The next generation game era will be the era to put the video game rental businesses on the map. Not that it isn't already a huge business,
I think we will see record profits over the coming years. How can they make even more money from an already huge business? The answer simply is this, too much garbage. Just like the movie industry, the price of video games are going higher and the quality is going down.
With the launch of the Xbox 360 came the new standard $60 game price, a $10 increase over the standard $50 that had remained steady across multiple generations. The video game industry been complaining for years that it costs millions of dollars to generate the games with the eye candy we all want. Last generation (Xbox / Playstation 2) style games cost $10-15 million for an A-list title. Xbox360/PlayStation 3 generation games will cost an estimated $20-25 million for an A-list game. Their development costs have consistently increased while the cost of a new game had held steady at $50. So I can side with them and agree that maybe it's time for a price increase to help reset the balance.
As a consumer however, paying $10 more per game is a big deal. In March 2006 we had Burnout, Ghost Recon, The Outfit, Blazing Angels, Oblivion and FarCry. Battlefield 2 was pushed from March to April because Electronic Arts said the month had too much competition. If you were interested in all of these games then that’s a whopping $420 worth of games, pre-tax and shipping. What parent is going to give their kid that kind of money for video games in one month? As a gainfully employed adult, I'm not shelling out $420 for video games either!
So as a consumer, I start a selection process to weed out the garbage titles from the truly great titles worth my hard earned $60+. Here’s a breakdown of how I thought the March line up rated:
Burnout – A truly uninspired eye candy upgrade of the previous burnout ported over to the 360. It’s not that it was a bad game, but it was a port. They already paid their core development costs on the previous version. This game isn’t worth $60, so I rate it a RENT.
Outfit - Last generation graphics, audio problems, and vehicle control issues. I like real time strategy (RTS) games and have enjoyed various games attempting to bring RTS play to the console. But this game is totally unpolished and feels unfinished, and with last generation graphics, it's not worth the next generation price of $60. RENT.
Blazing Angels - It's a unique style of game in the market so that's appealing. Also appealing is the co-op multiplayer squad based game play. The demo however shows last generation graphics and ugly graphical tearing and the controls were not that great. Missions are uninspired and repetitive. Again the graphics are what cost the money to make, so if it's not up to next-generation standards, why am I paying a next-generation price? RENT.
Ghost Recon - Now here's a game worth $60. Next- generation graphics and game play. Full co-op mode, lots of different multiplayer options, and it looks like downloadable content is planned. This game has everything to go the distance and is well worth $60. This game is every bit as next-generation a title as we're going to see in the 360's first year. This is a BUY.
Oblivion – As much as I’m enjoying Oblivion, this game is questionable. It's got the next-generation visuals, audio and game play. In general I believe if there's no multi-player, it's not a full next-generation title. But there are exceptions and Oblivion is one. With it's 100+ hours of open ended game play, it keeps from being classified as a disposable game (a game playable in 10-20 hours and then traded in, no replay value). The game play longevity makes up for the lack of multi-player options since multi-player games are probably played for ~100 hours before they're put aside (Halo2 being an exception). They’ve also embraced the Xbox Live Marketplace to expand the game (at a cost) which will further its longevity. So, I do consider this a BUY title.
Far Cry – This game has Rent written all over it. First of all it’s a port of the Xbox version which is a port of a PC game. They’ve already made their money on the game many times over. Don’t bring out a port at the full next-generation price. In their defense, it does include the port of the expansion pack that just came out for the original Xbox. However, there’s nothing really different about this game other than upgraded graphics and artificial intelligence (AI). If you played the original Xbox version, there’s no point in you buying this. Since this game is just a re-worked re-packaged product, it’s a RENT and not worth the next-generation price tag.
Battlefield 2 (BF2) – Since ports usually don’t use the console to it’s fullest and the core development costs have already been made back, I won’t pay $60 for a port. BF2:MC, however, was written from scratch for the 360 rather than just porting the original Xbox game. It's got the next-generation visuals, next-generation features, as well as the largest Live battles currently available on the 360, complete with vehicles. So, unless Electronic Arts has totally messed up the multi-player with bad servers and lag ridden games, I'd rate this game a conditional BUY.
Out of seven titles only two would I (and did) consider buying : Ghost Recon and Oblivion. The rest, with the possible exception of Battlefield2, are rentals. I rate them rentals because they're either not next-generation titles or they are rushed, unfinished, buggy titles, neither of which anyone should be spending the next-generation price of $60 on. Rent them instead or pick them up used.
To get my $60, a next-generation title needs to show me some next-generation gaming. Before you shell out that kind of money on a game, ask yourself it it's got these next-generation features:
The only way to tell the industry to shape up is to stop giving them your hard earn dollars for garbage. Don’t accept the new higher prices for games that are not up to the quality they are using as the justification for the price hike. Rent games instead.
Blockbuster and Hollywood Video both rent games in-store. There are a number of online options too:
www.gamefly.com ships out of California, 1,2,3 disc services (lets you buy your rental)
www.gotaplay.com regional shipping 1,2,3 disc services
www.gamelender.com ships out of California 2,3,5 disc services
www.gameznflix.com has 4 distribution centers and 3,4,5,6,8 disc services (rents movies too!)
See you online (if you’re not playing junk).
