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 Posted: Sun, 26th Sep 2010 21:01 Post subject: THQ: The future is cheaper games but tons of DLCs |
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http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2010-09-24-thq-costs-are-much-lower-for-kinect-move-development
| Quote: | Farrell's presentation to investors, which saw THQ's shares climb as a result of its positivity, also touched on some interesting points about pricing models.
Discussing the price point of THQ's successful MX series of off-road racing games, the CEO revealed that the next title in the series, due in fiscal year 2012, will experiment with a new form of pricing which he likened to a 'hybrid' of microtransaction and DLC models.
"Normally, we bring the thing out at $59.99, and it does reasonably well - one million to one and a half million units, then when we lower the price to a mass market price and the thing really jumps at the mass markets because, as you might expect, MX is a very mass market brand.
"So what we're doing this time is coming out initially with a smaller game at a lower price point, at the $29-$39 range, and then doing a download model for different modes, different tracks, different vehicles. We call it hybrid because it's a take on the microtransaction and DLC models.
"I'm a big believer in monetising everything under the curve so we capture that $29-$39 user no matter what," he added. "But if a person wants to spend a $100 on a game then they can do that as well. I think that's the future of gaming. Whether it's a take on this model or the free-to-play model, this is where our industry is going." |
tl;dr companies in the future will be stripping all sorts of content and functionality from their games, releasing them for the "low" price of 40$ and selling like 10 DLCs that add everything that's missing from the base game.
Console derps rejoice! The future is for you! 
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| Posted: Sun, 26th Sep 2010 21:17 Post subject: |
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With Fallout 3 dlc I thought they where worth every penny, but then again the base game is huge ander nothing really was missing from it, they where only adding.
When the consumer stops buying games that are not complete, they will stop making them, THQ has an opinion now but that can change in time...
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chiv
Posts: 27530
Location: Behind You...
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| Posted: Sun, 26th Sep 2010 21:18 Post subject: |
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wont be long until all you get for your 50 bucks is the box.
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| Posted: Sun, 26th Sep 2010 21:27 Post subject: |
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You know what? Fuck Em!!! After buying Dragon Age I have decided that I will only buy the "main" game in the future, and pirate the Dlc since most of it sucks way beyond anyway.
But now I'm thinking that I will simply stop buying games...I mean, these micro management systems are only there to Maximize profits for the companies, because the costumers can't keep track of how much they spend on each game (Well, they can, but I don't think that many will take the time to do so).
Let THQ and others try their shitty new thing, it will probably work out for a couple of years, until even the morons realize what these companies are doing, and then things probably go back to the current state. So I'm just gonna play games for free for a couple of years...
Last edited by maul_inc on Sun, 26th Sep 2010 21:30; edited 1 time in total
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TSR69
Banned
Posts: 14962
Location: Republic of the Seven United Provinces
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| Posted: Sun, 26th Sep 2010 21:29 Post subject: |
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You can try to sell air but at some point the consumer doesn't buy it any more. In time DLC will be something that only successful titles will have, me thinks.
Formerly known as iconized
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| Posted: Sun, 26th Sep 2010 21:37 Post subject: |
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im all for DLC bring it on.
wont be long until even console derps catch on its the biggest rip off ever
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| Posted: Sun, 26th Sep 2010 21:39 Post subject: |
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What I'm going to do is buy the collectors edition (even if it is one year later) so that I don't have to waste extra moolah on the DLC...
1 and 2 are still amazing.
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| Posted: Sun, 26th Sep 2010 21:43 Post subject: |
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| Posted: Sun, 26th Sep 2010 21:45 Post subject: |
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Nothing new here.. except me figuring out how to get rich at the expense of game  I will be joining the game industry as soon as I graduate.
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chiv
Posts: 27530
Location: Behind You...
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| Posted: Sun, 26th Sep 2010 21:47 Post subject: |
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i suspect that dlc will eventually evolve in such a way that MOST games will eventually adopt the episodic format, like a tv show.. sell the first game that is little more than an entry tutorial level, then just keep adding and adding new mission levels, charging a high price, especially denying gamers an 'ending' or any kind of closure to the story, in favor of shitloads of padding every month.
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ixigia
[Moderator] Consigliere
Posts: 65074
Location: Italy
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| Posted: Sun, 26th Sep 2010 21:49 Post subject: |
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As long as DLCs are easily crackable, this policy is fine for me. 
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| Posted: Sun, 26th Sep 2010 21:50 Post subject: |
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Again this type of system is nothing new, it's been done before and it's very active in South Korea for one, they get 1/4 of a game then have to pay to play more.
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chiv
Posts: 27530
Location: Behind You...
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| Posted: Sun, 26th Sep 2010 21:55 Post subject: |
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| ixigia wrote: | | As long as DLCs are easily crackable, this policy is fine for me. |
actually if games did go episodic like i have foretold, then that would piss me right the fuck off, because i generally hate to start something that hasnt been finished yet, and is unsure exactly when it will be finished and where the story is going... episodic games would essentially kill gamiing for me if more developers decided to go that route. |
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| Posted: Sun, 26th Sep 2010 21:57 Post subject: |
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| Posted: Sun, 26th Sep 2010 21:58 Post subject: |
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Well, we will vote with our wallets (and jdownloader/utorrent)
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| Posted: Sun, 26th Sep 2010 22:00 Post subject: |
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| Guy_Incognito wrote: | | Well, we will vote with our wallets (and jdownloader/utorrent) |
Yeah, WE will... but what about the other ten million brainless sheep out there? They'll snap this up in an instant, just like they did with the Dead Rising 2 "demo" and shit like the MW/MW2 map packs.
