Do you think games are often worth full retail price? (e.g. $60 USD)

[hoshichiri]

I rarely, if ever, pay full release retail for a game at any price point. It's not that I think $30/$40/$60 is a bad price... it's that I rarely play a game during its release window. For example- in my current pre-release wishlist I have Bayonetta 3. Well, I haven't played Bayonetta 2 yet, and it's not currently high on the priority list. If I don't play it before 3 releases, I know I won't be playing 3 at release... so why buy it at release? Better to wait and buy it cheap, so even if it sits on my shelf awhile, I don't have to feel too bad about it.

I'll happily pay full retail & even pre-order games I know I'll start immediately. Katamari Damacy is one of my all-time favorites, so I pre-ordered that. Shadow of the Colossus is/was also a high point, so both Last Guardian & the remake were purchased very early on- the only reason they weren't preordered is the holiday release window. I was hoping for a Christmas or birthday present. (I was successful in getting a Colossus gift, but not Last Guardian. I think the notable agitation over that prompted the pre-order, actually!)

[masamune]

In my personal view, a game isn't worth $60 if it's not a complete product. Games that come with bugs to be later patched, future DLCs, etc. aren't worth the full price at retail. I'd rather wait until the inevitable "complete" edition with the lower price tag to boot.

[gf78]

In my personal view, a game isn't worth $60 if it's not a complete product. Games that come with bugs to be later patched, future DLCs, etc. aren't worth the full price at retail. I'd rather wait until the inevitable "complete" edition with the lower price tag to boot.

Well said. That's why this far, I have been able to trust Nintendo. My wife and I were talking about random shit, and I told her that even if I never connected my Nintendo system(s) to the internet, they will all play perfectly fine out of the box. I respect Nintendo for holding a game back until it's actually a complete product. Pretty much every PS4 and Xbox One game these days has an enormous day-one patch and a bazillion little ones after. Because they are rushed to market before they are ready. Sony 1st party titles avoid these pitfalls for the most part in my experience.

[marvelvscapcom2]

Pretty much no Nintendo Switch game has been worth 60 dollars aside from BOTW and Mario Odyssey and a few others.  Nothing but rehashes from 6 years ago.  A lot of JRPGs now adays lack depth too.  (Of course i'm using hyperbole. I know their are a few like Monster Hunter that are endless)  but as a whole.  Not many were worth 60 imo.  Xbox and PS4 are a different story.

I will always pay 60 because I have to but I do think it's worth it for almost every game that is big like GTA, Red Dead, Pokemon, Kingdom Hearts.  Games that take like 5-8 years to make and are truly hundreds of hours of entertainment. 


Not many mediums of entertainment if any will grant you 100+ hours of fun for 60 dollars anyway.  And even with inflation, games haven't gone up to say 80 or 100.  Still 60 like when I was a kid.  So with that I think it's actually an incredible bargain . 

[pzeke]

The key word in your question being "often", no. In this day and age I think that's more often than not.

While I rarely bought games during their release window, the last game I did pay full retail price for and on release was Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and coincidentally that was the very first–and last–time I bit into hype. For the longest time I had this notion that I had to buy my games new because I wanted them to be as pristine as possible, which meant spending more. After I started buying used games when I became part of GameStop's rewards program, I learned to let go of buying new for the sake of saving money. As a result, I prefer waiting until the hype of a game dies down for me to pick it up. I have enough games already as it is, so the least I'm going to do is pay $60 for a game that I'll most likely keep sealed until I'm "ready" to play it. Granted, there are some very specific exceptions to this, but as a whole, I'd rather wait a bit until I finally decide to buy a new game.

[sworddude]

I rarely buy games brand new but when I do It is most definitly worth it's price.

Gaming is cheap entertainment in general for the amounts of time one can spend.

Also if everyone would just wait till prices drop no new games would be made wich is bad thing. If your a fan of a certain franchise buying a game at full price will most definitely increase the chances of a new game being released of that series in the future since otherwise if profits are low they might just call it quits.

If you enjoy a series allot I'd say the 60$ is most definitly worth it's value. Obviously I can see a point if one where to have a huge backlog and that the game is not really a must play for the user just thrown onto the pile essentially a waste of a 60$ in those cases I do see why people will wait for a game to drop in price.

[huffy]

I am willing to pay a full $60 if it is a physical copy with the entire game on disc/cartridge and it has no DLC or micro transactions and is playable without a patch, unfortunately that is rare these days. I'm not willing to pay even 25 cents for a digitally distributed game.
Games are more expensive than ever when you take into consideration you don't get a manual, DLC and micro transactions exist, and games are intentionally released unplayable since they can be patched through some online platform. Digitally distributed games are the most expensive by far since on top of what I already listed, you obviously don't get a physical copy either.
Some people say sales make digital cheaper, but low cost does not equal cheap. If a restaurant charges $5 for a sip of water, that sip of water is not cheap just because it is only $5. $100 might be expensive for an ounce of silver, but that is cheap for an ounce of gold. Paying for a digitally distributed game is essentially giving a donation to a company, and the game and digital distribution companies won't even admit it.

