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[Stereogatari]

One shoukdn't get into the habit of buying more games than they can play though.

I'm trying to get out of the habit of spending for the sake of sales.

 

[Aselith]

You don't realise that deep discounts make games disposable? Why pay 70$ cnd for GTA V when I know it will be 15$ or less come the winter sale? If I could resell it, sure, why not, but I can't. So bargain bin prices it is

On the other hand, I buy plenty of 40+$ console games (xbone/PS3/ps4/vita/3Ds/wii and so in) without batting an eye

Why buy retail games for full retail price when you know it will be $30 in a month or so? Buying it on sale isn't actually a problem. Some people buy it at full price at launch and some people wait for sales. That's true in most industries.

Personally, I buy games that I really want when they come out at the best rpice I can find and then hold off for a sale on stuff I'm not sure about. I think that's how a lot of people are.

 

[FlashbladeGAF]

I have a million games because of these flash sales, yeah it's true you may not play them all, but at $1, $5 and $10, the deals are too good to pass on. I'm glad I have the entire final fantasy series as an example and I can play these on many devices as the op mentioned. But yeah, these flash sales and ps plus sales are the best deals I've seen in gaming.

Hopefull the developers get something from sony. If this happens for new releases, then AAA (true) quality games (gat, uncharted etc...) will have to make way for cheaper mobile type games, all because people would rather pay below $15 than pay $60

 

[LQX]

With how MS seemingly wanted to have nothing a but a digital system you would think they would be the ones constantly running sales. And the funny thing is Sony seemingly adopted the sales strategy MS use to have with the 360 where as MS has copied the strategy Sony had with the PS3 where sales come along far less. Good on Sony, I have bought a ton of games in the past few weeks.

 

[Fularu]

Why buy retail games for full retail price when you know it will be $30 in a month or so? Buying it on sale isn't actually a problem. Some people buy it at full price at launch and some people wait for sales. That's true in most industries.

Because I can buy retail games with a 30% promotion during specific sales and trade/give/sell them when I'm done with them

There's a collecting value with niche games too that you just can't have with modern all digital PC gaming.

Those games are litterally worthless for me and I'll only pay the lowest possible amount to play them

 

[Aselith]

Hopefull the developers get something from sony. If this happens for new releases, then AAA (true) quality games (gat, uncharted etc...) will have to make way for cheaper mobile type games, all because people would rather pay below $15 than pay $60

Dat FUD lol. This has been the culture on PC for years and there is still a great mix of AAA and smaller indie games and in fact many big console pubs are really trying on PC.

 

[breakfuss]

Yeah, they are nice but unfortunately I don't play much on my PS3 these days so I sat the last one out. I hope they remain this aggressive throughout the current gen.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Because I can buy retail games with a 30% promotion during specific sales and trade/give/sell them when I'm done with them

There's a collecting value with niche games too that you just can't have with modern all digital PC gaming.

Those games are litterally worthless for me and I'll only pay the lowest possible amount to play them

I don't follow your logic. For example you could preorder MKX for $30 on nuuvem right now. Or you could wait for a promotion for 30% off on console, and still pay more, but then be able to resell it eventually and recoup some money. Seems like a lot of effort for not much payoff.

 

[Pandy]

I take it no one commenting here about loving the bargains has ever commented negatively about:
F2P,
In-game micro-transactions,
Day 1 and pre-order DLC,
Important bits of the game being locked behind DLC,
Their favourite franchise being cancelled/shifted to mobile/imitating COD in an attempt to appeal to a wider audience?

Of course not. Keep up the good work.

 

[randomkid]

Why does everyone keep saying flash sales are "starting" to live up to Steam sales? As far as I can tell they've been way better. I don't remember picking up any awesome marquis games on Steam for $1, or 80 cents. Good stuff on Steam is still usually like four or five bucks or so in my experience.

