• Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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      6 days ago

      I think I had it on my wish list because I was never going to pay full price and then when it came down in price I looked again at it and I just thought nah, I actually don’t care. So I never bought it.

      They’re not exactly starting from a solid foundation.

      If any game was going to get away with being $80 it’d be something like grand theft auto or one of the next call of duties, not this one. But maybe they’re trailing it on a game that they know will only be moderately successful at best anyway, that way they don’t lose huge amounts of money if it fails to win over players.

  • Newsteinleo@midwest.social
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    6 days ago

    If you assume 25% of player will buy at 80, 50% will buy at $50, and 25% will buy at $20. Per 100 buyers they stand to make $5,000. However if they start at $50 with 75% of buys buying at that price, they will make $4,250. This is about maximizing profit by selling to fans with deep pockets first then discounting latter to captured the rest of the player base.

    • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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      6 days ago

      That tactic would work if it was a multiplayer game or a major franchise but with a single player cookie cutter game there’s no urgency for me to get started and no FOMO. It just isn’t that interesting of an IP

      • Newsteinleo@midwest.social
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        6 days ago

        right, so that would put you into the 50% or the lower 25%, but there are people that will buy higher price, and as long as there is 1% willing to buy before the first sale it is worth it for them.

      • chatokun@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        6 days ago

        People still will, because lots of people spoil, some like watching streaming etc. When new stuff comes out and I’m not ready to start it, it often also involves stop visiting certain communities, discords, etc.

    • billwashere@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      But what they don’t take into account is that 75% all at once creates an excitement buzz around the game that ends up causing even more sales then would ever happen otherwise. Look at games like Pokémon go or PalWorld that generated so much buzz. I tried both of them because of the hype and I normally wouldn’t have bothered otherwise.

      • Newsteinleo@midwest.social
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        6 days ago

        With a game like there has probably been existence market research to account for how much buzz the game will get. They may even be counting on the buzz to sell more copies at full price.

    • JcbAzPx@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      So if we assume the world is a magical place where poor people don’t exist, it makes perfect sense.

      • Newsteinleo@midwest.social
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        6 days ago

        That is exactly how people making these decisions think. Its all numbers to them, there are no people involved in their thinking.

  • Bentheredonethat@discuss.online
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    7 days ago

    When game prices reach 80 dollars, I reach an era where games have ceased to be that important. Path of exile all year long

    • M137@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      You don’t need to get just new games. Do what a ton of people do: wait till they’re on sale. There is literally no hurry, wait till any game reaches the price point you think its worth. And then you get the best possible version of the game, both in terms of patches, most of the time with DLC included and the modding community has had time to make stuff (if that’s relevant).

  • Owl@lemm.ee
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    6 days ago

    i will continue to enjoy my indie games that cost me 5€, thanks.

    better yet my free games like warframe that have cost me nothing and given me thousands of hours of enjoyment.

    • YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today
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      6 days ago

      Seriously! I got a $50 steam gift card for Christmas, bought one full price dlc (Shadow of the Erdtree) and like five or so indie games that I’ve put way more time in!

  • But_my_mom_says_im_cool@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    Support your local libraries. My city’s library system is so good that I borrow games on release day all the time. You get them for 1-2 weeks, Most games that are older than a few weeks you can keep for up to 3 weeks, which gives me plenty of time to knock them off my list. Im sure I’ll get this one soon enough, im currently playing AC Shadows which I borrowed

    • Psythik@lemm.ee
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      7 days ago

      Borrowing games from the library? How does that even work? Do they give you a Steam login and just change the password every 2 weeks or something?

      • Panda@lemmy.today
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        6 days ago

        Not sure how it works nowadays, actually! As a child I would borrow PC and PlayStation games from the library. They were physical copies of course. But with Steam keys and all I’m not sure!

      • Bartsbigbugbag@lemmy.ml
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        7 days ago

        There’s these things called consoles, that let you put a disk in, they both contains the game and a license to play it. Though these days some games just sell an empty box with a code to download the game.

        • Psythik@lemm.ee
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          7 days ago

          What a bizarre concept. I doubt they’ll ever catch on. We already have computers, and you don’t need any fancy “discs” or “empty boxes” to play games on them, either. Just download what you want straight from the internet.

