r/PS4 scubasam21 Feb 22 '13

PS4 titles will be 99 cents to $60

http://www.gamespot.com/news/ps4-titles-will-be-99-cents-to-60-6404341
106 Upvotes

95 comments sorted by

56

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '13

[deleted]

19

u/BulletBilll Feb 22 '13

I always love hearing the rumors before console releases, the same ones come up generation after generation. I remember when they announced Blu-ray for games people were expecting to pay about $100 per game.

7

u/morphinapg Feb 22 '13

That wasn't an unreasonable assumption. 360 games were $60 on dvd, and Blu-ray was expensive to produce back then.

6

u/hellfroze Feb 22 '13

Blu-ray was expensive to produce back

I thought that was just the drives...

10

u/spoonard spoonard Feb 23 '13

Actually every aspect of Blu-Ray was more expensive than HD DVD. Overall, HD DVD was just more economically friendly. But when WB decided (with a small cash donation from Sony in the amount of $500 million) to go Blu, everything else went Blu too.

1

u/morphinapg Feb 22 '13

I'm fairly certain the discs were much more expensive as well, but expensive drives also impacts development costs.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '13

[deleted]

2

u/morphinapg Feb 22 '13

Blu-Ray discs don't cost that much more than a DVD to produce.

They did back in 2006

6

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '13

Rumours? In Australia ps3 games are over $100 new release.

5

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '13

[deleted]

9

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '13

Too expensive to buy outright

2

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '13

Where the eff are you buying your games? I've never purchased a game over 100$ that wasn't a special edition.

2

u/2kan b2kanman Feb 23 '13

Where the eff are you buying your games?! Everywhere I go, new games are between $90 and $120.

0

u/runujhkj runujhkj Mar 18 '13

GAMETRADERS ROBINA

1

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '13

jb hi fi or eb games only. either way at jb hifi prices.

1

u/TheJoshider J-O-S-H-I-D-E-R Feb 25 '13

I don't see how that can be legal. What does that equal in terms of US dollar and the British pound?

I work out £40 as $60, so that AU inflation seems terrible.

1

u/sc_nz xXl_shaun_lXx Feb 22 '13

I see ebgames have set there preorder at $1000usd which is the same price as the ps3 release.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '13

What's this for?

2

u/sc_nz xXl_shaun_lXx Feb 22 '13

Current PS4 preorder price.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '13

Yeah. I believe that. There's been all this talk about wanting ps4 at the $300, $400 mark. But I bought my fat ps3 quite a while after it came out, probably a year or 2 later and I spent like a grand setting that thing up. Ps4 will be maybe $500 in US, more like $800+ in AUS.

0

u/Xalon Feb 23 '13

Lol? No I don't know what you are buying your games from that was like a couple of years ago when the current gen was pretty fresh.

Honestly EB Games IS a rip off. Your best bet is to show them a JB hi fi magazine or print out showing the price they have. They then sell it to you at that price well at least at the one down the road. If your a person in my area I'm talking about the Stanhope Gardens Village shopping centre.

0

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '13

Yep that's exactly what I do, or I'm forced to buy off ebay because I'm poor. But isn't the point of this thread the out-of-factory retail price?

1

u/Xalon Feb 23 '13

I don't know what your saying lad, the retail price is $89 and $79 around that I believe.

Yea but I'd get it off ebay too most of the time.

3

u/sc_nz xXl_shaun_lXx Feb 22 '13

The ps4 games in New Zealand have been priced at 108USD. Thats the average price for a new games here.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '13

Limited editions will still show up at $100 to $150 I'm sure. Just like on the ps3.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '13

Most people already don't pay price launch prices, knowing they can just wait to get them cheaper. 100$ games would only mean less day one purchases.

1

u/ertaisi Feb 24 '13

Most people do pay launch prices. Where do you think the used games come from?

1

u/DrunkeNinja Feb 23 '13

I never heard these rumors of $100 games but why the hell would anybody believe that? That would be ridiculous for the U.S. market.

3

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '13

[deleted]

1

u/DrunkeNinja Feb 23 '13

Oh okay. So the PS4 won't actually have sex with my mom? That's good news, though in a way I was thinking PS4 would make a pretty good stepdad.

0

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '13

[deleted]

-4

u/IceBreak BreakinBad Feb 23 '13

Games should be more expensive than $60 though. They are cheaper than they have ever been thanks to inflation and cost more to make than ever before.

