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[Cerium]

This discussion has consumed the RiME thread and has bigger implications than one game so I thought a new thread was warranted. Not only because the subject is important, but also so that individuals can be held accountable one way or the other.

KennyLinder is apparently a developer and got something right about The Last Guardian still being in development when everyone thought it was dead. He says that the price of Switch cartridge media justifies (in fact, requires) a $10 premium on physical Switch releases.

Nobody believed me about this. It's the cart prices, they are ridiculously expensive for publishers/devs to buy.

The price is the same so not to piss off retail. And you'd be surprised how much the carts cost.

PS4, Xbox One and PC use cheap discs so manufacturing costs are less.

The cost of the Switch carts (which, by the way, are fucking outrageous) means that devs/publishers HAVE to increase the price of the game so they can return a profit. Remember, on a £50 game, the dev doesn't see £50. It's much, much less. Then take into account the additional cost of the manufacter (in this case, Switch carts), margins are much tighter. Then on top of this is the added risk of releasing on a new platform with a small user base, and you have a challenging situation.

Meanwhile Matt of IGN fame disagrees.

The game cards are obviously more expensive than disks.

But they aren't THAT much more.

A $10 up charge can't be explained away by manufacturing costs.

Discuss.

 

[VegaShinra]

He's not Matt of IGN.

 

[jon bones]

I'll trust Matt, thanks

 

[JP]

Rime?

 

[Cerium]

He's not Matt of IGN.

I must've got my wires crossed, which Matt is he?

 

[doop_]

That sucks, I guess...

 

[NOLA_Gaffer]

Flash memory has progressed to that point where I doubt the Switch carts are massively more expensive, especially in large numbers.

This isn't 1997 anymore.

 

[Netrunner2k2]

Matt cassmaassmamaiana?

 

[John Kowalski]

Hope they don't go out with guns and kill each other.

 

[Oregano]

Lol people always think he's Matt from IGN.

 

[GamerJM]

They could both be right and just have different ideas of what "ridiculously expensive," is in regards to what the manufacturing costs of a game should be.

 

[Cerium]

Lol people always think he's Matt from IGN.

I've read people calling him that all over the place. Which one is he then?

 

[Dash Kappei]

This thread is a lie

 

[LordRaptor]

 

[NoblesseOblige]

I don't need to trust either to know I ain't paying more for less.

 

[AcademicSaucer]

Matt was right about the Switch on many things, I dont know who that KennyLinder guy is

 

[VegaShinra]

I must've got my wires crossed, which Matt is he?

Don't know. Just a Matt that is in the industry.

 

[Living Proof]

Whether he works for IGN or not, Matt makes more sense. I don't doubt that the carts cost more, albeit slightly if so, and I think we'll games coming out that prove the disparity is insignificant through their digital/retail pricing. There's just not enough so far to conclude anything.

If more and more devs charge $10 extra for the Switch version of their game, that seems like a quick way to lose consumer interest. It's a bad situation to be in if it is somehow true (again, though, $10 no matter what the game is?)

 

[Oregano]

I've read people calling him that all over the place. Which one is he then?

He's just a Dev AFAIK, no one well known.

 

[Lifeline]

Battle of the Insiders.

 

[Surface of Me]

Matt(Person who does not understand economics) disagrees.

 

[Fireblend]

Pfff how could you not know who this Matt is OP.

Spoiler

I don't know

 

[Jasper Avenue]

Is this the opinion of 2 random dudes on the Internet, or people that actually know what's going on?

 

[Glix]

Need info.

Does Nintendo still control the whole supply chain? Their policies concerning disk/cart pressing/manufacture have always been pretty crazy and oppressive

I would not be surprised if matt is right in the sense of "pubs have to charge more to make a similar amount per copy as they do on the other platforms."

 

[btrboyev]

I don't believe they cost that much.

 

[Brazil]

Fake thread, basically, then?

 

[Coreda]

GAF poster Cerium says forum member Matt is an IGN employee. GAF disagrees.

 

[Stumpokapow]

That's not what KennyLinder said, and congratulations, you just made sure that he'll never participate in a conversation about development issues again because you took an off-handed comment and made it into a thing.