          • Bartsbigbugbag@lemmy.ml
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            7 days ago

            It’s great, I can lend my friend the games he doesn’t have, and I can do the same with his games. In this way, we can play many more games than we have the money for. Especially useful since we’re in the US, and internet infrastructure is still poor here, his only option is satellite, which takes far too long to download anything.

            • Psythik@lemm.ee
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              7 days ago

              Yeah but who needs friends when you have millions of random strangers on the internet to talk to? The infrastructure issue is a problem that I’m too urbanized to understand. My neighborhood alone gives me the choice of cable, DSL, fixed wireless, and fiber. Move to a place like this, and you won’t need friends or these newfangled “con-souls”.

        • Joeffect@lemmy.world
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          6 days ago

          Unless it’s a switch 2 then all you get is a key on the cartridge… Biggest waste of time on both sides

          • Bartsbigbugbag@lemmy.ml
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            6 days ago

            Some games, some are on cart too. Switch 1 is actually probably the best because just about every game is fully playable unlike ps and Xbox which require patches often to run alright. Switch 2 I hear cyberpunk is fully on the cart, but I doubt many publishers are willing to pay for the bigger carts, so we’ll probably see a lot of third parties be just the key, which is ridiculous.

  • LostWanderer@lemmynsfw.com
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    7 days ago

    I won’t buy this at full price, when Outer World’s two goes on sale at 50% or more off, that is when I will buy it! By then, all the major bugs should be resolved, and new content will be making this game even better. I blame Obsidian Games from not trying to shout down Microsoft and fight them in a Waffle House parking lot over this price.

    • MimicJar@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      While the company would love you to buy it at launch for $80, they’re fine if you wait for a (first party) sale.

      Look at the first Outer World. At launch sold for $60. Three months post launch, $50. Six months post launch, $40. One year post launch, $30.

      If this new game sells the exact same, but starts at $80, they’re ahead. Even if the $80 number scares away a lot of people, they’re ahead. Only if it scares away a shit ton of people will it be a problem.

      • LostWanderer@lemmynsfw.com
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        7 days ago

        In a way, I hope it scares enough gamers away that it sends a message. I want there to be repercussions, Nintendo might get away with it (due to fanbase), but other companies need to be curtailed and fast!

        • MimicJar@lemmy.world
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          7 days ago

          Nintendo gets away with it because their games rarely have a discount. An $80 game today will be $80 in a year. After several years you sometimes get a limited discount for their best selling games. A bundle or a voucher can be a small loss leader, usually if you buy one of something you buy another.

          The other thing of course is that Nintendo makes absolutely top tier games. The fan base is earned. You can buy a Mario or Zelda game, knowing nothing about it, and it’s going to be good. Pokemon is the obvious exception here, the mainline games are fine, but would be nothing without the brand. (I also won’t forgive them for Super Mario Party, that was a $30 game, not $60.)

          I don’t expect $80 games to go away, because as long as someone will pay it, it’s free money. But if sales slump too much in the long run I do see quick discounts, possibly even for Nintendo games.

          • Soggy@lemmy.world
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            7 days ago

            Nintendo makes pretty good games but nothing about their product is “top tier”. The online experience is terrible, their flagship games suffer from framerate dips, pop-in, and stuttering because they don’t invest in better hardware, and speaking of hardware they went with the same will-break-down-and-drift sticks because they’ve been coasting for ages. Meanwhile they’re suing fan projects into the dirt and growing increasingly out of touch. (Sony and Xbox are hot on their heels, the big three could really do with some outside competition)

            • MimicJar@lemmy.world
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              7 days ago

              Oh I absolutely agree there are plenty of criticisms about the company itself and their other offerings, but the games are absolutely top tier.

              Their online is miles behind, games from Smash Bros to Mario Maker to Mario Kart could all be improving with better online, but since they were terrible at online I never used them, but those games were still excellent.

              A lower powered system or poorly optimized game has some frame rate dips or stuttering, but never in a way that gameplay was affected. I know people will disagree but I’ve never had an issue with it.

