DS Daily: what's the proper price point for games?
by David Hinkle 
{ Jan 31st 2007 at 9:00AM }
We were recently at the store, checking out some of the games and it got us thinking. What kind of price could make or break the sale of a game? Surely, the consumer knows what to expect from certain franchise giants and can easily be asked to pay more for that experience, but what about game content that the consumer doesn't know that much about? What price could make you give a game a second look?On the opposite side of that coin, what aren't you willing to pay for a game? Is $34.99 too expensive for new DS games, no matter who it stars or what kind of gameplay it entails? Do you wait for games to drop in price before picking them up?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
WexusNexus @ Jan 31st 2007 9:19AM
tricky question because at some point the price i'm willing to pay will fall below the price developers can sell at and still make enough profit to keep wanting to make games...
that being said, $29.99 is a nice price point for me... $19.99 or less will definitely get me to give a questionable game a second look... over $30 should be reserved for games that add something special, either in branding or experience...
of course, i pay over $30 for crap all the time, so i guess i defeat my own argument, but in a perfect world....
shanoboy @ Jan 31st 2007 9:26AM
I like the $30 price point. Anything more will cause me to wait for a used version. Used DS games off Ebay are awesome cause they seem to fall in price pretty quickly on there. Just saw Star Fox Command on there for under $20 on average the other day.
Kefka @ Jan 31st 2007 9:49AM
I'm happy to pay full price (usually between 60 and 70 AUD here) for a good game - Many hundreds of hours of work have gone into it, and I want to support the developers in the hope that more good games follow.
Given that, I wouldn't like to pay anything *more* than that for a DS game. If a game is at half price, it's definitely going to catch my eye as a possible purchase - but I still wont buy a crap game. I'll buy a flawed game, but not lame crap.
I've got plenty of money to buy whatever game takes my fancy, so in the end I'm not too fussed.
Jon C @ Jan 31st 2007 9:33AM
With the current exchange rate, US$35 is a bargain for us in the UK. God knows why DS gamers here put up with £30 (US$60) price tag. I know I don't. 90% of my games are imported.
Frederik @ Jan 31st 2007 9:44AM
35 bucks! Lucky bastards. Here in Norway the games usually cost 60$, sometimes more.
Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Jan 31st 2007 10:07AM
25€ for brand games and 15-20€ for everything else.
God damm it - this are *PORTABLE* games! You pay for *less* gaming experience. Half of a game - half of a price. That should be a rule.
It is totally silly now in Germany seeing premium GBA titles for €60 - and of course nobody buys them (even though there are no DS alternatives at the time).
P.S. Same goes for PSP titles - they are insanely overpriced at their 50+€
crock @ Jan 31st 2007 10:38AM
I think 34.99 is a tad expensive, but if it is a triple A title I'll break down and buy it. When I saw Final Fantasy III for 39.99 though I decided right then and there I wasn't going to buy it. I still haven't bought that game.
redmoon @ Jan 31st 2007 11:16AM
$30 is a great standard price for games, i wouldn't mind paying $45-60 for a imported japanese game though. many of the japanese imports dont even get to make it to the american market due to licensing issues (e.g. Jump SuperStar, Jump UltmateStar, Super robot Taisen)
Charles @ Jan 31st 2007 11:29AM
I think $35 for a game at EB Gamestop is ridiculous when you can get it for $30 anywhere else. Specifically Yoshi's Island DS.
And wow, I don't know if I could be a gamer outside the US. It already seems an expensive habit!
Korivak @ Jan 31st 2007 11:39AM
The biggest factor for me is what style of game it is. I group games into two broad catagories - 'games that you play' such as Tetris or Advance Wars and 'games that you finish', which includes anything scripted. I'll pay more for a game that I can keep playing without ever really finishing, just because it will get so much more use over time.
Of course, I find that all games are getting a little too expensive - on all platforms, not just portables. That, combined with less time for gaming in my life, has caused me to wait for price drops, sales and used copies increasingly often.
$20 Canadian is my ideal price point, and I'll buy anything that looks interesting and has gotten at least generally positive reviews at that point. $30 causes me to consider things more carefully, and at the full $40 price point, I'll only buy a very few games - a very solid turn based strategy, for example.
Petrie @ Jan 31st 2007 11:46AM
Unless it's an amazing title like Phoenix Wright, I can usually wait. A sweet pre-order bonus will sometimes make me bite, but more often than not for portable titles $19.99 is the ideal price, and for console titles $30.00 is the perfect price for me, though I usually end up paying more for titles like Oblivion and Gears.
Sonic @ Jan 31st 2007 12:33PM
What I'm starting to hate daily is that Gamestop is charging the same price for Used DS games as they are for New DS games even without the boxes or manuals.