Flash sale prices are much more comparable to Humble Bundle minimums that average out to $1 per game or less.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Why does everyone keep saying flash sales are "starting" to live up to Steam sales? As far as I can tell they've been way better. I don't remember picking up any awesome marquis games on Steam for $1, or 80 cents. Good stuff on Steam is still usually like four or five bucks or so in my experience.

Flash sale prices are much more comparable to Humble Bundle minimums that average out to $1 per game or less.

Steam sales, as in on the Steam store itself, have been lacking for years. Other sites like GMG, Amazon, nuuvem, etc are where the good deals are for the last few years. I just assume that's what people are talking about since it's always for Steam keys anyway.

 

[Dog Problems]

yeah man PC has been doing this for years.
but the playstation family also has the vita which adds portability to these great deals which is something PC can't do. But bottom line steam sales and PS flash sales are how digital gaming should be.

eventuall they need to do big releases at low prices too. i'm pretty much done paying more than 30 dollars for games unless they are final fantasy, Xenoblade x, etc..

I might be wrong, as I don't keep up with it, but I think this is actually possible with the Nvidia Shield and Surface tablets.

 

[hodayathink]

they do need to work on that. i'm not comfortable with digital gaming big titles unless they are priced accordingly.

i can buy the order 1886 for 39.99 brnad new and it's still 59.99 on the store. makes zero sense. start pricing digital lower than physical by at least 10%

You can buy The Order for that cheap because the store's trying to get rid of those copies to make room for stuff that sells faster. Digital doesn't have that problem, so you're out of luck.

 

[Phinor]

I came to say it would be nice if Sony actually managed to make these offers worldwide instead of North America only but I guess that got covered. Sony has a very long way to go before they start challenging the PC market sales on a global scale.

 

[Aselith]

Because I can buy retail games with a 30% promotion during specific sales and trade/give/sell them when I'm done with them

There's a collecting value with niche games too that you just can't have with modern all digital PC gaming.

Those games are litterally worthless for me and I'll only pay the lowest possible amount to play them

So you're waiting for sales on console too but maybe going a little higher. You're just a guy who waits for sales regardless. Maybe you go a bit lower on digital but the pubs also don't have the overhead of manufacturing and transport on digital so that's fine. I buy a lot of games for nearly half off on day one on PC and the publishers seem ok cause they keep putting out the games.

 

[Death2494]

its certainly the best in the console space. Still no match for PC sales.

Ummm, did that actually needed to be stated? I mean you're correct but I thought it was something that has already been established.

 

[Dunan]

i can buy the order 1886 for 39.99 brnad new and it's still 59.99 on the store. makes zero sense. start pricing digital lower than physical by at least 10%

Digital should be 10% (OK, 20%) of physical, not "lower than". Of.

When we buy physical, we can often sell it onwards for 80% of what we paid for it. I'm not handing over my resale rights for a pathetic 10% discount.

And remember, the buyer has to provide the media for the game to sit on. Sony is profiting on that end, that's for sure.

When I can buy The Order for $50 and sell it onward for $45 if I think I'm done with it, why would I pay more than $5-10 for a digital copy? I'd only pay near retail for a digital copy if I think I will never want to sell the game, and if I have enough free disk space.

Digital prices need to come way, way down. The $5-10 Square and Atlus sales are a good start, as is this flash sale. Steam-like pricing has to be standard for digital to be cost-effective.

 

[Fularu]

I don't follow your logic. For example you could preorder MKX for $30 on nuuvem right now. Or you could wait for a promotion for 30% off on console, and still pay more, but then be able to resell it eventually and recoup some money. Seems like a lot of effort for not much payoff.

Because they're disposable

My steam collection has no value. None, zilch, nada

My PS2 or DS collections are worth thousands, same with my PSP or Vita collections (not thousands for vita though )

I don't spend (lots of) money on something that has no tangible value

 

[border]

Dat FUD lol. This has been the culture on PC for years and there is still a great mix of AAA and smaller indie games and in fact many big console pubs are really trying on PC.

For the years it's been happening on PC, developers were able to rely on the console market where prices did not fall as quickly.