With the launch of the Xbox 360 came the new standard $60 game price, a $10 increase over the standard $50 that had remained steady across multiple generations. The video game industry been complaining for years that it costs millions of dollars to generate the games with the eye candy we all want. Last generation (Xbox / Playstation 2) style games cost $10-15 million for an A-list title. Xbox360/PlayStation 3 generation games will cost an estimated $20-25 million for an A-list game. Their development costs have consistently increased while the cost of a new game had held steady at $50. So I can side with them and agree that maybe it's time for a price increase to help reset the balance.
As a consumer however, paying $10 more per game is a big deal. In March 2006 we had Burnout, Ghost Recon, The Outfit, Blazing Angels, Oblivion and FarCry. Battlefield 2 was pushed from March to April because Electronic Arts said the month had too much competition. If you were interested in all of these games then that’s a whopping $420 worth of games, pre-tax and shipping. What parent is going to give their kid that kind of money for video games in one month? As a gainfully employed adult, I'm not shelling out $420 for video games either!
So as a consumer, I start a selection process to weed out the garbage titles from the truly great titles worth my hard earned $60+. Here’s a breakdown of how I thought the March line up rated:
Burnout – A truly uninspired eye candy upgrade of the previous burnout ported over to the 360. It’s not that it was a bad game, but it was a port. They already paid their core development costs on the previous version. This game isn’t worth $60, so I rate it a RENT.
Outfit - Last generation graphics, audio problems, and vehicle control issues. I like real time strategy (RTS) games and have enjoyed various games attempting to bring RTS play to the console. But this game is totally unpolished and feels unfinished, and with last generation graphics, it's not worth the next generation price of $60. RENT.
Blazing Angels - It's a unique style of game in the market so that's appealing. Also appealing is the co-op multiplayer squad based game play. The demo however shows last generation graphics and ugly graphical tearing and the controls were not that great. Missions are uninspired and repetitive. Again the graphics are what cost the money to make, so if it's not up to next-generation standards, why am I paying a next-generation price? RENT.
Ghost Recon - Now here's a game worth $60. Next- generation graphics and game play. Full co-op mode, lots of different multiplayer options, and it looks like downloadable content is planned. This game has everything to go the distance and is well worth $60. This game is every bit as next-generation a title as we're going to see in the 360's first year. This is a BUY.
Oblivion – As much as I’m enjoying Oblivion, this game is questionable. It's got the next-generation visuals, audio and game play. In general I believe if there's no multi-player, it's not a full next-generation title. But there are exceptions and Oblivion is one. With it's 100+ hours of open ended game play, it keeps from being classified as a disposable game (a game playable in 10-20 hours and then traded in, no replay value). The game play longevity makes up for the lack of multi-player options since multi-player games are probably played for ~100 hours before they're put aside (Halo2 being an exception). They’ve also embraced the Xbox Live Marketplace to expand the game (at a cost) which will further its longevity. So, I do consider this a BUY title.
Far Cry – This game has Rent written all over it. First of all it’s a port of the Xbox version which is a port of a PC game. They’ve already made their money on the game many times over. Don’t bring out a port at the full next-generation price. In their defense, it does include the port of the expansion pack that just came out for the original Xbox. However, there’s nothing really different about this game other than upgraded graphics and artificial intelligence (AI). If you played the original Xbox version, there’s no point in you buying this. Since this game is just a re-worked re-packaged product, it’s a RENT and not worth the next-generation price tag.
Battlefield 2 (BF2) – Since ports usually don’t use the console to it’s fullest and the core development costs have already been made back, I won’t pay $60 for a port. BF2:MC, however, was written from scratch for the 360 rather than just porting the original Xbox game. It's got the next-generation visuals, next-generation features, as well as the largest Live battles currently available on the 360, complete with vehicles. So, unless Electronic Arts has totally messed up the multi-player with bad servers and lag ridden games, I'd rate this game a conditional BUY.
Out of seven titles only two would I (and did) consider buying : Ghost Recon and Oblivion. The rest, with the possible exception of Battlefield2, are rentals. I rate them rentals because they're either not next-generation titles or they are rushed, unfinished, buggy titles, neither of which anyone should be spending the next-generation price of $60 on. Rent them instead or pick them up used.
To get my $60, a next-generation title needs to show me some next-generation gaming. Before you shell out that kind of money on a game, ask yourself it it's got these next-generation features:
- Next-generation visuals. Should be high resolution using dynamic lighting effects and other next-generation features. Cartoons and low resolution graphics do not cost $20 million to develop.
- Full Dolby 5.1 digital Surround Sound.
- Longevity in the form of multi-player support or more then sixty hours of single player game play.
- The game should not be bug ridden. Would you pay $60 for a two slice toaster that only toasted on one side? I don’t think so!
The only way to tell the industry to shape up is to stop giving them your hard earn dollars for garbage. Don’t accept the new higher prices for games that are not up to the quality they are using as the justification for the price hike. Rent games instead.
Blockbuster and Hollywood Video both rent games in-store. There are a number of online options too:
www.gamefly.com ships out of California, 1,2,3 disc services (lets you buy your rental)
www.gotaplay.com regional shipping 1,2,3 disc services
www.gamelender.com ships out of California 2,3,5 disc services
www.gameznflix.com has 4 distribution centers and 3,4,5,6,8 disc services (rents movies too!)
See you online (if you’re not playing junk).
