So we cannot always compare prices in EU to SA - purely for the above reason

Now after all of this has happened, they get a cost price ... now they add on their profits ( which will be regulated by the publishers - Activision/EA etc) and distribution cost.

Games Prices +- 12 months ago = R200 Cheaper +_

3 Oct 2008 R/$ exchange rate : $8.42 Vs 3 Oct 2007 R/$ Exchange rate : $6.88

That's a $1.54 difference .... which in my opinion already makes up for the R200 difference in price !

Never mind the Petrol price has gone up about R2 since last year

So as much as you think its the suppliers greed, it really isnt ... its the economy which is in a bit of a rut at the moment ... but there is light at the end of the tunnel = cheaper games .... soon

[Ruslan74]

Dude, SK has the playstation marker in a corner. They can dictate their prices as they see fit. No wonder the 8 year old PS2 still sells at a higher price than a Xbox Arcade and the PS2 games are R500 at best. Do you see such prices changing in the near future? No. In the US and the EU a PS2 is $80 at best.

You rely too much on the market's exchange rates too much IMO, they dont sell or buy stock on the day when the game is out. Just like the petrol ripoff excuse its all bland.

I just dont see suppliers dropping game prices too soon seeing they are making a killing out of it. Greed it is. ;)

EDIT : Thats why SK, MI Digital and Megarom aint getting too much of my money now if the game is region free. Wont support them like this.

[TheBradster69]

Ok Rus !

you right !!!!!!!!!!!!

I dont know what i am talking about

[Ruslan74]

Ok Rus !

you right !!!!!!!!!!!!

I dont know what i am talking about

Not really, I just suspect a money making scheme from them. And the usual excuse they wave in our faces is the exchange rate ( fuel hikes excuse ) and etc, etc, etc. Which is getting a tad thin now.

But at least it wont affect the rental market I hope coz that seems the cheapest way to play games of late!

[jupman]

Ok Rus !

you right !!!!!!!!!!!!

I dont know what i am talking about

NO DUDE! Don't give up.....Tune the Russian.

It's entertaining.....

DING DING ..... Round 2....

[TheBradster69]

LOL !

NO really ... its fine : )

hahahah