 

[Aselith]

Because they're disposable

My steam collection has no value. None, zilch, nada

My PS2 or DS collections are worth thousands, same with my PSP or Vita collections (not thousands for vita though )

I don't spend (lots of) money on something that has no tangible value

So if they locked you out of your Steam account today you'd just walk away and it's no sweat?

For the years it's been happening on PC, developers were able to rely on the console market where prices did not fall as quickly.

Not really as publishers that are mostly PC only like Paradox frequently participate in these sales moreso than larger publishers like Ubi that focus more on consoles. Additionally a fair number of PC only devs that moved to focus on console are moving back.

 

[Massa]

I don't follow your logic. For example you could preorder MKX for $30 on nuuvem right now. Or you could wait for a promotion for 30% off on console, and still pay more, but then be able to resell it eventually and recoup some money. Seems like a lot of effort for not much payoff.

You don't recoup "some" money when you go the retail play->resell route, you can easily recoup all of it. It's by far the cheapest way to play games.

 

[Mindlog]

No offense, but that reads like something I'd expect out of a marketing department. It's a lot of praise for something that's been done on other platforms for years if not decades.

 

[thelastword]

Hopefull the developers get something from sony. If this happens for new releases, then AAA (true) quality games (gat, uncharted etc...) will have to make way for cheaper mobile type games, all because people would rather pay below $15 than pay $60

Newer AAA releases are usually half price off a couple of months after release, not $1 like in the recent sale. I'm thinking these sales increase the user base for these games significantly, since AAA game sales are typically frontloaded anyway. This definitely helps give these games a boost and help increase day one buyers for the sequel.

With how MS seemingly wanted to have nothing a but a digital system you would think they would be the ones constantly running sales. And the funny thing is Sony seemingly adopted the sales strategy MS use to have with the 360 where as MS has copied the strategy Sony had with the PS3 where sales come along far less. Good on Sony, I have bought a ton of games in the past few weeks.

These type of sales didn't only start on this gen though, from the time PS plus was introduced we have had such sales. I find this is one area where MS was always behind SONY last gen, there was always a massive sale on PS3 tbh.

 

[Fularu]

So if they locked you out of your Steam account today you'd just walk away and it's no sweat?

Prety much. I hold no attachement to that collection and when I buy on PC, again outside of Blizzard, I buy DRM free on GoG

 

[autoduelist]

It's great but I always worry that sales that are TOO frequent and where the prices go TOO low actually devalue the games.

If I put off buying a game for long enough for it to reach a flash sale before buying it... then that's that's not devaluation, that's what the game is worth to me.

I picked up plenty of games in the flash sale that I -never- would have bought otherwise. In other words, they made money off me that they wouldn't have gotten at any other price. That's not 'devaluation', that's 'valuation'.

I will continue buying all other games at a price that meets my guidelines, just like always. I don't suddenly expect Bloodborne to be $1 simply because a ps1 game was.

 

[Aselith]

Prety much. I hold no attachement to that collection and when I buy on PC, again outside of Blizzard, I buy DRM free on GoG

Ah ok, I do believe you are quite unusual in that way but at least you're still able to buy some PC games you value.

 

[border]

Not really as publishers that are mostly PC only like Paradox frequently participate in these sales moreso than larger publishers like Ubi that focus more on consoles. Additionally a fair number of PC only devs that moved to focus on console are moving back.

Makers of niche and mid-tier games have a home on the PC, but the AAA PC exclusive is basically dead. Even Blizzard is doing more scaled back projects now it seems like. CryTek is on the ropes. CDProject is launching their game day and date with the console version.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Because they're disposable

My steam collection has no value. None, zilch, nada

My PS2 or DS collections are worth thousands, same with my PSP or Vita collections (not thousands for vita though )

I don't spend (lots of) money on something that has no tangible value

There's definitely something to be said for physical media. Personally, I like paying far less up front and keeping my stuff forever, andI would rather not deal with the clutter of a ps2 collection worth thousands. But hey, It's your money and your prerogative.

I assume you don't like PS flash sales either then, since they also hold no resale value?

