Amazon PCDD - Important Update New Community Manager Incoming!

Status
Not open for further replies.
Amazon DVG Deals

Amazon DVG Deals

Official Representative
Feedback
4 (100%)
Hey CAGS,

I’ve got some news I’m both excited and sad to share with you at the same time. I’ll be leaving the Digital Video Games team in Mid-March to join the marketing team for Amazon.com’s Loyalty and Rewards program, Amazon Coins. My boss and I have talked extensively about how to maintain and continue our presence here and across the other communities we’ve created in the past couple of years. To that end I’d like to introduce you to Josh, who take over monitoring, updating, and responding to this thread. Josh will be ramping up over the next couple of weeks, he  will be posting shortly to introduce himself.

Now that the “what’s going on” part of the message is out of the way I want to tell you all how much I love CAG and the posters here. This was the first community I joined when I started this job (anyone still remember that first thread?) and all of you have had a huge hand in shaping how we think about and execute Community Development and Management here at Amazon, which has in turn shaped my career these last two and a half years.

I started to write out a section calling out the regular posters and realized the list would be both overly long and incomplete at the same time. Instead I’d like to thank you all again, you all have my deep and sincere gratitude. I’ll still be around and my gaming accounts aren’t going anywhere so feel free to hit me up anytime you want to chat. I’ll probably still hang out in the thread too :).

Thanks again everyone, let me or Josh know if you have any questions!

The Indie Store has launched!
Amazon.com is launching a storefront dedicated to supporting and promoting PC/Mac/Web-based Indie Games. Our Digital Video Games team is a small group of passionate gamers and we’re all really excited to help Indie developers reach more customers quickly by providing a quick and simple process for bringing their games to market. Additionally we’ll be supporting the Indie Store with a ton of promotions, both at and after launch. Many of these promotions are designed to give the developer the opportunity to maximize their revenue. For example, Amazon is forfeiting all royalties from bundle sales and passing them along directly to the developer, we’ve also created an “Indie Spotlight” program to help customers learn more about the games and developers they love. We view the Indie developers as some of the most creative in the industry and we want to help them continue to create new and innovative experience for customers.

Why we are doing this:

  • Allow customers to discover an entirely new category of games on Amazon.com
  • Help developers reach new customers quickly. Our onboarding process is straightforward and we want to sell every Indie game available
  • We want to leverage our strengths to support and help the developers who are driving forward innovation and creativity in the games industry
General Information

Hi CAGs,
I'll be posting deals we're running on Digital Games (PC/Mac, Free to Play, Sony/Microsoft Points/Subs).

I'm also here to answer questions you might have, get you closer to the developers by hosting Q&As, setting up podcasts, live streaming gameplay etc. If I don't respond to a question you have in thread please send me a PM. These ping my email address and make it more likely that I will see your question and respond more quickly.

Cheers,
Tony


FYI. EA Games sold by Amazon will not activate on Steam.
F.A.Q.S.:

1. Does the game I'm buying from Amazon Activate on Steam/Origin/Uplay? What DRM does the game use?

There are two places to identify DRM on a digital video game detail page:

At the top of the page, below the title:

16hm7a8.png


In the "Product Description" section:

r06ykl.jpg


2. Note on Electronic Arts Games - For the most part, EA games sold on Amazon do not activate on Steam. Most activate on Origin.

3. Note on DRM with limited activations:

Our Policy



4. Sometimes I'll do giveaways.

5. I work with developers and publishers to get fun (or at least what I think is fun) content to share with you all. Here are some examples:

a. Check out the Pax Gameplay videos here: Xcom: Enemy Unknown I played Xcom with Jake, the Creative Director for the game, a few months before the game came out Also, on this page, check out the Q&A, also a community driven event.

b. Check out the interview on this page: Borderlands 2 we did this interview at E3 with Randy Pitchford this year.

c. We've partnered with the ++GoodGames Podcast to feature many of the games we carry. They talk to the developers about the game development process, how the games are conceptualized and managed, all kinds of fun stuff. I'm working on putting together full link list and will update when I have it.

What else do we sell?

Xbox Live Points and Subscriptions:

1600 Microsoft Live Points
4000 Microsoft Live Points
12 Month XBOX Live Subscription
3 Month XBOX Live Subscription]
12 Month + 1 XBOX Live Subscription

PSN+ Subscriptions and PSN Points:

$20 PSN Points
$50 PSN Points
12 Month PSN+ Subscription
3 Month PSN+ Subscription

We also have a Free-2-Play store supported by our GameConnect technology. Gameconnect allows you to link your Amazon.com account with free-2-play and MMO accounts so that you can buy things like in game currency, premium game time/subscriptions, in game items, etc. on Amazon.com using your Amazon.com payment options and have this content delivered directly into your game.