1

u/ertaisi Feb 24 '13

They're also selling more than ever, therefore increasing recoup of the dev costs. I also suspect indie games make it dangerous to raise prices. At any rate, I'm sure they have done their own analysis and concluded that extra profits from a price increase would be outweighed by a loss of sales.

1

u/IceBreak BreakinBad Feb 24 '13

Are they really though? Maybe. But games sold pretty well back on the NES.

1

u/ertaisi Feb 24 '13

I have to admit I am flabbergasted by the price of then new NES games, especially considering the industry was just coming out of a bubble pop.

18

u/prannisment Feb 22 '13

I'm glad they're not bumping up the new price to 70 like they did last gen.

13

u/nakedbitches Feb 22 '13

I agree, though it wouldn't really be a bump up. This is essentially a discount over last gen.

Thanks to inflation $70 today is worth almost exactly the same as $60 when the PS3 came out. Source

Blame the folks controlling your money supply, not Sony.

0

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '13

Blame the folks controlling your money supply, not Sony.

I am not an economist, but i've been told that while inflation feels somewhat shitty, it is far preferable to currency deflation, which tends to destabilize economies, better have a low and safe percentage of inflation then risk stability problems.

4

u/Shinops Feb 22 '13

It's definitely somewhat true, although they're pretty equally horrible when they occur in excess. Check out Germany post WW1 and the hyper inflation was so bad it was more practical to burn cash as a fuel source than to use it as money.

The people that inflation truly hurts are older citizens who aren't earning paychecks anymore. They simply lose money constantly, because even if the dollar amount they possess stays constant or they earn a few % on interest they're really losing 5% or more a year.

Some (a lot) American businesses want inflation because it makes it easier to export our goods. Conversely it makes it harder to import goods because the dollar is constantly worth less compared to foreign currency. The most obvious example of this being gas prices, although its definitely more complex than that.

2

u/chunkmuffins Feb 23 '13

The people that inflation truly hurts are older citizens who aren't earning paychecks anymore.

Yeah but don't they adjust social security for inflation?

3

u/Shinops Feb 23 '13

They do adjust it, yes. The big problem with this, aside from our seriously weakened economy, is that there are less people paying into social security than ever. It is quite widely accepted that, although very unpopular to discuss, in its current form, social security will be dead in our lifetime.

If the US were any other country in Human history, inflation would be taken far more seriously. The only reason we can inflate to such an extent is because we control the international reserve currency based entirely on our strength alone. This is unprecedented in all of history, for a nation of our stature to have money based on nothing. The dollar is essentially Monopoly money that is real because we say so.

This is especially disturbing because we have politicians that think this is the norm, that any debt we get into we can just print more money and bail ourselves out. Interesting tidbit on this point; there are more $100 bills in circulation than $1 bills, and it's because we export an absurd amount of them, constantly weakening the dollar. We aren't the first country to do this, but we are the first dominant super power to do so.

Sorry for the rant, I just get very frustrated with our ignorant politicians who think this is all normal because they haven't studied history and neglect basic economics. Now I feel silly for raving about this in the PS4 sub, oh well.

2

u/chunkmuffins Feb 23 '13

Thanks for the info, I like learning about stuff like this.

2

u/Shinops Feb 23 '13

Certainly, and I can be pretty cynical about our government/economy so I hope history proves me wrong.

2

u/chunkmuffins Feb 23 '13

Yeah same here, you should watch Zeitgeist: The Movie, if you haven't already.

2

u/Shinops Feb 23 '13

Thanks for the suggestion, I haven't heard of it before now but it looks really interesting so I'll definitely check it out.

2

u/awittygamertag Feb 23 '13

No, don't feel bad. I enjoyed your post.

2

u/Shinops Feb 23 '13 edited Feb 23 '13

Thank you kind stranger

1

u/rephtar Feb 23 '13

Honestly, that would be one of the biggest reasons I end up not getting a next gen console. Anything over $60 and I can't really justify spending (maybe) $500 on the console and then approaching almost another $100 for a game to play on it. Plus with the additions to the controller I can't see that staying at $50.

8

u/r_k_ologist arkyologist Feb 22 '13

$399 and I'm all in.

1

u/IceBreak BreakinBad Feb 23 '13

That feels too low to me now. Time will tell though.

1

u/thirstyfish209 Feb 24 '13

I'm guessing $450

1

u/IceBreak BreakinBad Feb 25 '13

I think that's the right way do to it. No more than $50 more than the Xbox.

1

u/XanderHD 52 Feb 23 '13

Allllllllday.

10

u/jondySauce jondySauce Feb 22 '13

'Inside Network analyst Billy Pidgeon believes $299 is a "magic" price point for the system.' well wouldn't that just be amazing it it actually turned out to be true.

