If you pay attention, you’ll notice that, for better or worse, the games industry is changing right in front of our eyes. While companies are getting bought up, shut down, and merged, publishers are desperately trying to find new ways to make money: which market should we court? Ads in games? Digital distribution?
There seems to be no clear consensus and we’re left with a slew of business models that have met with varying degrees of success. As obstensibly well-informed consumers, it’s getting harder and harder to gauge what’sactuallygoing on in the industry and more difficult to discern what our favorite companies are going to do next.
We touched on it a bit when weDiscussedBraid, but I’ll reiterate: digital distribution (WiiWare, PSN, XBLA, Steam, GameTap, et al.) seems to be moving right along, to the point that some analysts are already singing physical media’s swansong. However, we’re not seeing some of the staples of disc retail being translated into the digital sphere.
Where, then, is the digital bargain bin?
Discuss!
Joseph Leray
PSN, XBLA, and the Wii market have now been around for several months (years in Microsoft’s case), yet we have yet to see the digital equivalent of a bargain bin. Why not? Disc-based games get price drops and Greatest Hits editions and all sorts of little tricks to help push sales after the initial release hype has died down, butGeometry Warsis still $10. Steam and GameTap, however, regularly have sales and special deals and whatnot.
Why the difference in business model? With Microsoft making efforts to clear out games that have low attach rates, putting games on sale seems like a logical step. Where did we get the idea that digital content doesn’t depreciate in value like disc-based games do?
Most importantly, why the hell isn’tBoogie Bunnies$5?
Justin Villasenor
They probably want to discourage waiting for a game to drop in price/go on sale, seeing as how so many people arealready doing thatwith retail releases.
Hamza CTZ Aziz
Wow, this is a really good topic that’s never crossed my mind before.
Maybe it’s because digital games don’t get in the way, so to speak. I know at my [videogame] store, when we want to get rid of shit because we need more room, we drop the price and move it to the “bargain” bin. Physical stores have limited space, so putting games on sale helps them move the product faster to free up shelf space. In the case of DLC, the companies have unlimited “shelf space” and really don’t need to drop the price of a game to make more room.
That’s one side to it, anyway. I can’t say for certain if Virtual Console and PSN titles have ever had price drops, but looking around, I found that some XBLA games have had price drops here and there. In the case ofGeometry Wars, it probably still sells well. Look atHalo 1,for example. It didn’t become a Platinum Hit until just around the timeHalo 2was released, and we all know damn well thatHalo 1should have had the Platinum Hit treatment within the year of its release. Microsoft wanted to milk every penny out of the game, and if the product is still selling like crazy, then there’s no need to drop the price even years after the initial release.
Topher Cantler
Fuck $5. Microsoft should pay me a fee for every day thatBoogie Bunniesremains on the market.
Knee-Row Gonzalez
The answer must lie in economics. Maybe we’ll eventually see a digital bargain bin, but if sales show that they’re still movingGeometry Warsfor $10, then they have no reason to move it. Digital games are typically priced lower, so maybe these games are still printing money overall. Like CTZ said, there’s no giant festering pile of games to move — no fire to put out. They can squat on their assets for as long as they want to because Walmart can’t have sale on them and nobody on eBay can offer up the XBLA greatest hits at a bargain. Time is on their side when it comes to digital.
Colette Bennett
Having spent a lot of years in retail before falling into the gaming industry, I can say that Hamza is absolutely right — it’s about the space that physical product takes up. The motivating factor to put things on sale is to move stock to make room for more stock. I can say that altering the price of, ahem, “less popular” titles would probably make an impact and see more copies sold as gamers love a good deal as much as the next guy.
Samit Sarkar
Yep, Hamza hit the nail on the head with the “shelf space” argument. But I know for a fact that Sony has lowered the price on content at the PlayStation Store before. Last year, they had a sale during Thanksgiving weekend, which is how I picked upEveryday Shooterfor $4.99 instead of $9.99 (the other games on sale, also for half price at $4.99, wereCalling All Cars,flOw, andPixelJunk Racers). Note that the first three games I mentioned have Metacritic ratings above 70, so it’s not like Sony reduced the price on crappy games (or titles that weren’t selling) in order to get people to buy them.
Another reason that Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo don’t have a reason to drop prices on digitally distributed content is because of its trade-in and rental potential (or complete lack thereof). With disc-based games, if people don’t want to pay full price upon release, they can either (1) rent through Blockbuster, GameFly, etc.; (2) get them secondhand — buy used at GameStop, trade on Goozex, etc.; or (3) wait until the retail price goes down after a certain amount of time. You can’t do any of those things withBionic Commando: Rearmed— if you want to play it, you have to purchase and download it from the PSN or XBLA — so there’s no real impetus or incentive for a sale, especially if the games are selling well at their original price point.
Tronathan Holmes
With the 360’s arcade SKUdropping to below $250, I can’t help but wonder if the same fate will befall it.
Brad Rice
I wonder how releasing more PS2 and Xbox games online will affect competition between stores and digital? Like, if they start offeringArcana Heartfor $10 less than in stores, will people start buying it online, forcing GameStop/others to lower their prices in competition?
And what the fuck isArcana Heart?
Arcana Heartreview.
Tronathan
(Note to self — To gain Brad Rice’s respect, pretend you’ve played every obscure JRPG/relationship sim ever made).
Oh my…
(Change of plans, focus on showing off your knowledge of illogically named 2D fighters. That will be sure to score you some points with Brad.)