5. Price Matching notes: Generally we do not match international retailers (GMG, Gamersgate, etc) or physical retailers (Best Buy, Newegg.com, etc.)
To check out the Free-2-Play games we offer you can visit our storefront here: Free-2-Play Store

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Upvote 0 Downvote
DarkZero104 said:
Of course I'm not satisfied, they're basically the usual (and usually incorrect!) claim of the EC games being "Amazon deal + $5." Only this time it's more like + $4 between Tomb Raider ($5 last month), Legacy of Kain ($4 on multiple places, including Amazon), and at that price for Hitman if you split up $13 for each major half (Absolution Professional, the rest) it'll have been topped. If you were fine with Standard, you'd even get it done to the EC price level. Maybe $1 off.

FF7 and FF8, which both have been on sale in the past week in other places? Nope!

Sleeping Dogs, which apart from being on sale regularly is also now free on XBLA Gold this month and was free on PS+ some 6 months ago? Nope!

Deus Ex with its Director's Cut? Nope!

It's only slightly better than Amazon's owns offerings post-coupon. So yes, there's a lot to be desired there. It actually lives up to the price jacking claim.
Click to expand...
Stop bitching.

 
DarkZero104 said:
Of course I'm not satisfied, they're basically the usual (and usually incorrect!) claim of the EC games being "Amazon deal + $5." Only this time it's more like + $4 between Tomb Raider ($5 last month), Legacy of Kain ($4 on multiple places, including Amazon), and at that price for Hitman if you split up $13 for each major half (Absolution Professional, the rest) it'll have been topped. If you were fine with Standard, you'd even get it done to the EC price level. Maybe $1 off.

FF7 and FF8, which both have been on sale in the past week in other places? Nope!

Sleeping Dogs, which apart from being on sale regularly is also now free on XBLA Gold this month and was free on PS+ some 6 months ago? Nope!

Deus Ex with its Director's Cut? Nope!

It's only slightly better than Amazon's owns offerings post-coupon. So yes, there's a lot to be desired there. It actually lives up to the price jacking claim.
Click to expand...
You just identified a 20% reduction in price from the lowest price on for Tomb Raider, at $4 a 37% reduction in price from the lowest cost on the Legacy of Kain pack at $2.75, and I'm not sure about the math on the Hitman Pack but it is currently $1 less with more content.

Literally none of these are higher than we've offered them before, which is how I would define price jacking.

Edit: I'm including the percentage reduction in price because, at $2.75 and $4 absolute cost there isn't a whole lot of room to talk about further dollar value reduction.

Cheers,

Tony

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I wouldn't mind FF8 at like $3 after coupon. I was tempted to buy it at $6 or whatever it was recently, but I have it on PSN. And PS1. And two copies of the old 90s PC CDs.

 
elessar123 said:
I wouldn't mind FF8 at like $3 after coupon. I was tempted to buy it at $6 or whatever it was recently, but I have it on PSN. And PS1. And two copies of the old 90s PC CDs.
Click to expand...
If you own it on PS1, just rip the CD and play it on ePSXe with filters and shit. Or on FPSE if you have an Android.

 
spoderman said:
It's odd that the Ubisoft/Uplay store and GetGamesGo have had better deals on FF7 than Amazon. I mean come on, GetGamesGo of all places?
Click to expand...
This isn't surprising to me. The last time we had the lowest in market price on FF7 (I'd have to go back and check what the specific price and time was) it didn't really perform that well so I don't aggressively pursue it anymore. Once we're at the point where it can be bundled I'll start pursuing it again.

Cheers,

Tony

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Amazon DVG Deals said:
This isn't surprising to me. The last time we had the lowest in market price on FF7 (I'd have to go back and check what the specific price and time was) it didn't really perform that well so I don't aggressively pursue it anymore. Once we're at the point where it can be bundled I'll start pursuing it again.

Cheers,

Tony
Click to expand...
Suggestions:

Sell FF7 for $2.50 after coupon.

Sell FF8 for $2.50 after coupon.

Everyone would be ALL over either of them OR both.

Am I right, guys?

 
Amazon DVG Deals said:
This isn't surprising to me. The last time we had the lowest in market price on FF7 (I'd have to go back and check what the specific price and time was) it didn't really perform that well so I don't aggressively pursue it anymore. Once we're at the point where it can be bundled I'll start pursuing it again.
Cheers,
Tony
Click to expand...
I don't know what the lowest price Amazon had it for, but I remember the price not being very good compared to the competition. GGG and Ubisoft had it for about $2.99.
 
Amazon DVG Deals said:
This isn't surprising to me. The last time we had the lowest in market price on FF7 (I'd have to go back and check what the specific price and time was) it didn't really perform that well so I don't aggressively pursue it anymore. Once we're at the point where it can be bundled I'll start pursuing it again.

Cheers,

Tony
Click to expand...
I snagged FF7 for $3 at Uplay (late Oct), thinking well it can't go much lower outside of a pack/bundle. I'm sure most respectable spendthrifts did the same.

