Early in the gamesblog's life I proposed that videogames cost as much as they do for several good reasons. Almost immediately, the deluge of outrage descended and we racked up more comments that day than we'd received in the months we'd been posting to date.
Forbes.com has taken a closer and perhaps more objective look than I did back in the day, explaining why the popular title Gears of War costs $60 USD,and why most new generation games will set you back almost 20% more than previous generation titles. They break it down this way:
The remaining $59 per game goes into many hands. The biggest portion--nearly 45%--goes toward simply programming and designing the game itself. Then the console maker, retailer and marketers each get a cut. Add in manufacturing and management costs, and depending on the type of game, a license fee. Some gamemakers also have to pay a distributor to help get their titles in stores.
Now, it seems that most people who don't play games cite greater concerns with wasting time more than wasting money, but the price hikes - combined with increasing industry resistance to second-hand game sales - mean that costs will surely become an important issue in the great scheme to involve wider audiences.
Surely most new recruits to the Wii will resist splashing out their hard earned for a piece of software, instead piggybacking on the decisions of more convinced gamers. If the new recruits happen to be the money-winners in the family unit, they'll pay for the games recommended by their playing progeny (this is one of the reasons the purchasing statistics which industry bodies spinout as "age of gamers" are misleading, and player-centred analyses like the BBC's 2005 report are better predictors).
Same goes for new PS3/Xbox 360 media centre owners. New gamers (read, people in the same house who happen to benefit from the purchasing decision of the console owner) are unlikely to go out and spend wads of cash on a great unknown when it costs more than some mobile phones.
Thankfully, the savvy console manufacturers are aware of this, and their efforts to market to the casual gamer will ensure that the machines are in place when someone decides to take that dive deep into their pocketbooks. Until then, prices for the more traditional games will continue to increase, and platform holders will make ends meet with cheap game/music/movie downloads via their internet connections.