 

[GeoramA]

Agreed. I've bought a ton of stuff from the PlayStation Store over the years, yet I manage to grab 6 or 7 games every time a flash sale happens.

 

[Fularu]

There's definitely something to be said for physical media. Personally, I like paying far less up front and keeping my stuff forever, andI would rather not deal with the clutter of a ps2 collection worth thousands. But hey, It's your money and your prerogative.

I assume you don't like PS flash sales either then, since they also hold no resale value?

I buy digital versions of games I already own a physical copy of when the price is super low or sub 2-3$ games I would have no problems losing forever.

Otherwise I never buy digital on consoles

 

[flozuki]

Iwata is that you?

I think he is right. Sometimes it seems people are just consuming and not playing while having fun anymore. I know
a lot of people that have hundreds of games in their steam libraries, but they just tested a few of them.

Despite that Sony has a really solid strategy regarding crossplatform and digital prices/ offers.

 

[Fasty]

Makes me mad that we don't get the same sales outside of America.

In only interested in the vita games, so account switching isn't an option.

 

[Aselith]

Makers of niche and mid-tier games have a home on the PC, but the AAA PC exclusive is basically dead. Even Blizzard is doing more scaled back projects now it seems like. CryTek is on the ropes. CDProject is launching their game day and date with the console version.

I'm not sure why you think Blizzard is doing scaled back prdouctions but alright on that point. On the point of AAA games, there are plenty of big PC only releases still coming out but like all platforms consoles and PC alike people are launching on everything because they make more money and there's no real incentive to be exclusive. Many console only AAA games are launching on PC so it goes both ways.

Crytek was just mismanaged and they died after they moved to console development. They haven't been a PC-only developed in a very long time.

 

[Crayon]

Im fuckin cheap. Sales like that are what it takes to wrest the pennies from my scrooge like claws.

Thes sales arent for everybody. They are for people like me who go to gamestop exclusively during buy 2 get 1. In fact, it was b2g1 during this flash sale. I ignored it and asked for psn cards.

I spent about 30 bucks on the sale. About half of what i would have spent at gamestop. But gamestop didnt get it. Sony and publishers did.

I have nothing against gamestop, i love em. But theres been concern over the years about them being parasitic. Digital sales an value parity are the correct, healthy answer to the resale market. Face-reading camera drm was the answer that would have been a disaster.

 

[Fularu]

I'm not sure why you think Blizzard is doing scaled back prdouctions but alright on that point. On the point of AAA games, there are plenty of big PC only releases still coming out but like all platforms consoles and PC alike people are launching on everything because they make more money and there's no real incentive to be exclusive. Many console only AAA games are launching on PC so it goes both ways..

Blizzard is going the "scalled back" developpement route because F2P is where the money is on PC (just like mobile).

Their 3 new games beeing free to play is a prety clear indication of what is going on.

People don't see the value

 

[gelf]

This is also why they should be working on getting PS1&2 games on PS4. Open up their back catalogue to exploit with sales like this to people who don't own a PS3/Vita. A store with most the major PS1 and PS2 classics selling at great prices should pick up the "why the hell not" type sales that Steam gets a lot of.

 

[Durante]

Makers of niche and mid-tier games have a home on the PC, but the AAA PC exclusive is basically dead. Even Blizzard is doing more scaled back projects now it seems like. CryTek is on the ropes. CDProject is launching their game day and date with the console version.

Well, AAA games are heavily constrained -- hobbled really -- by their budget and the implications it has on game design, so if the only drawback to great prices is getting rid of those then bring it on!

 

[Aselith]

Blizzard is going the "scalled back" developpement route because F2P is where the money is on PC (just like mobile).

Their 3 new games beeing free to play is a prety clear indication of what is going on.

People don't see the value

Everything I've seen of Overwatch seems to be a high quality production. Regardless of whether it's F2P or not there is no indication that they are making some crappo scaled down phone game. They're making a high production value shooter and it may use the F2P model. That doesn't mean it's a scaled down production.