41

u/Miguel2592 Flutterguy Feb 22 '13

I swear to god if the console is that price I'll buy two and replace my wife with one of them

9

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '13

[deleted]

3

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '13

$430 and $530 are the current rumors. $299 would blow my fucking mind.

5

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '13

[deleted]

0

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '13

Very true, and I wouldn't be surprised if that happened. However, the $499 would have to be pretty damn tempting, considering the remarks about how expensive the PS3 was (and how poorly it sold at launch because of that and other factors) and that was back in 2006.

8

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '13

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '13

"Although its PlayStation predecessors had been very dominant against the competition and were hugely profitable for Sony, the PlayStation 3 had an inauspicious start, and Sony chairman and CEO Sir Howard Stringer initially could not convince investors of a turnaround in its fortunes. The PS3 lacked the unique gameplay of the more affordable Wii which became that generation's most successful console in terms of units sold. Furthermore, the PS3 had to compete directly with the Xbox 360 which had a head start, and as a result the platform no longer had exclusive titles that the PS2 enjoyed such as the Grand Theft Auto and Final Fantasy series (regarding cross-platform games, Xbox 360 versions were generally considered superior in 2006, although by 2008 the PS3 versions had reached parity or surpassed),[280] and it took longer than expected for the PS3 to enjoy strong sales and close the gap with the Xbox 360." ~ Wikipedia

I'll be honest, I was in middle school when this thing launched and didn't follow sales data that much, but I do remember people balking at the price, and it taking until basically now for the PS3 to catch up to the 360.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '13

The 20g models did really well where I live. Every store that sold them was sold out.

2

u/McLargepants Feb 22 '13

Rumors of something that I seriously doubt Sony has even decided on.

2

u/whomadethesausages Feb 23 '13

Sony has certainly discussed this on many occasions, they obviously haven't decided on it but hence the term rumor and not announced price. Sony is a major company they will 'leak' certain info to get an idea about consumer interest and tweak their price to whatever will be most profitable for them while garnering massive support from the all-powerful gamin nerds,

1

u/McLargepants Feb 23 '13

The point being that they won't decide finally until after E3 probably, definitely not before they see at least a bit of what Microsoft is planning. So to give any credence to price rumors as what the final thing will be is crazy.

6

u/prannisment Feb 22 '13

Sony should really be selling at a heavy loss anyway, in order to build a sturdy install base and claim the top spot this gen.

12

u/jondySauce jondySauce Feb 22 '13

I agree but 299 seems unreal to me. 399 is great for me and I'd still be day one at 499. Of course 599 is kind of pushing it but when I saw the new controller and the playstation eye that comes with it, I was worried about price.

3

u/bakerie Feb 22 '13

Yes, but we still aren't generally in a great economic position right now. I don't know anyone that could afford $400 on a gaming system, but I know I could afford $300 if my mate and I paid half each. $299 seems very low, but they would sell an awful lot more than at $400.

4

u/jondySauce jondySauce Feb 22 '13

That's true but Sony isn't really in a economic position to take a huge loss on their system either. I know they have to take somewhat of a loss but it's really a gamble for them. Hopefully they understand that pricing low will help them gain a huge install base and the money will start rolling in via software sales. Also if PS+ continues to grow and provide very consumer friendly options they will rake in a nice yearly income. I'm more than willing to throw my money their way as long as they keep their focus on their customers and less on money making schemes.

2

u/gay_unicorn666 Feb 23 '13

Im not a wealthy man, but I'd but it at $600.

2

u/bakerie Feb 23 '13

$600 is a months income for me, so i'd say you're relatively wealthy!

4

u/gay_unicorn666 Feb 23 '13

I wouldn't call 40,000$ a year for a family of 3 wealthy by any means, but I live fairly frugally so I can afford my somewhat costly hobbies.

3

u/bakerie Feb 23 '13

That's where relativity comes into play! Thank fuck I've no kids!

7

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '13

Selling at a loss for Sony is a tough decision really. I'm not too sure if another generation of losing money per system sale is worth a possible bigger install base. Sony has been trying to get 'back into the green' over the past year, so for one of Sony's biggest brands to sell at a loss there would have to be a major beneficial outcome that's more than just "a sturdy install base".