              Yes, joycon drift is a real problem. But that’s a hardware problem. We should absolutely give Nintendo shit for hardware problems.

              Suing fan projects or being aggressive about YouTube/Twitch take down, all fair. Fuck Nintendo for all that.

              But all of that is different from their games being solid. I don’t blame people who choose to emulate their games, they’re awesome games.

              I’ll give you that Sony might be competitive, I don’t see Xbox/Microsoft anywhere close. I think Valve and the SteamDeck are probably 4th in the race, but Valve has to actually make a game. They made great games and should continue to do so.

              • Soggy@lemmy.world
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                6 days ago

                The fan base is earned.

                This is what I have a problem with. The fan base WAS earned but now is taken for granted.

                You can’t just pretend that online play isn’t important for multiplayer games. It’s a huge knock against the titles you mentioned.

                Kirby and the Forgotten Land tries so hard to keep gameplay smooth that any enemies more than like 15 feet away drop to 8fps and it still dips when there’s too many effects on screen. Breath of the Wild simply banishes mobs that get too far away (or just run for too long) to keep the memory functional (and many things don’t even render at the edge of bow range). Super Mario Odyssey also aggressively culls actors and gets a bit sad when you force too much on screen (high up in Metro Kingdom, for example) It might not matter to you but it impacts the game enough for me to notice it.

                I simply don’t think that you can trust a Nintendo game to be worth the day 1 cost.

                • MimicJar@lemmy.world
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                  6 days ago

                  I suppose the reason I’m so forgiving of the online features, is that I don’t use them. They’re a nice little addition for sure, but I do not see them as core to the game.

                  I think it’s embarrassing that they’re sooooo far behind. Definitely if they’re a thing you’re expecting, it’s going to sour your view of the game.

                  Performance is a personal thing.You’re not alone, it’s a common complaint, I won’t deny that. I’ve played all three of those games, Kirby, Zelda & Mario but never remember having an issue. I’m sure I did, but it never stuck with me. I remember Arceus looking like an GameCube game. But I also remember completing the Pokedex 100%.

                  I was burned by Super Mario Party, so that franchise is dead to me. Maybe others will burn me too.

                  I think the Switch 2 launching with just Mario Kart was a huge mistake. No Mario. No Zelda. I can’t remember the last time that happened. Donkey Kong is coming soon, and it’s supposedly similar to Oddessy… But we’ll have to see. There are great DK games, but he’s no Mario and it’s been a while.

  • sevan@lemmy.ca
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    7 days ago

    I bought the first one for $20. For the second I’ll play on Game Pass, if it is available, or again wait for $20. Maybe even less if I forget about it, which I might.

    • JcbAzPx@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      One of the theories behind this game’s price is Microsoft is trying to force more people onto the premium game pass.

  • zecg@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    Just as heads up, Obsidian, I’ll require this to be at least 75% off if it’s good and over 20 hours of single-player campaign. If it’s shorter, I can be enticed at 90% off. I’ll wait for a few years, no problem, my family group backlog is in the thousands.

    • Goodeye8@piefed.social
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      6 days ago

      Them: “we don’t set the price”.

      You: “I’ll buy it if you set a lower price”.

      So people don’t even read the headlines anymore?

      • zecg@lemmy.world
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        6 days ago

        No, I’ve seen it, that is feedback and it should be invaluable to all interested parties, not only those who set the price.

    • Widdershins@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      The only thing that stands out thinking about the game is the dialog choices you get when you play through the game with really low intelligence. I think it gets the best ending.

  • 4grams@awful.systems
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    6 days ago

    I really enjoyed the first game, not AAA new game price enjoyment though. I mean, I got as much fun out of it while playing as I have anything else, it just wasn’t as rich and deep as a fallout game. I give it a pass since it’s establishing a new universe but as much as I liked it, it’s most certainly a blue light special fallout clone.

    So, asking inflated AAA prices seems, somewhat short sighted. I’d absolutely pay what I did for the first game, 80 bucks is a hard no for me though. I might buy it when it’s cheaper, but by then I’ll likely have seen enough clips, read enough reviews and gotten busy enough to just forget about it.

    Bummer.