Brick and Mortar.
The US has laws and agreements that retrist how far stores can deviate from MSRP (suckage). I've never seen anyone, who follows both markets regularly, even be able to compare the frequency or price cuts that Steam gives its US customers to what a B&M offers.
Then again, the best B&M we have is Gamestop. Our physical media warehouse businesses like NewEgg and GoGamer do their own comparable 48 hour type sales.
Laws? Any agreements to restrict prices would be illegal in the EU, a company can charge what it damn well pleases.
It may be quicker to cut prices in the US but not here, Steam is a rip-off here. I can almost always buy something cheaper from Play.com than I could download it from Steam, and frequently its cheaper in Game stores. Especially older games. My little brother, against my advice, signed up for Steam a while back for spending his pockey money on. He bought a game - Mount & Blade - on Steam for £20. I'd coincidentally bought it in a "2 for £15" (or £9.99 each) offer with a different game at Game the same week.
It's not unusual at game to see the PS3 version of a game selling for £39.99 while the PC version is already stickered "2 for £25" (or £15 each). I buy most of my PC games from the 2 for £15 or 2 for £25 selections at Game, while steam typically charges the same price for just the 1.
What we have here doesn't restrict the price the item can sell for, but what the price can be advertised at. For B&M thats deadly, but for online stores its a tag that says "add to cart to see discounted price".Originally Posted by RandBlade
Two totally different concepts that create 2 totally different results for B&M and digital stores.
An article for how this affects video cards.
For digital distribution its a different story anyway. Publishers and Developers have a much stronger say on the price of a digital product. If they want to sell something at 50% off, thats their thing. Its a loss they take because its been shown to drive up demand, even after the price returns to normal, or higher. Due to the diversity of B&M stores, it would simply be a pain in the ass to coordinate something like that for physical media, mush less deal with the stores who don't want to take an immediate loss on item.
This extends beyond video games as well. Amazon's Kindle sale titles and prices are decided by the publisher, not by Amazon.
This is another concept that Steam has created thats foreign to a lot of gamers. You pay for the game when its at the price you feel its worthwhile at. New releases go for $60, wait a few weeks and you can get it for $30-$40. Put it off till Christmas and you can pick up the year's blockbusters for under $10.It may be quicker to cut prices in the US but not here, Steam is a rip-off here. I can almost always buy something cheaper from Play.com than I could download it from Steam, and frequently its cheaper in Game stores. Especially older games. My little brother, against my advice, signed up for Steam a while back for spending his pockey money on. He bought a game - Mount & Blade - on Steam for £20. I'd coincidentally bought it in a "2 for £15" (or £9.99 each) at Game the same week.
Steam just had a sale for Mount and Blade a little while ago, $7.50; Warband for $10.
Which is another trend I see on Steam alot. Preorders and big game purchases come with an older game from the developer. Just cause 2 gave you acces to the original while you waited for the street date, as did preordering BioShock 2.
Why is that deadly? Most 'bargain' games aren't the ones the bricks and mortar stores are even advertising anyway. Heck, I can't recall the last time I saw an advert for Game, they're just in every shopping centre in the country. On their window will be the new releases, not the older games, but go to the racks and they'll have rack after rack of bargain games with stickers on for the prices and deals.
Minimum pricing levels here are illegal under cartel rules, that was confirmed years ago in a lawsuit Nintendo lost for one of their consoles.
Foreign to a lot of gamers? That's been the case since I was knee high to a grasshopper and I've never seen it done differently anywhere ...This is another concept that Steam has created thats foreign to a lot of gamers. You pay for the game when its at the price you feel its worthwhile at. New releases go for $60, wait a few weeks and you can get it for $30-$40. Put it off till Christmas and you can pick up the year's blockbusters for under $10.
Steam just had a sale for Mount and Blade a little while ago, $7.50; Warband for $10.
Like when I bought Guitar Hero 5 from Amazon and it came with a free copy of Guitar Hero World Tour? Yeah, another original Steam idea that ...Which is another trend I see on Steam alot. Preorders and big game purchases come with an older game from the developer. Just cause 2 gave you acces to the original while you waited for the street date, as did preordering BioShock 2.