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chiv
Posts: 27530
Location: Behind You...
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| Posted: Sun, 26th Sep 2010 22:04 Post subject: |
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i mean just imagine something like mass effect 2 as an episodic game... 20 bucks... awesome! get the intro mission, then you do that first main mission where you meet the fishbowl heads and defeat that mech that the crazy fishbowl dude sent after you, then 'the end'
month later, another 10 bucks gets you the jack recruitment and jack loyalty... also 3 planets you can scan for resources.
month later, another 10 bucks gets you the overlord mission. 2 new planets to scan for resources
month later, another 10 bucks gets you omega and mordin mission + 2 planets with random encounters.
month later, another 10 bucks gets you mordin loyalty mission, 1 new weapon, and another random encounter mission. also 1 new planet with resources.
no
fucking
thankyou.
a year later, no end in sight, no closure, just keep adding shit to stretch the bullshit, with gamers pathetically hoping that each new episode will give SOME kind of story progress and depth, gently weeping into their wallets time and again that their hope is in vain, but theyve started this journey, now they must see it though or admit the 7 previous episodes were a waste of time and money... NO.. WE MUST *sob* PUSH... ON...
Last edited by chiv on Sun, 26th Sep 2010 22:06; edited 1 time in total
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deelix
PDIP Member
Posts: 32062
Location: Norway
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| Posted: Sun, 26th Sep 2010 22:04 Post subject: |
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DLC is fine to PC indeed^^
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| Posted: Sun, 26th Sep 2010 22:06 Post subject: |
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they already did that as a test in ASSASSIN CREED 2
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chiv
Posts: 27530
Location: Behind You...
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| Posted: Sun, 26th Sep 2010 22:09 Post subject: |
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| maul_inc wrote: | | and maybe Valve since they haven't sold out yet Imho). |
yeah its always comforting to know that valve would never touch the episodic gaming format, overprice the games on their digital distribution system, or lie to the community and abandon l4d in favour of making a fullpriced sequel the second they pushed the first one out the door, thus abandoning the first one before its even had a chance to age...*grumble, mutter, curse* |
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| Posted: Sun, 26th Sep 2010 22:15 Post subject: |
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| chiv wrote: | | maul_inc wrote: | | and maybe Valve since they haven't sold out yet Imho). |
yeah its always comforting to know that valve would never touch the episodic gaming format, overprice the games on their digital distribution system, or lie to the community and abandon l4d in favour of making a fullpriced sequel the second they pushed the first one out the door, thus abandoning the first one before its even had a chance to age...*grumble, mutter, curse* |
Ah Come on man...They have sales all the time and Left4dead1 is still supported (I own both games, I just wish that they would merge them, and that might eventually happen since No Mercy will be ported into L4D2).
As for Episodic gaming, I think Valve have learned their lesson...
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| Posted: Sun, 26th Sep 2010 22:26 Post subject: |
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Last edited by Yondaime on Mon, 2nd Dec 2024 15:51; edited 1 time in total
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| Posted: Sun, 26th Sep 2010 22:32 Post subject: |
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Same shit was proposed with microtransaction and adds in games. How did those work out? Every once in a while some fad arrives in gamesland, not many remain after a couple of months/years. There will come a time when gamers will check their wallets and "wtf!? I've actually paid 100 bucks for a game that would be 50 in ancient times!!!". MAybe I'm just hoping though.
As for DLCs, they're actually great. How they're (ab)used is pure shit.
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| Posted: Mon, 27th Sep 2010 00:04 Post subject: |
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How are sales "crap"? I see no similarity between worthless DLCs and sales for good, yet old games, on Steam.
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| Posted: Mon, 27th Sep 2010 00:33 Post subject: |
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| Mister_s wrote: | | How are sales "crap"? I see no similarity between worthless DLCs and sales for good, yet old games, on Steam. |
I didn't say that Steam sales were crap. But not all the games on steam are great, despite that, when there is a big sale like the recent summer sale, you will see even the bad games getting bought simply because they are incredibly cheap.
My point is, that when something is REALLY cheap, then a lot of people will buy it simply because it doesn't really matter if the game is good or not when something is 10$ or less since it's still cheaper than watching a film at the Cinema (at least in my country) and when you go to the Cinema you can't be sure if the film will be worth your money, just like when you buy a game.
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| Posted: Mon, 27th Sep 2010 03:14 Post subject: |
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So we're gonna get games like:
1. Game released, half done, small amount of missions, the box is made out of recycled plastic, with a cheap ass chinese DVD that the game is burnt on. The manual is gone, and the cover is a paper with the game title written with a marker.
2. After game release, release DLC's to add more missions, more story, more weapons, charge each DLC 5-15 $/Euros.
3. Release the actual game cover as an addon, charge 5$/Euros for it.
4. Rinse and repeat.
I smell ol' Bobby Kotick will be happy.
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