Sakurai believes gaming is cheap considering what you get for the price
Sure to stir up some debate
Masahiro Sakurai has been putting out YouTube videos for a few months now, and most of them pertain to developing games. Every once in awhile he shares one that he slots into a ‘Grab Bag’ category, which means it’s just related to gaming in some way. Today is one of those videos, and the topic of discussion is game prices.
Sakurai says that he often hears people talking about how they think gaming is expensive. Sakurai doesn’t subscribe to that line of thinking, as he believes games are quite cheap when you consider what you’re getting for the price. Multiple hours of content at your disposal, according to Sakurai, makes for quite a value.
Sakurai also compares game prices from decades ago to now to show that pricing hasn’t changed all that much, if at all in some cases. It’s true that some games from the mid-nineties were priced exactly the same as big-name games today, but of course, it varies game to game.
What do you think of Sakurai’s opinion on game prices? Do you think things are too expensive, or are we getting a fantastic deal most of the time?
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linktheviking
1+ y agoSakurai isn’t wrong. N64 games were often €70. Wii games were mostly €50 and Switch games range between €50-€60.
Things are even more affordable on PC nowadays and to a lesser extent with Gamepass.
I would note, however, that Nintendo first party is the least affordable publisher. Their games rarely go on sale and pretty much never drop in price permanently. Launch day Switch games are their original price today when bought new.
conangiga
1+ y agoConsidering a 2 hour movie costs 10-15 € and I can buy 100 hour RPGs for 50-60 €...he's right. Simple as that.
Nintendo's prices might not go down over time but their new games cost 50-60 € while new PS5 games are 80 €. My jaw dropped to the floor when I saw those prices for the first time.
Yes but a new PS5 game won’t be €80 in 5 years. I’ll bet you’ll be able to buy God of War Ragnarok, new, for €20 or less in 5 years.
riftsilver
1+ y agoHe definitely hits the nail on the head. I can look at the money I spent on entertainment other than video games, and subsequently the amount of time I spend with it, and games an amazing value. That value tends to vary a little bit depending on who you are, someone might spend $60 on a game they finish in 40 hours and never play it again, but someone else might spend 2-3x or more in the game.
If you don't think a game is worth the price, that's certainly up to you to decide, but I have no problem buying a new game, or even a remaster/remake for full price if I know I'm going to put some good time into the game.
smasher89
1+ y agoDepends, if you compare getting everything in say xenoblade 2 that you can get, compared to diablo on mobile phones, its huuuge differences, you could buy a house for the money you spend in diablo and xenoblade you can play probably 3-4h per euro with new content all the time.
MTX is proably what people complain about, not the initial prize ( looking at the discounts on 3 of the 4 or 5 platforms makes it very cheap if you get something later).
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