When did the conversation start restricting to bargain games only?I'd hardly consider games that are less than 6 months old bargain games, and some games that have been out for years still haven't reached bargain prices.
Its deadly because advertising, even window advertising, brings business in. Companies aren't going to slash prices in a way they can't advertise if its not going to bring in new business.
You're confusing this with shelf space and how stores have to price products to order to get them to move for newer products. Which is different from short sales that are intended to drum up interest and sales over a longer period.
Which is another area DD goes in handy for. Finding those older games that B&M doesn't stock because their sale pace isn't up to par with other titles. GoG is a great place for stuff like that.
As I said early, true control on price of physical print media is out of the reach of both publishers and customers. Again, especially with games that also appear on consoles. Its why everything after a certain install size has a $60 launch price, or why DLC for games on the 360 so rarely are allowed to be offered for free.Foreign to a lot of gamers? That's been the case since I was knee high to a grasshopper and I've never seen it done differently anywhere ...
Its this "acceptance" that digital distribution in the US is starting to finally shake up.
You're doing it again, trying to direct the conversation in your own direction by creating or inserting your own facts.Yeah, another original Steam idea that ...
No one claimed this was an original idea. Hell, my copy of Quake 4 from GameStop came with Quake II. I was mentioning how often Steam does it compared to B&M (which Amazon is not), and how when Steam does it, you get the offered extra immediately, unlike most preorder bonuses from elsewhere.
Developers have come forward previously to talk about how stuff like this makes a huge impact on the prelease pirate attempts.
Last edited by Ominous Gamer; 09-09-2010 at 03:08 PM.
No, I'm not.When did the conversation start restricting to bargain games only?
Its deadly because advertising, even window advertising, brings business in. Companies aren't going to slash prices in a way they can't advertise if its not going to bring in new business.
You're confusing this with shelf space and how stores have to price products to order to get them to move for newer products. Which is different from short sales that are intended to drum up interest and sales over a longer period.
Firstly you seem to be confused as to what you're referring to as a "bargain". From $60 to $40 may be considered a bargain but its not a 'bargain bin' style of bargain.
Secondly any large game retailer I know permanently has a large supply of older games, for cheaper, which is not to clear stock. They'll replenish what they sell and continue to sell it cheaper, only this months or twos newest games are full price.
Game don't need to advertise to me the fact they'll have cheap PC games, I know they will. They always do. They'll have the latest and greatest in a chart section at full price and other non-chart full price ones near, then rack after rack of reduced price games, in intermediate steps. Typical for a PC game seems to be £29.99 at lauch, £25 after about a month or two, within 3-5 months it can already be 2 for £25 and then within a year of launch it can be 2 for £15. They do have a 'bargain bin' style (3 for £10) but I don't touch those.
I have no problem with DD. The problem is that Steam in particular is a rip-off in this country and tries to charge insanely ridiculously high prices.Which is another area DD goes in handy for. Finding those older games that B&M doesn't stock because their sale pace isn't up to par with other titles. GoG is a great place for stuff like that.
Games here may typically have a standard new-release price give or take: £29.99 for a PC game or £34.99 to £39.99 for a console game are common launch prices, but it does vary. It also doesn't typically stay at that price for long at all.As I said early, true control on price of physical print media is out of the reach of both publishers and customers. Again, especially with games that also appear on consoles. Its why everything after a certain install size has a $60 launch price, or why DLC for games on the 360 so rarely are allowed to be offered for free.
Its this "acceptance" that digital distribution in the US is starting to finally shake up.
This can be taken 2 different ways the way you typed it.
1) The same older games are being replenished. Which B&M stores do not have control over. Sure they can order more, but the publisher has to continue publishing it on physical media. Take for example Test Drive. Your Game website isn't offering any physical copies (of any release, on any format), but they do have DD links.
2) Its a rotating stock, meaning that games get cheaper the longer they sit, meaning its an issue of shelf space.