Also GameCrazy charged me $30 for Hotel Dusk when I see it for 35 at GameStop.
Can we get a full boycott on GameStop stores soon, cause its getting really ridiculous how they screw consumers.
Matthew @ Jan 31st 2007 2:07PM
I don't see why video games don't cost the same as DVD movies. They usually cost less to make.
phanboy_iv @ Feb 1st 2007 1:43PM
I almost always wait for a used copy or a price drop. I refuse to pay more than 30 bucks for any game. Call me stingy, but it just ain't worth it. Prices ALWAYS drop.
tom b @ Jan 31st 2007 3:13PM
I live in the UK so I am used to paying £30/$60 for DS games and £50/$100 for Xbox 360 games and to me it seems fairly reasonable. However recently i have discovered www.NCSX.com and US imports, so now i buy DS games for the bargain bin price of £15-18/$30-35! i'm suprised that importing is not more popular.
michaelpop @ Jan 31st 2007 9:06PM
There are enough good games out there to just not buy the >$30 titles. The first two games I got after buying my DS last fall were a used Metroid at $15 and a new Advance Wars for $20 and they're just as much fun as any of the $35 or $40 games available now.
Maybe once the North American market gets 20+ million DSs we can expect economies of scale to allow great titles to be sold new for less than 20 dollars.
Is anyone familiar with what Nintendo has done in the past with the pricepoint of their own titles on popular systems?
Chii @ Jan 31st 2007 6:08PM
I liked 30 new, as was at launch... But I can stomach up to 35 new. Under that makes me pretty happy, though, and I'll pick up the average stuff/bit below average at that cost. 40 for a DS game, which I've seen, is gross. And too high...
I've been getting more and more of my games online, instead of going to the nearby EB. Usually, I go to EB to preorder and get a freebie... Otherwise, I just order about three at one time, so the shipping's less.
Ben @ Jan 31st 2007 7:37PM
I'll pay 35 if its a good game. Its what I paid for New Super Mario Bros. But yea usually around 30 is good for me. 39.99 is too much though.
Rubang B @ Jan 31st 2007 7:56PM
I saw FF3 for $35 USED at an EB and almost threw up. That same day I saw Scurge: Hive for $15. I might have to try it out some day, if I ever finish all the games I'm working on now. But I will not pay over $25 for FF3. I'll be waiting a wihle.
T.K. @ Feb 1st 2007 7:06PM
I think $39.99 For Final Fantasy III is just a little to expensive. I guy but better games that are longer and better for cheaper on the gamecube. $35 for me is tops only if it is going to be a good game like Zelda or Metroid or anything else mediocre that is newly released., anything else I wil say $30 and down.
foaming @ Jan 31st 2007 9:54PM
While I think, in general, $40 is too much for a DS game, I grudgingly paid it for FF3. But then, FF3 is a game that I've been playing for 2 months already on and off. For simple puzzle games that price is obviously ridiculous.
Anyway, I do think it's kind of ridiculous that Animal Crossing WW is still $35 after being out for over a year. I keep refusing to buy it because I think the price is going to drop...but I keep getting disappointed!
I've found that local used game stores tend to be cheaper for used games than Game$top. 2 or 3 dollars off the price of a new game is highway robbery.
Steve 3.2 @ Jan 31st 2007 10:07PM
I typically wait for the games to come down in price. I picked up an eBay auction that included a decent collection of games when I first got my DS Lite and have been enjoying the TrU clearance of titles like Castlevania: DoS, Metroid Prime Pinball, and Point Blank ($10/each). My most recent purchase was Clubhouse Games ($22.50 + tax/ship) on sale at Tower.com. While it was more than I normally pay, it was worth every penny to be able to kick my friend's butt playing President over Nintendo Wi-Fi.
jamus @ Jan 31st 2007 10:43PM
$24.95 is my limit, and that is for one I really want, not for one I just happen to run across.
$19.95 seems good for games that have been out for a while. Sort of like the PS2 "Greatest Hits" editions.
Eyerone @ Feb 2nd 2007 11:07AM
In a perfect world, I want to pay no more than $20 for a DS game. The most expensive game that i've bought so far was FF3 and just like everybody else, I was extremely heated to find that Gamestop was selling a used version of it $5 less than it did new w/o instructions or box...so that kinda turned me off from buying games from Gamestop. Luckily, i knew what I was in for by buying the title, otherwise i would of never bought it.
Other than that, i've bought both Castlevania:PoR and Trauma Center:Under the Knife (w/ box and instructions) for less than $20 a piece @ this local gaming trade store aka my 1st resource when it comes to buying games.