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Square TAX (Why is My Life As a King so expensive)

X

Xabora

Junior Member
I'd figure I would make a thread about this.


So a buddy of mine and I were in CC one day picking up a game.
He was compaining that square games in general costs more than new copies of other DS games.
This perked my interest since DS games normally ran around 30USD.

Direct Link:
http://www.gamestop.com/Browse/Search.aspx?N=134+106
Square Games 40usd
Nintendo Games 35usd
Others 30 or lower.


Now looking at Wiiware.
We have the new Square game [Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles - My Life as a King]
This runs for 1500points. The most expensive game on Wiiware.
The other games on Wiiware run for 1000points or less.

Sooo... Square games are stupidly expensive.
 
C

Christine

Member
Xabora said:
Sooo... Square games are stupidly expensive.
Click to expand...

av687pf4.jpg


pimpin' ain't easy.
 
D

disappeared

Banned
Yep, Square has made it a habit of overpricing their stuff for years. I first caught onto it back in the PS2 days when FFX and Kingdom Hearts were $10 more than any other game on the shelf. This is Canada, mind you, so I have no idea if it was different in the States or in other parts of the world.
 
J

jj984jj

He's a pretty swell guy in my books anyway.
I thought this thread was going to be about the DLC. :lol

I won't be buying it until I get some sort of storage device, but FF:CC seems to be worth the initial 1500 points for what you get. I'm tempted to download it but Lost Winds has me occupied and clearing up space is a pain.
 
S

soul

Member
DIrtyWeasel said:
They're making up for the cost of Final Fantasy: Spirits Within.
Click to expand...

:lol :lol

Snap, over $124 million in losses could fund the FF7 remake ;@

Xabora said:
But yes I remain a fan of the First 6 FF games + FF9. (FFT is good too. :p)
Click to expand...

FF9 is godlike and way underrated.
 
C

Christine

Member
Xabora said:
*sigh*
Look I used to work in a MS Datacenter. :p


But yes I remain a fan of the First 6 FF games + FF9. (FFT is good too. :p)
Click to expand...

I'm just saying that it probably takes a considerable amount of scratch to keep moog dressed so sharply.
 
X

Xabora

Junior Member
TwinIonEngines said:
I'm just saying that it probably takes a considerable amount of scratch to keep moog dressed so sharply.
Click to expand...
Haha XD

The Yoshitaku Amano Moogles take fancy clothes to remain happy.
 
O

OnWarmerMusic

Member
I'm pretty sure you had to take out a second mortgage to pay for Chrono Trigger, back in the day. This is nothing new.

Doesn't make it nice, but it's nothing new.
 
U

Urban Scholar

Member
You think that's bad, the price of new square-enix imports in relation to other import prices are insane. Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix + I'm looking at you.
 
Dice

Dice

Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
Square games are usually 20% more awesome than other games too, so I don't understand your issue.
 
S

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
The Square tax is bullshit, but FF:CC WiiWare is worth the $15. It took me 11 hours to finish, comparing to LostWinds at 3 hours for $10.

I think if this were XBLA, FF:CC WiiWare would be the calibre of game that would fit into the 1200 point category, no matter who the published.

There's no Square-Enix tax here.
 
C

Callibretto

Member
Atlus don't have the production value as high as square games though.I always think square games have that extra level of polish to it, even the bad games
 
A

aaaaaa

Member
I dunno, you can get copies of FF10 and FF12 on the cheap now. It's better than the SNES days where FF3us stayed the same price after being released for years.
 
T

TrueReligion

Banned
Callibretto said:
Atlus don't have the production value as high as square games though.I always think square games have that extra level of polish to it, even the bad games
Click to expand...
Too bad Atlus games are better.
 
Alex

Alex

Member
Atlus's non-SMT publishing has sunk in quality almost as hard as Square's development of non-FF games has.

Atlus publishes so much fucking crap now.
 
X

Xabora

Junior Member
Alex said:
Atlus's non-SMT publishing has sunk in quality almost as hard as Square's development of non-FF games has.

Atlus publishes so much fucking crap now.
Click to expand...
You do know Atlus publishes NON-ATLUS games in the states. :p

When I talk Atlus, I mean Atlus Japanese games.
Not the ones that are made from another company but then Published in the States by Atlus.
 
M

Man God

Non-Canon Member
Atlus does fine and mainly publishes decent games, they aren't Nippon Ichi or some other slum publisher, they have class. :D

Anyways, normally I'd rail against the SE Tax but considering within a few months they'll have released TWEWY, FFTA2, FF4 DS, and DQ IV I really can't complain. That's some high quality gaming right there, better than any $60 360 or PS3 game.
 
J

jj984jj

He's a pretty swell guy in my books anyway.
Alex said:
Atlus's non-SMT publishing has sunk in quality almost as hard as Square's development of non-FF games has.

Atlus publishes so much fucking crap now.
Click to expand...
If they weren't bringing over that Idea Factory crap for the 360 I'd say they at least try to find interesting games. Not even any of Square's lower-tier DS games are as bad as IF games.
 
S

soul

Member
Alex said:
Atlus's non-SMT publishing has sunk in quality almost as hard as Square's development of non-FF games has.

Atlus publishes so much fucking crap now.
Click to expand...

wat?

There are many great non-FF games such as The World Ends With You, KH 1 & 2, VP 1-2, Star Ocean 1-2 and so on. Plus, many quality titles in the horizon: Infinite Undiscovery, The Last Remnant, Star Ocean 4, Sigma Harmonics, etc.
 
R

Ranger X

Member
Xabora said:
I'd figure I would make a thread about this.


So a buddy of mine and I were in CC one day picking up a game.
He was compaining that square games in general costs more than new copies of other DS games.
This perked my interest since DS games normally ran around 30USD.

