I’m one of the few people around who is against digital sales of video games and not for the normal reason of wanting to have a physical copy. No I foresee digital sales eroding our industry, especially in smaller countries.
So I for one understand why the digital pricing is set at the same price as retail, even though that’s a ridiculous way to protect the industry and serves simply to enrich a few.
Recently Sony was criticised for the high price of their digital titles and responded by dropping the price. Now Microsoft has been in the spotlight for their pricing and have also reacted… by raising the price of the titles.
According to a post on Nowgamer Microsoft has raised the digital price of Forza 5, Dead Rising and Ryse: Son of Rome from a previous mark of GBP44.99 to GBP49.99. Why they have done this appears to be lost in the realms of time but I’m going to stick it down to greed and wanting more blood from their consumers.
High digital pricing is here to stay so how can the model be changed to help support the local industries in the regions?
Personally I’d like to see a system where if I buy a game made by Activision here in South Africa on my Xbox One then a set percentage of that money is given to the local Activision distributor and the local Xbox One department. This way we know that paying for games online locally results in the local industry being rewarded and our country receiving some sort of benefit from this to avoid the constant outflow of money that exists in today’s digital world.
The chance of a multinational corporation like Microsoft agreeing to something like this? About 0.00000001% I think, but this is exactly where governments need to start focusing their efforts before all the smaller economies are decimated by corporations.
Last Updated: December 11, 2013
Alien Emperor Trevor
December 11, 2013 at 07:53
The moment any government starts talking about that there will be a sizable no strings attached donation from the affected corporation to whichever political party has the most influence at the time. Then coincidentally the talk will just fade away. Funny how that seems related, even though it’s totally not.
Kromas
December 11, 2013 at 07:53
You want a console AND cheap games. For now there is Steam + Big Picture mode.Later go get a Steam machine.
Shift-Tab John (JJ)
December 11, 2013 at 08:01
I personally don’t like the Big Picture mode, but it really does make it feel as though you’re on a console (that’s probably why). Looks very slick though, better than my PS3’s interface.
Mossel
December 11, 2013 at 08:11
I like the big picture mode! But never had a reason to use it. But it will prbably be cool if my pc was in my lounge with steam on my tv.
Admiral Chief of Souls
December 11, 2013 at 08:13
Agreed with everything you said
Kromas
December 11, 2013 at 08:18
I bought Deadpool on the sale and a 360 controller for R80. The only time ever I actually used big picture mode and I did not really need to.
Shift-Tab John (JJ)
December 11, 2013 at 08:19
I’m waiting to get me an Xbone controller for my pc, since my 360 controller has been abducted by my girlfriend.
Kromas
December 11, 2013 at 08:21
Wait longer and get a Steam Controller. 🙂
Shift-Tab John (JJ)
December 11, 2013 at 08:26
I wanted to, but after watching many many videos I’ve actually realized that the touch pads aren’t going to work so great for me. I ONLY use my controller for racing and maybe some RPG’s. The steam controller doesn’t seem like the right fit for that.
Kromas
December 11, 2013 at 08:29
I still own a logitech G-Shift 21 (can’t remember the name) steering wheel for racing games. Used it maybe 3 times ever playing NFS:Porche.
Shift-Tab John (JJ)
December 11, 2013 at 08:30
DOOOT! I have a steering wheel also and had most fun playing NFS: Porsche on it. Probably the best NFS (in my eyes) to date.
Kromas
December 11, 2013 at 08:31
I disagree with you Sir. Porsche was not “probably” the best NFS.It was and still is the BEST NFS ever made.
Shift-Tab John (JJ)
December 11, 2013 at 08:33
Haha. Agreed! Glad to finally meet someone else who feels that way. Sadly, I don’t think it’s on Steam.
Kromas
December 11, 2013 at 08:54
Sadly it is not even on Origin. Good thing I still have my disc somewhere.
Shift-Tab John (JJ)
December 11, 2013 at 10:00
I also still have my disc. CD, as far as I remember.
Mossel
December 11, 2013 at 08:42
Dont get me started on Steam Backup! I backed up Planetside 2 and was super amped to jam this weekend, oh whats that? The backup is gone. Now I just cut the file from the steam apps folder. Much better.
Shift-Tab John (JJ)
December 11, 2013 at 08:43
Steam backup…*shivers*
Mossel
December 11, 2013 at 08:46
I backed up like 8 games and only 1 survived!
Kromas
December 11, 2013 at 09:06
I use a steam backup utility from the overclock.net site. Has not failed once so far. I am actually in the process of re-downloading the failed backup games and backing them up with that utility.And wow did we go off topic over here. 😛
Mossel
December 11, 2013 at 09:18
Haha it tends to happen alot! Also, have you seen those Oros flavoured lollipops?! 😛
Mossel
December 11, 2013 at 08:43
R80?! Where? How?
