Why are older games priced lower?
I’m sure there are a lot of us who wait for certain games to drop their prices. There are few titles I, personally, will pay retail for, and those games have to have excellent reviews and I have to be almost certain I will love them (not like; love.) A recent example for myself is New Super Mario Bros. There are other titles that I would pay retail for, like Tomb Raider: Legend, but by waiting a few weeks I bought it used and saved $10 off the cover price. This is not because I don’t want to support the company - it’s because I was short on money when it came out.
Anyways, I know that for most of us, there are many games we wouldn’t own at full price. However, this thoughtful post at Games*Design*Art*Culture* argues that older games should not have their prices dropped. As an example, the author cites online games (such as Bejeweled) - an 8-year-old online game still costs $20. It’s an interesting read, even if you don’t agree with the viewpoint.
Furthermore, he discusses how PC gaming is doomed if services like GameTap become the norm. He basically says this is because once games are so old as to be available on GameTap, the developer is only getting pennies for it, thus very little supporting revenue. I highly recommend reading this post.
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