Why is 20 dollars asking too much?

[Gaming Snob]

This is something I see a lot from the gaming community, but I'm still not able to understand. We spend money on frivolous things constantly. Expensive food we don't need, clothes even though you have plenty of good shirts, etc etc.

But here comes Gone Home, a game that actually means something, and just because it's "only" 3 hours long, 20 dollars is some sort of insult? They are asking way to much? Never mind that those 3 hours are packed with some of the freshest, best story telling in a long time. Or great voice acting with some perfect atmosphere. 3 hours that make you feel connected to something that doesn't really exist.

Of course, if this sort of game isn't your thing, I wouldn't expect you to pay even 5 dollars. But when I see "18 dollars? Pass.", I get really... really frustrated.

Gone Home is well worth the asking price, and something that shouldn't be held against it. If it seems interesting to you at all, don't let the price deter you. You'll be hard pressed to find something more worth your cash.

[matti_kuusisto]

I played about 100 hours of 'Diablo 3', but I think the 3 hours spent with this 'Gone Home' held more value. Even with big companies constantly releasing and hyping up big games, I still find it easier to squeeze the money out of my ass than actually finding a game to spend it on. And 20 bucks isn't a small amount of money for me.

[mithrril]

I bought the game and I really enjoyed it. I only got 2 hours out of it and I felt like I was seeing everything. I know I must have missed some things but I wasn't rushing through it at all. The reviews I read of it said it's a 4 to 5 hour game, which I think is worth $20. I two hour game is kinda pushing it. That's a lot of money for 2 to 2 1/2 hours of enjoyment. Don't get me wrong. I really enjoyed the game and I don't want my money back or anything, but I think $15 would have been a better price point for the length. I can go to a two hour movie for $6.50 on a weekend morning so $20 for a game of the same length is a little high. Still, if you enjoy this type of game (which I do), you should still get it. I just wish I had waited for a better sale since I don't have all that much entertainment spending money to be throwing around in the first place.

[Centauri2002]

They were selling it cheaper on their website so I ended up getting this for just over £11 yesterday. After I finished it in 2.3 hours this morning, I actually felt bad for having gone for the lower price. I'm not exactly someone who can afford to throw my money away but I think they deserve every penny they get for sharing this game with us.

[Skullinane]

It was a good game, and an interesting experience, but let's be honest. It was pretty boring. I hope that in the future there are more games like Gone Home, because it is a nice idea. That said, this didn't feel like a $20 game to me at all. I played Cart Life earlier this year for a couple of bucks, and that game was far deeper than Gone Home. Papers, Please is another exceptional title that is incredibly deep and thought provoking. $10. I think that the disconnect comes in the established perception of value. Let's not kid ourselves. $20 is like the entry tier to being a premium priced game. $20 will get you an older AAA title, or an excellent indie production. Gone Home didn't feel like either to me. Those are just my thoughts on this.

[Ericz]

I'll probably buy it today, but yeah, i read some topics here and if the game is really 3 hours long, 20 dollars is too much.

The kind of comparison people do in these kind of threads just doesn't make sense to me...

Talking about the costs of voice acting makes a 10 dollars dvd movie seems like a cheap gun, and it's not. Comparing with food is also bizarre, i don't eat on McDonalds, i eat at home because these kind of waste is not my style. So, we have to compare with games, digital distribution by the way, and so it's too much expensive.

I'm the kind of people who have more than 20hs in a game like Proteus, and i still playing it sometimes. The kind of people who had 14 years at 1990, the last good decade concerning music, so i'll probably like that game, i'll not regret the price, but still too much expensive anyway.

[Ibuki]

Everyone determines the value of the game on their own. If they don't think $20 dollars (or slightly less) is worth it for a short visual entertainment experience, so be it. I think it was worth every penny and I would go back in time and buy it again if I could.

[Exwin]

I love the concept of this game, I hope that the indie company does well and I will probably buy this, when it hits the 8 dollar rack.

I'm not saying people paying full price for this are fools or anything, much to the contrary, I'm thankful someone else is lining the pockets for products so I can buy them much cheaper.

For entertainment, a shopper should quantitate his or her interested item. Such important factors include Length of time of enjoyment (Te), Level of enjoyment (multiple) (Le), and then weigh those vs. cost($) and disposable income ($i).

Te(Le) vs. $i - $

Example. An oil rig worker pays for a "happy ending" in a massage parlor. It is expensive and it's not going to last long, but (having not seen a female in 2 months) his enjoyment level is high. It is the right investment for him.