Everything else was you rehashing the same points that were already addressed
1) While interestingly since you picked that title, Steam are not offering it either
But it is purchasble in a DD flavor, which is what I'm trying to get at, even through you keep trying to lump it into a Steam is DD is Steam idea.
I could have easily gone with Star Trek Online, which Steam does have, but physically Game does not, or The Chronicles of Riddick if you want to keep it multiplatform.
Thats just keeping it to recentish Atari titles.
notice the theme yet?
Maybe Steam charges what it does because of licensing agreements, or a lack of organized DD services overseas. Over here we have GoG, Impluse, Direct2Drive; but I know a lot of their titles are region locked.
Even Atari couldn't sell Test Drive Unlimited digitally in certain regions thanks to InfoGrames
EDIT:
Holy shit, I'm reading PCGamer right now, and they completely shredded Singularity. Yet they closed out the review with this line "If (or rather when) it drops to a pittance on Steam, it's worth your time.
Last edited by Ominous Gamer; 09-09-2010 at 03:57 PM.
I didn't know Game did Downloads, might be tempted one day to use that.
Just looking at the Strategy genre since that's what I'm interested in, select that and one of the first two advertised with a big banner is "Settlers 7" for "only £29.99" on Steam. Game have it for £12.99 on disc or £12.99 for downlaod, but Steam want £29.99 WTF?
EDIT: I don't see them saying "(or rather when)" in that quote.
http://www.gamersgate.com/all?q=eaweek&aff=ggnews
Hey Wraithy - wasn't Mass Effect on the list of games I might like?
We're stuck in a bloody snowglobe.
Yeah, you might like it. I'm not sure though. It's shootery, but it's also RPGy.
The second is significantly better than the first, but the second's also significantly better if you've played the first.
Thats what I get for linking the digital attempt of a print publication. Here is a blurry shot of the magazine article. I'd scan the page, but a hobo broke that keyboard last night
Spoiler:
Fair enough. If only the company would stop acting like idiots when it comes to pricing in the rest of the world then.
That's not true, at least in the Netherlands new (Dutch) books have a minimum price, and last time I checked we were part of the EU. I'm not really sure what the purpose of this price is, but it's definitely there.
Keep on keepin' the beat alive!
The minimum price is set by the publisher (part of their contract with the retailers), because they get a portion of the proceeds. It's not set by law.
Hope is the denial of reality
It is set by law (in this country). No shop is allowed to sell under a minimum price set by the publisher (some exceptions for study books). I'm not making this up
The entire law sounds pretty retarded to me, and I've heard writers complain about it, too. Yet somehow it is still in place..
Keep on keepin' the beat alive!
That surprises me indeed, do you have a source?
EDIT: In English
Surely they can't sell under a minimum price set by the publisher because that's part of their contract with the publisher?It is set by law (in this country). No shop is allowed to sell under a minimum price set by the publisher (some exceptions for study books). I'm not making this up
The entire law sounds pretty retarded to me, and I've heard writers complain about it, too. Yet somehow it is still in place..
Edit: http://www.tekstadventure.nl/branko/...he-netherlands
Hope is the denial of reality
Well, I was right anyway that before that law was passed having minimum pricing by cartel is illegal
Loki: I don't think a publisher can put that in a contract here. That was the issue in a case a while back between Nintendo and a retailer.
Like I said, no. In fact, I think Rand would be right that such a contract would be illegal in the first place, but I'm not sure about that. Anyway, a publisher can't choose not to have a fixed price in the first year of a new book. After that they can, but don't have to. And they can change the fixed price every 6 months.Surely they can't sell under a minimum price set by the publisher because that's part of their contract with the publisher?
All official links are Dutch only, probably because it only affects books written in Dutch.
http://www.bookstoreguide.org/2009/0...ixed-book.html
Keep on keepin' the beat alive!
Found the case, started in 2000 ended in a fine of ~€150mn for Nintendo: http://ec.europa.eu/competition/eloj...c_code=1_35706
Still can't find a game I can play for more than five minutes without thinking "I've been here and done this"
Such is Life...