Shift-Tab John (JJ)
December 11, 2013 at 08:45
Mine was on SUPER special for 250 and I still feel a bit cheated now.
Mossel
December 11, 2013 at 08:48
He probably has a Speech skill of 100.
Shift-Tab John (JJ)
December 11, 2013 at 10:00
Hahaha Win.
Kromas
December 11, 2013 at 09:04
Esquire special. Really flimsy controller but meh I don’t really care.
Shift-Tab John (JJ)
December 11, 2013 at 08:18
Agreed. I just like to have all the info of each game there, I’m bit of a nut when it comes to stats. Especially for games on the Steam Workshop.
Admiral Chief of Souls
December 11, 2013 at 08:13
LOL
Sir Rants remembers Madiba
December 11, 2013 at 07:54
Oh the amount of meme’s available for bashing this step is OVER 9000! Too darn high!!
That Tall Twit Norm
December 11, 2013 at 08:24
I know lol.
Shift-Tab John (JJ)
December 11, 2013 at 07:59
That’s microsoft for you.
Tarisma
December 11, 2013 at 08:04
What so microsoft went “wow people are bitching about price disparities in different regions what should we do, mmmmm, lets raise the price in cheaper regions and make every one happy”
trooolololololololol
Kensei Seraph remembers Madiba
December 11, 2013 at 08:07
I wonder if instead of GBP49,99 they meant GBP39,99 and someone forgot to change the 1st digit.
Alien Emperor Trevor
December 11, 2013 at 08:08
I’d ask them, but i’m afraid they’ll add a 1 in front of the 49.99 :/
Kensei Seraph remembers Madiba
December 11, 2013 at 09:15
Nah they’d just change the 4 to a 6.
No Longer SIR Twakkus
December 11, 2013 at 08:11
I despise companies like MS. If it wasnt for Valve and Steam I would have stopped gaming a long time ago.
Umar Seeker of Truth
December 11, 2013 at 08:17
http://badbreeders.net/wp-content/uploads/screw.jpg
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2013/08/gfwl.jpg
ToshZA
December 11, 2013 at 11:24
Well said man. 😀
Martin du preez
December 11, 2013 at 08:21
LMFAO
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
December 11, 2013 at 08:27
I think Microsoft has the right idea – if the masses complain, flip them the bird. It worked perfectly for Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Screw the dirty peasants. What the fuck do they know about “economics”, “pricing”, “recession” and “value for money”? If they were dumb enough to stick with us through the RROD days, they’ll be dumb enough for an epic session of wallet raping. <3 Microsoft! 😀
Shift-Tab John (JJ)
December 11, 2013 at 08:36
Microsoft sadly has some great exclusives. But now that Steam is planning to go into a relationship with Linux I should be completely free from them (except for my controller) in a few years.
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
December 11, 2013 at 09:26
You know what, I didn’t care about the Ouya. I still don’t care about the Oculus Rift, but the Steambox… man oh man, I am starting to feel the desire. I want a Steambox.
Shift-Tab John (JJ)
December 11, 2013 at 09:59
Get in line. Behind me.
Alien Emperor Trevor
December 11, 2013 at 10:16
I’m so excited I think I might go sit in the steam room this afternoon & pretend I’m a CPU.
Shift-Tab John (JJ)
December 11, 2013 at 10:21
Hahaha. I’ll be the Random Access Memory, seems to suit me better.
Hammersteyn
December 11, 2013 at 08:56
Agreed, it’s not like Louis and Maire lost there heads over peasants problems….
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
December 11, 2013 at 09:25
Of course not, such malicious fear-mongering from the dirty peasantry classes; they (Louis and Marie Antoinette) retired to a nice villa in the heart of Spain 😛
Hammersteyn
December 11, 2013 at 10:17
Haha, at least that was the plan
Sageville
December 11, 2013 at 15:53
….and that is how the Cake vs Pie debate began.
Lego Witcher of the Squirrels
December 11, 2013 at 08:36
I find that a lot of games on the XBL marketplace are actually cheaper than at the retailers, but I’ll only buy digital if I absolutely cannot get it from any local retailers, or am so strapped for cash and want the game so badly that I can’t wait.
Shift-Tab John (JJ)
December 11, 2013 at 08:41
I just find it funny how they’re going more and more digital and then give you a HDD of just over 300gig. They’ll make their money for their beach houses somewhere.