"Gone Home" looks cool as hell, BUT only lasting 2 hours with almost no replay value, in respect to gaming is very, very short. Even though it may freaking rock, a cost of just under 10 bucks an hour is to darn high. To compare, I put about 200 hours into the worlds of Skyrim and Portal 2, at 60 bucks that's about 30 cents an hour. That is 333 times better return for my investment than this game.

[matti_kuusisto]

Exwin a écrit :

I love the concept of this game, I hope that the indie company does well and I will probably buy this, when it hits the 8 dollar rack.

I'm not saying people paying full price for this are fools or anything, much to the contrary, I'm thankful someone else is lining the pockets for products so I can buy them much cheaper.

For entertainment, a shopper should quantitate his or her interested item. Such important factors include Length of time of enjoyment (Te), Level of enjoyment (multiple) (Le), and then weigh those vs. cost($) and disposable income ($i).

Te(Le) vs. $i - $

Example. An oil rig worker pays for a "happy ending" in a massage parlor. It is expensive and it's not going to last long, but (having not seen a female in 2 months) his enjoyment level is high. It is the right investment for him.

"Gone Home" looks cool as hell, BUT only lasting 2 hours with almost no replay value, in respect to gaming is very, very short. Even though it may freaking rock, a cost of just under 10 bucks an hour is to darn high. To compare, I put about 200 hours into the worlds of Skyrim and Portal 2, at 60 bucks that's about 30 cents an hour. That is 333 times better return for my investment than this game.

When it comes to games that I've played for >50 hours, I often come to doubt if their value is worth even just the time I've spent on playing them. Like with Skyrim and D3. I have to be careful to stay far away of those kind of games in the future.

[Raven Wolfe]

I just don't understand the complaining about this game/price. It's not a normal game. When you go to the movies with someone it cost more than this and if you buy a new release blu-ray it cost more than this. The only difference between this and a movie is that you have some control over this. This isn't a normal game, so complaining about it's pricing like it is a normal game doesn't make sense.

I feel like if this wasn't an interactive experience, and was somehow a movie but was getting the great reviews and press still, the very same people who are complaining would probably go watch it. Just because the experience is labeled as a game, when it's not really, is all that is making people complain.

[Uncharted_Steve]

for a video game it IS over priced, dont get me wrong, its a great story, and i think its a very good game overall BUT it is short.. $10 would be fair, I watched someone play through the game on youtube and if the price point was $10 id be buying it today.

[RighteousNixon]

As long as DVD's and Blu Ray movies remain 20 bucks at release, I see no reason why games that are equally as long, shouldnt charge the same thing when they first come out. People have no problem paying 20 bucks for newly released movies, even when many of them have already paid 10-15 bucks to see the film in the theatre. Not to mention that a significant percentage of films are already profitable (some sickeningly so) by the time they hit DVD/BluRay yet people still have no problem paying 20 bucks. These games havent made penny one yet when they are released to the market. So if anything, I think those kinds of prices are significantly more justified on the gaming side.

I have no problem spending 20-50 bucks on a game, as long as I know the money is actually going to the developer and not some lame company like Gamestop. Hence why I never buy used games. Of course, I am talking about the price of a game when its first put on the market. The price always comes down eventually so those who think 20 is too much, can simply wait until the price drops. Its no different than those who think 20 is too much for DVD's and Blu rays. Those people wait and buy them later on for less money. If you want the movie or game when its first put on the market, your going to pay a premium price. To think that 20 is too much of a premium price...well, I couldnt possible disagree more.

[Atwa]

I just finished it, and enjoyed my time but ♥♥♥♥ me.. 1.9 hours time steam logged, on the other hand I bought Spelunky for 14 euro and that game have lasted me 16 hours and I am nowhere close to being done. Dear Esther is really the most similar game I can think of to this and they charged 8 euros. I really think the developers pulled a number here by charging the price they did. I am glad there is some pushback from the community. I suggest waiting for the first big sale and then getting it, cause its certainly worth seeing but not at the price it currently is at.

[PotentialWhale]

RighteousNixon a écrit :

As long as DVD's and Blu Ray movies remain 20 bucks at release, I see no reason why games that are equally as long, shouldnt charge the same thing when they first come out. People have no problem paying 20 bucks for newly released movies, even when many of them have already paid 10-15 bucks to see the film in the theatre. Not to mention that many films are already profitable (some sickeningly so) by the time they hit DVD/BluRay yet people still have no problem paying 20 bucks. These games havent made penny one yet when they are released to the market. So if anything, I think those kinds of prices are significantly more substanticated on the gaming side than the movie side.

