$50

[silverstealth89]

is that reasonable price for a video game in general. even HL2

 

[DrunkPanda]

no. but video game prices will only go up in the future, i'm afraid :angry:

 

[silverstealth89]

well i hope they get better and maybe inflation will be lower so the dollar will be worth more

 

[Admin_Winnuting]

I wish they were $50 in Australia.
Most are around the $100 mark. (Which is about $70-$75 US)

 

[boglito]

Depends on the general economy where you live I guess. In the US $50 is a tad steep, but where I live it is quite cheap. For example, if I wanted to buy Britney Spear's CD "in the zone" at a local major retailer (which I would never want btw) it would set me back about 28 bucks. Compared to that I think HL2 is dirt cheap.

.bog.

 

[God™]

You do have to remember all of the time and effort put into a game... it's not all funny business... producers, musicians, artists, programmers... give each of those a 2 year salary and it all adds up (not to mention that the market doesn't even compare to that of the music/movie industry). And games aren't always timeless... you're probably looking at a shelf life of only 1 year on average...

I'm suprised they don't cost more than they do right now. Not that i'm complaining of course...

 

[Yombi]

yes...alot of effort does go into games. Dev teams stay up stupid hours to get things done. Pisses me off how most of the money goes to the publishers (i'm talking mainly about companies other than VALVe ). But that's how it is.

 

[Someone]

Wasn't there a quote from an interview with Gabe recenlty where he stated the cost of making HL2 had reached over $40,000,000?

Imagine the sales they will have to make just to break even with that.

It seems like $50 for a "game" is a lot...but it's probably pretty fair considering what goes into it (as others have said).

 

[noQ]

I would really want to know what they did with that $40 000 000. :dozey:

 

[Yombi]

I would really want to know what they did with that $40 000 000. :dozey:

They made a game and a game engine.

 

[God™]

Go to http://www.valvesoftware.com/people.php and give each of them a salary for 3 years...

 

[Citizen 1150421]

dude, join some kind of crew like ebgames . or preorder the game then you can save money like 10 bucks.

 

[Lobster]

Why not 5-6 years, then add all the licensing deals with havok, softimage etc, then the actors and proffesionals they chose for voice acting, the press events, etc etc.

$50 dollars translates to around 30 pounds here in the UK, most games sell for 35 Retail, (although its damned easy to get it cheaper at places like play.com), so this sounds pretty standard to me, yes games arnt cheap, but thats just the way the industry is.

 

[joule]

is that reasonable price for a video game in general. even HL2

I don't think so. $50 for an average just-released game is a rip-off. Though, Half-Life 2 is an exception.

 

[Warbie]

It's not so bad - when you consider many games take considerably longer than a film to make, and provide more hours of entertainment.

 

[sublidieminal]

Console games are much cheaper to make, and easier. They end up having 1 cd in the end... but they charge 50$.

On the other hand HL2 is 5 cd's correct? Much more work goes into PC games, alone with the issues and considerations you have to make with compatibility.

I think they are being generous with 50$.

 

[Warbie]

Console games are much cheaper to make, and easier. They end up having 1 cd in the end... but they charge 50$.

Console games come on dvd's too these days

 

[sublidieminal]

Console games come on dvd's too these days

Does 1 dvd cost more than 5cd's? (it's a question, not a snap-back)

 

[Yombi]

console games are not eaiser to make. They are eaiser for compatibility, but they still definatly not easy to create.

 

[Warbie]

Does 1 dvd cost more than 5cd's? (it's a question, not a snap-back)

Not sure.

Most pc games come on less than 5 cd's - and a fair few are released on DVD too.

I doubt there's a big difference in price between the media that console and pc games come out on.

 

[Biozeminade]

It's better than $55, which I bought Doom 3 for, that I never even finished because it became boring, the multiplayer isn't worth mentioning and I can't find any mods that are coming out for it.