[necrosexual]

i only pay full for pokemon and the like. most games? nah. better come with some extras like etrian odyssey v with its soundtrack and art book, or radiant historia.

i will totally pay for art books tho.

[astrolorange]

Depends on the game, how much enjoyment I can get out of it, and how much replay value it has. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate I already put in 150 hours and I plan on playing it at least another 150 more. So that was already more than worth $60 I paid. Same goes for Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. 120 hours in and still not done. Even with the DLC price it was worth the $80+ it came to. I played the crap out of the game and loved every minute of it. Kirby Star Allies? Not worth $60. Fun game but super short and not all that fun, for a Kirby game.

[Warmsignal]

$60? No sale. I feel like games have always been overpriced compared to other forms of entertainment. $20? Yeah, I'd pay that for a new release any day of the week. $30 is kinda okay too. $40? That's pushing it. $60 is just ridiculous for one game. All I can say is game developers must get payed a handsome rate if they have to ask $60 per unit on the product.

Honestly, I think games are huge waste of money for the most part. Mostly because they just cost too much and it adds up so quickly. I was so much better off when I stopped spending any money on games, they're such an unneccasry financial drain. But I've got the collector bug in me, and it's hard to resist.

[oldgamerz]

$60? No sale. I feel like games have always been overpriced compared to other forms of entertainment. $20? Yeah, I'd pay that for a new release any day of the week. $30 is kinda okay too. $40? That's pushing it. $60 is just ridiculous for one game. All I can say is game developers must get payed a handsome rate if they have to ask $60 per unit on the product.

Honestly, I think games are huge waste of money for the most part. Mostly because they just cost too much and it adds up so quickly. I was so much better off when I stopped spending any money on games, they're such an unneccasry financial drain. But I've got the collector bug in me, and it's hard to resist.

I personally both agree and disagree, I myself haven't bought any game in a long time. used or new. I now spend my money on cheaper forms of entertainment aka music CD's. Only because I find enjoyment from music more than most video games currently.

 But as far as entertainment goes Video game can offer more entertainment for your money but playing a video game can often be frustrating and I feel since, (like you) I have a large collection and for me I don't even use most of it because I am currently too depressed to play my games

I just saw your collection  @Warmsignal and it's HUGE and I also feel the same way. In that I just can't get into video games like I used to and for me it's mental, and I get frustrated easy with most games today.

[Warmsignal]

$60? No sale. I feel like games have always been overpriced compared to other forms of entertainment. $20? Yeah, I'd pay that for a new release any day of the week. $30 is kinda okay too. $40? That's pushing it. $60 is just ridiculous for one game. All I can say is game developers must get payed a handsome rate if they have to ask $60 per unit on the product.

Honestly, I think games are huge waste of money for the most part. Mostly because they just cost too much and it adds up so quickly. I was so much better off when I stopped spending any money on games, they're such an unneccasry financial drain. But I've got the collector bug in me, and it's hard to resist.

I personally both agree and disagree, I myself haven't bought any game in a long time. used or new. I now spend my money on cheaper forms of entertainment aka music CD's. Only because I find enjoyment from music more than most video games currently.

 But as far as entertainment goes Video game can offer more entertainment for your money but playing a video game can often be frustrating and I feel since, (like you) I have a large collection and for me I don't even use most of it because I am currently too depressed to play my games

I just saw your collection  @Warmsignal and it's HUGE and I also feel the same way. In that I just can't get into video games like I used to and for me it's mental, and I get frustrated easy with most games today.

I know that for me, a music CD offers much more replay value than the average game. My favorite games of all time, I might only want to play through them once every few years. With music, the amount of times I replay an audio CD is countless. As someone who plays music as a hobby, I have a lot of appreciation for songs and instrumentation. I go back to a lot of the same albums multiple times per year and listen to them for weeks at a time. Most games are over in a matter of hours, and you probably won't feel like playing them again.

I can agree and also find that for me, music is much more therapeutic to my mood than playing a game. It's more an expression of reality, rather than fantasy. It's not valued nearly as much as a game though. I theorize that the bloated value of video games likely stems back to their origin, back in the age of arcade machines and Atari, when such an item was seen as very novel and "high tech". Although today it's not that novel, and it's not really that high tech anymore. There's more tech built into our phones now, than a machine that simply plays a game on a screen. Yet the prices remain at $60 a pop on each game, and the consoles aren't exactly cheap either.

Sorry to hear about your depression. I've been through it a number of times, and I know how it can take a toll on your interests and motivations. But apart from that issue, games these days don't appeal as much to me, because they're too involved in every aspect. I like "pick up and play" games - games which require a small learning curve and basic controls, games about the fun-factor, and not the story. They still make games like that, but they're mostly indie games that you have to download. Games like Horizon Chase, which I would definitely recommend giving a try.