The Minecraft dude finally fixed most of the major issues with Survival Multiplayer. Server-side inventory, chests and furnaces working online. Now he just has to move health server-side and the enemies and I will actually be able to hurt each other! My roommate and I have a map generated and waiting for that last issue to be fixed before we start on it.
:O
I enjoy blank walls.
How about LucasArt week?
Force Unleashed was 75% off, another title Game lists OOS.
Today has KOTOR for $2.50, £1.75, Game OOS
Maybe Star Wars Republic Commando™ , Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, Star Wars Battlefront® II , Star Wars Galaxies™: The Complete Online Adventures, Star Wars Starfighter™, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith, Star Wars: Dark Forces, Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes, Star Wars The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition, Star Wars® Empire at War™: Gold Pack, for £34.99?
Settlers 7.
Playing to kill time till Civ 5.
It's better than I was suspecting. Diverting enough.
A damn sight better than the previous couple of incarnations from the Blue Byte people anyway.
Vis a vis EVE playing:
Guy plays vidja game, cons people out of roughly 45k$ of real world moneyThe original business plan for Titans4U involved the purchase of several original titan blueprints worth over 60 billion ISK each. The blueprints were then locked down in a corporate hanger in a secret alt corporation. A starbase in the same system was used to make limited-run blueprint copies for sale and a cut of the proceeds was distributed to investors as a regular dividend. From an investor's point of view, the whole thing appeared to be secured by the presence of five trustees. These were active members of EVE's investment market who volunteered to help secure the fund against theft or the owner going missing.
As a vote would be required to unlock the blueprints before they could be taken, shares in the secret alt corporation were split among five trustees. If Bobby were to ever attempt to unlock and steal the blueprints, those trustees could have simply declined the vote, keeping the corporation secure. In the event of his disappearance, directors in the corp could also collectively initiate their own votes to recover the assets.
All of this security hinged on the fact that Bobby would not have access to over 50% of the company's shares and so couldn't vote to unlock the blueprints on his own. For over a year, this system worked amicably. In the background, however, Bobby was slowly scheming to get his hands on more shares.
To complete the scam, Bobby initiated a vote to create more shares under the guise of adding more trustees. Despite recommendations by regular market guru Proton Power that trustees decline the move, the vote passed and more shares were created. With access to over 50% of the shares, Bobby was able to kick all other directors from the corp and steal the entire company's assets. Bobby claims the total value he has "cashed in" his reputation for is in excess of 850 billion ISK. To put that into perspective, 850 billion is enough ISK to buy about 2575 PLEX. That would keep an account active for over 214 years, and could be worth around $45,000 US dollars.
Mining asteroids in that game is for ninnies
In the future, the Berlin wall will be a mile high, and made of steel. You too will be made to crawl, to lick children's blood from jackboots. There will be no creativity, only productivity. Instead of love there will be fear and distrust, instead of surrender there will be submission. Contact will be replaced with isolation, and joy with shame. Hope will cease to exist as a concept. The Earth will be covered with steel and concrete. There will be an electronic policeman in every head. Your children will be born in chains, live only to serve, and die in anguish and ignorance.
The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.
Civ V live gameplay part 1
Civ V live gameplay part 2
I can hardly contain myself.
I could have had class. I could have been a contender.
I could have been somebody. Instead of a bum
Which is what I am
I aim at the stars
But sometimes I hit London
No new Settlers iteration has been even close to the marvel of Settlers 2
In the future, the Berlin wall will be a mile high, and made of steel. You too will be made to crawl, to lick children's blood from jackboots. There will be no creativity, only productivity. Instead of love there will be fear and distrust, instead of surrender there will be submission. Contact will be replaced with isolation, and joy with shame. Hope will cease to exist as a concept. The Earth will be covered with steel and concrete. There will be an electronic policeman in every head. Your children will be born in chains, live only to serve, and die in anguish and ignorance.
The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.
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