Price!??$20!!??

[Asuka]

$20 was way too much for Episode 1. Sorry, but 4 hours of gameplay isn't worth that much. They obviously realized this, probably due to sales figures for Episode 1.

Portal is not a full game. Including it within Episode 2 is a marketing strategy. They give you a small dose of gameplay and then charge you for the later installments. It's a good plan that benefits the customer and the seller, so there's no need to act all high and mighty.

Team Fortress 2 is where you're seeing the real value. This truly makes the pricetag worthwhile because in addition to a short bit of single player you also get a multiplayer game. Also note that they may include extra additions to TF2 in future episodes, as another marketing gimmick.

Finally, let's not forget the whole idea of digital distribution: to provide lower costs to the consumer with higher profits for the developer. This being said, you should expect lower than normal costs for games. When you buy a game through Steam there's almost no overhead, Valve takes all of that money.

With Episode 2 at a reasonable $20 price range, it shows that Valve is on the right track with regards to the price/content ratio. They know what they're doing and this will allow them to make more money, regardless of whatever misguided feelings that they "deserve" more the hardcore audience may have.

Did you even read my post?

Because if you did and still believe that it really just comes down to you not being able to do simple math.

http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showpost.php?p=1977674&postcount=69

Out of curiosity, did Episode 1 "do well"? I never heard about it. I understand HL2 was a clear success financially but what about its sequel?

From what the sales charts said for retail yes. Let alone the how many more people got it on steam.

 

[Krynn72]

I think the big problem here is if they hike the price up because they are packaging other games you may not want. If they sell all three for 50 bucks or something, thats fine with me so long as they sell ep2 by itself for cheaper.

The only game im willing to pay for out of these three is ep2... if they are going to charge me extra for two other games that they forced on me, then im not going to buy it.

 

[_Z_Ryuken]

The only game im willing to pay for out of these three is ep2... if they are going to charge me extra for two other games that they forced on me, then im not going to buy it.

My bet is they will come packaged initially, but released seperately eventuallyto appease everyone.

 

[0mar]

If you are counting pennies on time : price ratio games go play Chess. A single chess board can last you a decade or more. Money should be a secondary concern when it comes to entertainment. Ep1 was priced perfectly for 20 bucks. A 4-6 hour adventure (was advertised as such) is ~1/2 the time most modern games are (FEAR was 8 or so hours, Prey was 6-8 hours, Riddick was about 10 hours, NOLF2 was about 7 hours, Max Payne was about 8 hours).

If Valve decides to charge more for the Ep1 package you should observe what you are getting.

Portal - A neat concept game that's probably 2-3 hours long.
TF2 - A former full price game. TFC was easily one of the funnest MP games.
Ep2 - a 4-6 hour adventure in the HL universe.

Compare Ep2's package with Prey, which just came out. You get an average to maybe slightly above average game with standard Deathmatch. And that costs 50-55 bucks. Face it, at even 40 bucks, Ep2's package is a steal. You get at least two highly polished games and 1 cool proof-of-concept game.

If you feel you are getting ripped off, go find another hobby. You'll always feel ripped off unless you play WoW or some other massive online multiplayer game where you can drop thousands of hours in a couple months for pennies on the hour. The rest of us will have a great time, ignoring the game-time : price ratio.

 

[spf18]

Wow, you people are cheap. I mean come on. It's worth at least $40 for the bundle, and if vavle desides to be nice and sell it for less, well that's fine by me. After all no one likes to pay more, but $20 dollars seems a very unlikely price. however, that does seem like a resonable amout for just episode 2.

 

[DietSoap]

I swear, some of you might as well be the old person at the local grocery store that complains to an innocent bagger about how ludicrous the price they charge for a can of tuna is.

While old people are usually cool, NO ONE likes THAT old person.

 

[smwScott]

Did you even read my post?

Because if you did and still believe that it really just comes down to you not being able to do simple math.

http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showpost.php?p=1977674&postcount=69

Did you even read mine? Instead of me not understanding simple math, it appears you don't understand the original purpose of Steam and the marketing strategy Valve has been using ever since they implemented it.

I said they may be deciding to pack more value into the Ep2 package to get more people to buy it, because a lot of people don't believe it was worthwhile. Your example of Half-Life 2 was perfect. That game clocked in around 15 hours for me, Episode 1 clocked in at 4. In addition to multiplayer modes which were wholly original at the time, the single player alone packs more bang for your buck. You get more value when buying full priced games than you do episodes, and you get a complete offering at once ... I'd be willing to bet that both Valve and consumers picked up on this after Episode 1 was released.

So what they do is put more stuff in the package to make it more attractive. Not only that, but the people that are attracted to TF2 (the CS crowd) might not have bothered with Ep2 initially, and vice versa. This gets both camps to purchase the game and if they like it, Valve receives repeat business on future offerings.

Finally, Portal is an experimental game that will most likely be used as a technology showcase or demo for future puzzle games in the Half-Life universe. I doubt it will be very long, but it will give you a taste of things to come so that you will be more likely to buy the next game.

The price will not be $40 like you are suggesting. I predict it will be in the $20-30 price range, leaning towards the lower end. While you may see it as Valve not getting what they deserve or whatever, that's frankly silly. It is a part of their marketing strategy and it seems to be a very good one. And don't forget, it costs Valve a LOT less to maintain Steam than it would if they were giving huge portions of their profit over to a publisher ... and that's not even mentioning the money Valve makes on selling third party games.

 

[MorganFreeman911]

You DOUBT portal will be long?
LOOK AT THOSE PUSSLES!

 

[smwScott]

Well I certainly hope I'm wrong. But it depends on how many puzzles there are. I know that in Narbacular Drop once you get the hang of things the game goes a lot faster than it did at first. On the other hand I'm sure these puzzles will be much more professionally designed so they should stay fresh longer.