Direct Link:
http://www.gamestop.com/Browse/Search.aspx?N=134+106
Square Games 40usd
Nintendo Games 35usd
Others 30 or lower.


Now looking at Wiiware.
We have the new Square game [Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles - My Life as a King]
This runs for 1500points. The most expensive game on Wiiware.
The other games on Wiiware run for 1000points or less.

Sooo... Square games are stupidly expensive.
Click to expand...


With Squaresoft you pay for a name. THEY DO have brand force. The bad part is that they know it too much. Personally i think they really suck and only sell on their name nowadays but there's SO many of their games that would have had lower scores or that would have been overlooked by people if it was another name of the fucking box. Very sad.
 
C

ChaoticBlue

Member
i don't buy square games on the DS. i think its a rip off being it cost $5-$10 more on average for a DS game. the games are not very good anyway except for the new one that just came out.
 
L

Lost Fragment

Obsessed with 4chan
Buying a Square Enix game is kinda like shopping at Abercrombie & Fitch instead of K-mart. If it says "Square Enix" and/or "final Fantasy" on the box, people will buy it with a jacked up price. And they know people will bitch, but also that they'll buy the games anyway.

edit: beaten :|
 
C

Cryect

Member
Xabora said:
Now looking at Wiiware.
We have the new Square game [Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles - My Life as a King]
This runs for 1500points. The most expensive game on Wiiware.
The other games on Wiiware run for 1000points or less.

Sooo... Square games are stupidly expensive.
Click to expand...

How about all the additional DLC for FFCC is another 2500 points.

Edit: Rechecked and noticed 1 of the DLC's is 3 of the others combined so its only 1600 points for everything (or 1700 if you buy the additional races seperately). Though should say most the DLC really just seems to be "cheats".
 
S

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
Cryect said:
How about all the additional DLC for FFCC is another 2500 points.
Click to expand...

The DLC is clearly a money-grab, but I don't think that's unique to Square-Enix.

LONPOS (a puzzle game sort of like checkers mixed with mastermind a little bit) has 9 sets of DLC, each for 500 points--each consists of just five puzzles. So the total cost of the game is 5500 points. It's 480i only, no widescreen support, and shitty.

On other platforms, you've got horse armor in Oblivion, hundreds of dollars of Idolmaster shit, skins for Ace Combat 6 planes, etc.

The DLC does not add anything substantive; you will not be disappointed in the game playing it without the DLC.
 
J

jooey

The Motorcycle That Wouldn't Slow Down
Alex said:
Atlus's non-SMT publishing has sunk in quality almost as hard as Square's development of non-FF games has.

Atlus publishes so much fucking crap now.
Click to expand...
ha ha you act like that's new

as if the "crap" directly influences the quality of any given SMT project
 
A

amodf

Member
ff7 crisis core was 50 bux.

square games in japan are generally 1000-2000 more yens than games from lesser companies (at least ones called final fantasy or dragon quest).

thx guys!
 
P

PillowKnight

Member
Innotech said:
well they have to make SOME money to offset the costs of FF13. Selling the game wont do it, they need another way.
Click to expand...
:lol Does there exist a post of yours where you don't troll the PS3?

On topic, I hate the SE tax even though i'm a huge SE fan. It's kept me from their buying games , and it's the main reason I haven't played FFIII yet.
 
I

Innotech

Banned
PillowKnight said:
:lol Does there exist a post of yours where you don't troll the PS3?
Click to expand...
there may be a few. let me check.

ah yes there are a couple where I was talking about tornadoes and eating bugs.
 
J

JohnTinker

Limbaugh Parrot
My Life As a King downloadable content:

* Lilty House, Selkie House, Yuke House (300 Points each): Houses that produce new adventurers of the other three races from the Crystal Chronicles world.
* Three Races Pack (800 Points): All three new races in one slightly discounted set.
* King's Change of Clothes (100 Points): A pirate outfit for the King.
* Chime's Dress-Up (100 Points): A new outfit for the player's assistant Chime.
* Sacred Shrine (200 Points): A shrine that lets warriors temporarily buff themselves up.
* Gorgeous House (100 Points): A big house that many different people can live in.
* Castle Update (100 Points)
* 11 Dungeons Pack (300 Points): A pack containing 11 new dungeons. Clearing these dungeons will reward the player with new buildings.
* Tower of Eternity (300 Points): A special dungeon featuring a gigantic tower and a formidable monster. If the monster is destroyed, the player is rewarded with an invaluable treasure.
* Library (200 Points): Gives the player the skill to memorize race-specific abilities and to train their warriors further.
Click to expand...
 
S

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
mysticstylez said:
I thought they charged more for DS games because they use higher capacity carts.
Click to expand...

No on two levels:

1) Cart size does not significantly impact price. The type and quantity of save memory on the card has a greater impact on pricing than the size of the card itself. The price margin for 1gb cards is now non-existent; it was quite low even back when they were new.

2) They don't use bigger cards than average. All Square-Enix games have been 512 or 1024 Mbits, which is pretty much bog standard for DS games. It's true that FFIII was one of the first games to use 1024 Mbits, but they're no longer on the bleeding edge. 2Gbit cards exist but Square-Enix hasn't used them yet.
 
S

Saitou

Banned
Did say that Nintendo has final say on any and all Wii Ware game prices?


Because Nintendo has final say on any and all Wii Ware prices. Developers can submit their desired or expected price, but that's it. This likely includes DLC.
 
A

AlphaSnake

...and that, kids, was the first time I sucked a dick for crack
Square has overcharged since the SNES, and perhaps further back. I remember FFIII costing 69.99 or 74.99, where as other carts cost 64.99. Final Fantasy VII's MSRP was $54.99, but some retailers did sell it for $49.99.
 
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