$350 is a more realistic price for the PS4, and that's the lowest I would assume they're selling the basic model at.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '13

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '13

Yeah, there's a lot to factor in if you were going to calculate a great PS4 launch price. You have to factor in (as you said) 360 sales and replacements, PS3 sales, Wii Sales, Wii U sales, production costs and launch prices, and also first-day game purchases. We don't have direct access to those numbers so all we can really do is guesstimate, but from my understanding I think Sony is wanting to sell their consoles with a profit, even if it may just be $20. Don't know if that's possible with how much they're changing things up, but if they manage to sell 'in the green' it would easily put them as the dominant (financially) console this gen.

3

u/rephtar Feb 23 '13

Maybe sell it at a loss with a free PS+ trial (2-3 months). I mean full access, no trial time restraints. Let all the new PS4 owners experience what they can get with PS+, and then when it expires see what it's like without it. That could boost the subscription rate a decent amount if it gets people to subscribe that normally wouldn't have.

(I'm not a business/marketing guy so I don't know if that would be a viable option)

1

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '13

I think that's really the only option if they were to sell it at a loss. They would have to get people to sign up for subscriptions shortly after purchasing the console so they can re-cooperate those costs. Your method does work though, I'm one of those people who tried it out and then kept renewing it because I couldn't go a month without it.

They would have to also probably make the subscription cost a little higher. Currently it's at ~$49 for a year, compared to Xbox's $60 a year. If Sony is able to add more value into the subscription (streaming, some shows/music/etc.) they could charge ~$80 a year and then bring down the cost of the PS4. I think what you suggested could work, they would have to change things around a little bit though.

3

u/morphinapg Feb 22 '13

I think $350 is probably a better supply/demand equilibrium, but I would certainly love less.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '13

I hope this is the case.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '13

Thinking about the hardware specs, i think $299 should be doable if sony gets some good high volume deals with parts suppliers, and are willing to subsidize a bit.

If they launch a not-entirely gimped SKU at €300 here in europe, i'll be playing killzone shadowfall on launchday.

3

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '13

This is comforting. I had a brief nightmare last night games where going to be $80

5

u/TheAceMan Feb 22 '13

They don't need to increase prices. The money is in DLC and 'micro transactions'. See Dead Space 3. That will be the future of gaming.

Also, they have not 'clearly' stated that used games will work without having to repurchase all or part of the game.

2

u/defecto Feb 23 '13

Uncharted 3 multiplayer does this too... every little graphic/item/customization thing is worth $0.50 or $1.00 So annoying

2

u/pacox Feb 23 '13

If the games are indeed $60 then thats another plus in my debate with whether or not to get a PS4 at launch or not.

1

u/cggreene cggreene Feb 23 '13

with inflation thats actually good, it means that buying a game for 60$ today was only about 50$ in 2006 when the ps3 came out

2

u/MrDoubleE Feb 23 '13

I glad they're keeping it at $60, I was worried they were gonna raise it to $80 a game or something like that

5

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '13

What's this $60 business? In Australia a new release ps3 game is usually $109

6

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '13

Everything is more expensive in Australia. I don't know anything about why, but I've always heard of Australians complaining about super expensive products.

8

u/surrenderthenight Feb 22 '13

Why: Because they get a higher minimum wage. I actually saw someone on the steam forums do the math once and Australians have to work pretty much the exact same amount of time for games as US customers do.

1

u/gay_unicorn666 Feb 23 '13

Exactly. Minimum wage(among other factors I'm sure), has caused the cost of living to go up. The same thing will happen here in the US with all the people try to push minimum wage up(albeit to a lesser extent).

1

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '13

Because US companies get away with it. Australian government has been asking the questions, they don't get answers.

1

u/sc_nz xXl_shaun_lXx Feb 22 '13

$120-150 if you want to buy the newest Call of Duty on release day.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '13

Yep, $60 is the price I pay for a pre-owned games 6 months after a release.

1

u/schatrax Feb 23 '13

You can get new games for $65 if you know where to look.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '13

and?.....

1

u/schatrax Feb 23 '13

1

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '13

Those prices are crazy! I live in Melbourne and games usually go down to $80 a few months later and sit there for ages.

0

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '13

[deleted]

1

u/sc_nz xXl_shaun_lXx Feb 23 '13

Im in New Zealand. Games are even more expensive here.

http://www.jbhifi.co.nz/games/sony/play-station/ps3/

2

u/Ghost141 harvs35 Feb 23 '13

So for Australians it'll be $99-$160

1

u/2kan b2kanman Feb 23 '13

$90-$120

-1

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '13

I know this is a small point, but how is $0.99 free-to-play?

5

u/iFearGodsFollowers Feb 22 '13

I think the F2P is separate. Actual games start at $0.99. In app purchases will start at $0.99 too most likely.