[Ladyxxmacbeth]

I can understand why wii games are cheaper because they are rubbish but why is the same game cheaper on PC?

[Delboy219]

I've wondered that too. PC gaming is THE VERY BEST THING EVAR according to the youtube comment section (and on some threads in here) so why do they get them so cheap?

It is possibly because they don't sell that much of them to begin with?

[flashyphotos]

When you buy a Console game you are supporting t the cost of the console with a portion of the cost of the game going back to the console make through licencing fees that cover its often initial subsidized cost, but in the end just give the bloated console makes huge profits on the games.

No such fees on PC games hence much cheaper gaming.

[Ladyxxmacbeth]

hmmm so we are being conned into thinking a console is cheaper? and Im subsidising people who only play cod with their 160 gamer score....Grrr hmm makes sense that all those failed consoles that cost a lot at the time were sort of right.

[Mark A]

Game prices, consoles especially, are simply a matter of 'what the market will stand' and have been since the beginning of the video game market itself.

Regards

Mark

[Proposition Joe]

Originally Posted by Mark A

Game prices, consoles especially, are simply a matter of 'what the market will stand' and have been since the beginning of the video game market itself.

Regards

Mark

.
Might as well wrap up the thread here.

[mojobrew]

Originally Posted by Mark A

Goods prices are simply a matter of 'what the market will stand' and have been since the beginning of the concept of money itself.

Fixed.

[Ladyxxmacbeth]

Originally Posted by Proposition Joe

.
Might as well wrap up the thread here.

I tried to but couldn't find he Sellotape

[Vast_Girth]

As far as im aware about £10 from every sale goes straight to MS/Sony. Hence the games being about £10 more expensive for new releases.

[Davonator]

I remember a while back that the 360 controller in PC/Windows packaging had an RRP of £5 less than the exact same controller in 360 packaging, even though they were exactly the same product. Both black and both wired.

http://576kbyte.hu/images/Hardware/b...e5/Cover/b.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71g5OO1J3KL.jpg

I see Amazon are selling them for the same price now but it wasn't the case for ages, I never knew why.

[Rorschach]

Surely the "cool factor" plays a part with the demand (and therefore the price), just like it does with mobile phones and tablets.

Many people don't want a PC sitting in their house but are happy to have a console, even if they have to pay more.

Part of this will be because a console will take up less space, but partly it will be because a PC has a much different public image than a 360 or the like.

[beemoh]

The royalty fees thing is relevant, but more important is the fact that there is basically no used market for PC games.

This allows a major budget market for PC games to exist- think ranges like Xplosiv, Sold Out or White Label- allowing publishers to set their prices lower early in a title's life knowing there's a good chance they'll still be seeing money come in from the game six months or a year later which isn't the case for console games as by this time that market will have been swallowed by used titles.

[BinaryDad]

Originally Posted by beemoh

The royalty fees thing is relevant, but more important is the fact that there is basically no used market for PC games.

I'd say that the licensing and manufacturing fees are pretty much the main driver in how much higher console games are than PC games.

Long ago, when I worked for the UK's last big publisher, we were allowed to buy PC and PS2 games at cost. PC games were 5 quid, and PS2 games were 15 quid.

And with these fees increasing quite a bit on the current platforms, especially for those using Blu-Ray tech, it's an even bigger factor.

[Parthenon]

Originally Posted by Ladyxxmacbeth

hmmm so we are being conned into thinking a console is cheaper? and Im subsidising people who only play cod with their 160 gamer score....Grrr hmm makes sense that all those failed consoles that cost a lot at the time were sort of right.

You are subsidising them in a way... but then again, Activision make so much money out of the COD community with all the DLC and I suspect MS/Sony get a slice of that too. EA do the same.

Sony started off selling the PS3 at a substantial loss per unit sold. It's similar to the marketing tactics used by Amazon with the Kindle. They just want to get the products into people's hands at a low price and then they rely heavily on software sales to make up the deficit. This isn't the case with PC games.

[Rich_L]

Piracy is easier on the PC so the prices are lower to tempt people to buy the originals. Consoles not so straight forward so they can rip you off charging £20 more than a pc game.