Lego Witcher of the Squirrels
December 11, 2013 at 09:21
Totally true JJ… I was shocked when they announced the 500gb drives, then it’s just over 300gb? WTSF!? It’s like they don’t know we have drives available that are 3.5TB
Sageville
December 11, 2013 at 15:55
Once Upon a Time: I remember being very excited about getting a 20 mb hard drive for Xmas.
Lego Witcher of the Squirrels
December 12, 2013 at 08:42
I was excited with getting a box of stiffy disks… because then I could get more games…
Brenz
December 11, 2013 at 08:39
Its comforting to know some things in life are constant, MS will always be a bunch of greedy dickheads who rely on blind faith to fill their coffers, quite similar to zuma actually, and EA for that matter…
oVg
December 11, 2013 at 09:04
So printing a DVD, Manual, CD Sleeve, casting a CD folder, using transport to deliver to the retailer, shipping and then the drive to the retailer, the drive back and then the install…
ALL COSTS THE SAME AS A FRACKING DIGITAL SALE????
WTF?
Unavengedavo(aka. MadeYouLook)
December 11, 2013 at 09:07
Don’t forget storage and then the retail also charges extra because they need to make a profit and hold a certain amount of stock which actually takes up space. How the hell does a digital game take up space?
I can understand that they would need to maintain the download servers and all that, but surely it can’t amount to the same price?
oVg
December 11, 2013 at 09:08
That is the world we live in 🙁 and that is why the newspaper will never die.
Unavengedavo(aka. MadeYouLook)
December 11, 2013 at 09:12
Soon everything will be digital… even our girlfriends 😛
Alien Emperor Trevor
December 11, 2013 at 09:17
The future is now! #foreverSP
Lego Witcher of the Squirrels
December 11, 2013 at 09:21
oVg’s girlfriend is already digital
Alien Emperor Trevor
December 11, 2013 at 09:17
That’s why they talk about the games “value” instead of “price” now.
UltimateNinjaPandaDudeGuy
December 11, 2013 at 09:23
<3 Steam
Getting more and more tired of consoles and their obvious money grubbing greed. Won't be getting a new console again. Sticking with PC and then Steam Machine.
SargonTheGreatPandaOfAkkad
December 11, 2013 at 10:35
Amen, brother.
UltimateNinjaPandaDudeGuy
December 11, 2013 at 10:37
I never really was, but I think I am very fast becoming a PC elitist xD
Guess I always was kind of. My PC has always been like my only child or something like that. Was worth more than my car at one point xD
DrKiller
December 11, 2013 at 09:39
Lets get the console available in SA first, then we worry about the prices 🙂
Galbedir
December 11, 2013 at 10:50
I will never be happy with buying Digital. Call me old fashioned, but when I fork out that amount of cash, I’d like to have an actual box in my hand, aswell as an awesome manual/artbook in which I can read while the game installs. I still remember buying Original Diablo 2 box, and getting more and more excited as I read up on the classes and the stories behind them as it install. By the time I got in game, I was ready to explode with excitement.
Warren Ross
December 11, 2013 at 12:13
Digital sales are here to stay. I have a cupboard full of old games that I’ve bought over the years, even big old boxes full of floppy disks. I do miss the good old days of hefty manuals, maps, audio CDs etc. but the reality is that those days are long gone and, if I’m honest, I hardly ever dig into my old collection other than for nostalgia’s sake.
I don’t know enough about who makes what margin on retail sales as opposed to digital sales to really have much opinion on whether it’s good for the industry, but the fantastic and regular specials on Steam (for example) must surely drive plenty of volume (you can see this on their “Top Sellers” chart just after a special goes live) and I’ve never seen those sorts of prices matched by local retailers (which is understandable).
Gamers are, for the most part, going to go for the cheaper option every time (and considering that it’s *software*: a bunch of 1s and 0s electro-statically stored in a machine meaning it makes no real difference whether it’s on a DVD or a downloaded file), and it’s only a matter of time before digital console game purchases are equally as popular.
bartleby451
December 11, 2013 at 16:57
Greed, simple as that. The games industry is sickening.
J-P Edwards
December 12, 2013 at 08:36
I know this might sound crazy, but hear me out. This makes perfect sense. In a press conference a few months back, Microsoft was asked why they don’t make digital copies of games available on the games launch date. Their response – they need to protect the local retailers. If retailers don’t have any opportunity to sell games, then they wont make any money (because believe it or not, they don’t make money on the consoles). If they don’t make any money, then they will stop selling the consoles and accessories. Microsoft needs retailers to move the hardware, in order to sell the software. By raising their prices, they give retailers a better opportunity to sell physical copies of the games, and ensure that “gaming” remains profitable enough for retailers to allocate very expensive floor space to the category….