I have no problem spending 20-50 bucks on a game, as long as I know the money is actually going to the developer and not some lame company like Gamestop. Hence why I never buy used games.

I see no reason to respond to every point because if you bothered to read anything in this discussion you would see that has all been covered.
But I would like to point out to you that you are making a giant assumption. Your assumption is that the very same people who are willing to spend $20 to go out to a movie and then $20 to immediately buy that same movie when it gets released on Bluray are the exact same people who are budget shoppers and prefer spend $10 on a video game.

I mean really, I think the crowd you're talking about are the ones who buy the new iProducts and go to Starbucks. The deal shoppers are deal shoppers in all aspects of their life. Frugality doesn't come and go.

[RighteousNixon]

Atwa a écrit :

I just finished it, and enjoyed my time but ♥♥♥♥ me.. 1.9 hours time steam logged, on the other hand I bought Spelunky for 14 euro and that game have lasted me 16 hours and I am nowhere close to being done. Dear Esther is really the most similar game I can think of to this and they charged 8 euros. I really think the developers pulled a number here by charging the price they did. I am glad there is some pushback from the community. I suggest waiting for the first big sale and then getting it, cause its certainly worth seeing but not at the price it currently is at.

Some games you just get far more value for your money, in regards to the amount of time played vs the overall cost. There is no denying that fact. I have put over 200 hours into Terraria and I payed less than 5 dollars for it. Thats more time than I have put into the last 5 - $50 dollar games I have purchased combined. That doesnt suddenly mean those 5 - $50 dollar games weren't worth the money because they absolutely were, at least imo. It just means that I got FAR more entertainment value out of Terraria than I did those other games. As you stated, the people that don't want to spend 20 can simply wait for the inevitable sale that will come.

[RighteousNixon]

DPT NEW ENGLAND a écrit :

RighteousNixon a écrit :

As long as DVD's and Blu Ray movies remain 20 bucks at release, I see no reason why games that are equally as long, shouldnt charge the same thing when they first come out. People have no problem paying 20 bucks for newly released movies, even when many of them have already paid 10-15 bucks to see the film in the theatre. Not to mention that many films are already profitable (some sickeningly so) by the time they hit DVD/BluRay yet people still have no problem paying 20 bucks. These games havent made penny one yet when they are released to the market. So if anything, I think those kinds of prices are significantly more substanticated on the gaming side than the movie side.

I have no problem spending 20-50 bucks on a game, as long as I know the money is actually going to the developer and not some lame company like Gamestop. Hence why I never buy used games.

I see no reason to respond to every point because if you bothered to read anything in this discussion you would see that has all been covered.
But I would like to point out to you that you are making a giant assumption. Your assumption is that the very same people who are willing to spend $20 to go out to a movie and then $20 to immediately buy that same movie when it gets released on Bluray are the exact same people who are budget shoppers and prefer spend $10 on a video game.

I mean really, I think the crowd you're talking about are the ones who buy the new iProducts and go to Starbucks. The deal shoppers are deal shoppers in all aspects of their life. Frugality doesn't come and go.

First off, I didn't realize reading every post in a thread was mandatory if I wanted to chime in. if I read every post in every thread I ever repsonded in....well, lets just say I would be spending the vast majority of my time reading posts and would never actually get around to making a post. No thanks!! If you don't like my posts or you think my posts are repeating something that has already been said, then dont read them, its that simple. And just because someone else made a similar point, doesnt mean that I cant still voice my opinion on the matter. Not sure what country you live in but I live in the US, and here we have the freedom to voice our opinions.

As for your claims, I never made any such assumptions. I was merely discussing the overall accpetance of those price levels when such products are first released on the market. I never stated anything even close to what your saying, that the people buying these films at full price are the same deal shoppers who prefer to spend 10 bucks on a game. Talk about putting words into other people's mouths.

As I clearly stated in the very first part of my post, as long as a game is equally as long as a movie (basically 2+ hours), I see no reason why the developers shouldnt charge the same price that film studios do when they first release their product (generally around 20 bucks). I do not believe that movies are a pemium form of entertainment, and as such should be able to charge more per hour of entertainment. If anything, my opinion is the exact opposite as I personally view gaming as a premium form of entertainment as it actually requires you to partake in the action. You dont just sit there for 2 hours staring at a screen.