Valve made Dota 2 and it's most certainly not a scaled down production even with the
F2P model. The game has incredibly high production values.

 

[Kindred Dread]

The diversity of games on sale is still really poor. Yeah, it's better than Nintendo or Microsoft, but that's really not saying much. Sometimes you're lucky if you ever see a particular game go on sale twice, and other times we have companies like Atlus who put their games on sale so often it's predictable and there's no point in buying them at full price. (Not PSN, but SMTIV is a huge offender)

Oh, and the minimum $5 deposit turned me away from buying anything last flash sale. They ought to fix that. And memory card pricing, yadda yadda.

Nowhere near close to perfect, or even great.

 

[jerry1594]

Yeah I like cheap shit too

 

[Fularu]

Everything I've seen of Overwatch seems to be a high quality production. Regardless of whether it's F2P or not there is no indication that they are making some crappo scaled down phone game. They're making a high production value shooter and it may use the F2P model. That doesn't mean it's a scaled down production.

Valve made Dota 2 and it's most certainly not a scaled down production even with the
F2P model. The game has incredibly high production values.

Scalled down doesn't mean low quality, it means "smaller teams".

The teams behind Overwatch, Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm are prety small compared to the WoW and D3 teams.

Tons of people work on Dota because therés nothing else at Valve going on

 

[JoduanER2]

its certainly the best in the console space. Still no match for PC sales.

Yea sadly not even close to steam sales.

 

[Aselith]

Scalled down doesn't mean low quality, it means "smaller teams".

The teams behind Overwatch, Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm are prety small compared to the WoW and D3 teams.

Tons of people work on Dota because therés nothing else at Valve going on

Do you have any figures for team sizes? Hearthstone is smaller but it was intended to be their smaller game.

 

[Khaos_Knight]

Absolutely, and I think Sony deserves some credit here. Yes, I know STEAM sales are a thing, and so is GMG, et al., but Sony really has done an exceptional job this gen all around.

And people act surprised that the PS4 is outselling the competition by 2 to 1.

 

[spatenfloot]

They're digital gaming done wrong because it didn't come to Europe. What's with all the regionalisation?

Make a US account like a normal European!

 

[Thoraxes]

If they could let me store and backup copies of my digital games I would be much more inclined to spend money on digital games on closed platforms.

 

[King_Moc]

You don't realise that deep discounts make games disposable? Why pay 70$ cnd for GTA V when I know it will be 15$ or less come the winter sale? If I could resell it, sure, why not, but I can't. So bargain bin prices it is

On the other hand, I buy plenty of 40+$ console games (xbone/PS3/ps4/vita/3Ds/wii and so in) without batting an eye

Well, about 35 million people have, so i'm not sure what you're getting at. People want stuff asap, and will pay to not have to wait. The AAA market has shown us that time and time again.

 

[Fularu]

Well, about 35 million people have, so i'm not sure what you're getting at. People want stuff asap, and will pay to not have to wait. The AAA market has shown us that time and time again.

35 million people have paid 70$ cnd for the PC version of GTAV? You know, the thing we are talking about

 

[I Wanna Be The Guy]

And people act surprised that the PS4 is outselling the competition by 2 to 1.

Except they haven't been doing an exceptional job in general this gen. Only their marketing has been exceptional. Their first party lineup is incredibly weak, which is actually really surprising considering how fucking good the first party lineup on the Vita has been(when Sony were actually supporting it). PSN has been a joke which is made even worse by the fact PS Plus is required now. The console was missing basic features for a very long time, and hell it still is in some ways. The controller had major issues at launch. Their sales have been utter shite for Europe. The UI sucks.

The only PlayStation system this gen that deserved to outsell the competition 2 to 1 is Vita. Life isn't fair.

 

[King_Moc]

35 million people have paid 70$ cnd for the PC version of GTAV? You know, the thing we are talking about

I thought the thread was about Playstation sales. Silly me. Well, GTA V is top of the Steam best sellers chart and has been pretty much up there since it was available to order.