 
At the point where it can be bundled?  I'd think anything Squeenix can be bundled by now... these guys have been having a digital fire sale for the better part of half a year now.

 
Amazon DVG Deals said:
This isn't surprising to me. The last time we had the lowest in market price on FF7 (I'd have to go back and check what the specific price and time was) it didn't really perform that well so I don't aggressively pursue it anymore. Once we're at the point where it can be bundled I'll start pursuing it again.

Cheers,

Tony
Click to expand...
Does FF7 ever sell that well (besides on Steam, who could a ketchup popsicle to a lady in white gloves)? Last I checked, it wasn't the greatest version and required modding to even get running as good as the original version (music, battle backdrops, etc). Seems like a big chunk of would-be buyers are fine with owning the original or just playing it on an emulator.

 
MysterD said:
Suggestions:

Sell FF7 for $2.50 after coupon.

Sell FF8 for $2.50 after coupon.

Everyone would be ALL over either of them OR both.

Am I right, guys?
Click to expand...
I would definitely be all over them, but what do I know. I'm just a simple caveman lawyer. Your world frightens and confuses me.

 
Thermopyle said:
BTW for The Bureau, here is TotalBiscuit weighing in: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2SrvXOTKaw
Click to expand...
Are there any way to TURN OFF partner AI and just control them entirely?

Whether the option is there in-game officially (from the get-go) or w/ some kind of mod?

I mean - that's always what I did w/ strategic-games with pause-allowed like NWN series, DAO series, BG games, etc - I often just turned the partnet AI off b/c they often did stupid, annoying, or things I didn't want them to do.

Or is there a mod for The Bureau that improves the AI quite a bit?

 
Cheaplikeafox 3.0 said:
Would it be wrong to say that if you're over the age of 30 and haven't played two games that have been available for over half your life then you don't really want to play them?
Click to expand...
I've tried playing FF7 too many times to count. Every time I get bored as fuck 1/3 of the way through or so and stop. For being the most popular Final Fantasy game, I prefer almost every other game in the series, and I'm a pretty big FF fan.

 
spoderman said:
I don't know what the lowest price Amazon had it for, but I remember the price not being very good compared to the competition. GGG and Ubisoft had it for about $2.99.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the price, I retract my statement, we had it for $4 not $3 around that time period. I had $5 written down in my notes as the best price on it and didn't note the Uplay/GGG deal. At a $3 lowest price in market PP it becomes a "wait until we can bundle it" thing for me unless Square specifically says "we want to sell this thing for less than $3".

Cheers,

Tony

 
n-e-way, the Legacy of Kain bundle for $2.50 looks tempting... but I don't want to be snake bit when it's next week's Humble Weekly.  But seriously... sort of... Squeenix has been price slashing so much the effective value of any of their titles caps out around $5.  The deals aren't bad but they're such that they probably won't make any CAG budge who hasn't already budged when they were at similar prices before.

For me, it would probably take some massive Squeenix bundle for me to act.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Cheaplikeafox 3.0 said:
Would it be wrong to say that if you're over the age of 30 and haven't played two games that have been available for over half your life then you don't really want to play them?
Click to expand...
I have FF1 for NES.

I have for PSX the following FF games -> FF Anthology (FF5+6), FF7, FF8, and FF9.

FF7 is a bloody classic - I'd like to have that on Steam or DRM, honestly.

Plus - FF7 PC has been modded-up quite a bit.

About FF8 - certainly not my favorite FF, as I do think it's a mess in a lot of ways. But, I'd curious what the mod community has really done w/ FF8.

Also - if we do support these FF's, maybe we could get the REST of the FF's on the PC - especially the newer ones.

 
Peroxide said:
I'm not upset about the sales and will easily use all my EC coupons, but Bioshock Infinite has been $9.99 on over five times.
Click to expand...
Correct, and it is currently $8.20 post coupon, or 17.9% cheaper than it's lowest ($9.99) price (not sure if $9.99 is the lowest price on it, just what you quoted, I think GMG might have been lower post voucher thing but I'm not sure).

Cheers,

Tony

 
Amazon DVG Deals said:
You just identified a 20% reduction in price from the lowest price on for Tomb Raider, at $4 a 37% reduction in price from the lowest cost on the Legacy of Kain pack at $2.75, and I'm not sure about the math on the Hitman Pack but it is currently $1 less with more content.

Literally none of these are higher than we've offered them before, which is how I would define price jacking.

Edit: I'm including the percentage reduction in price because, at $2.75 and $4 absolute cost there isn't a whole lot of room to talk about further dollar value reduction.

Cheers,

Tony
Click to expand...
Post-EC, they're not higher, no. They also shouldn't be. The complaint goes that for the games during the EC sale what you get is Amazon sale price + $5. Coming in with Amazon price + $4 isn't giving a whole lot of credit to saying that claim is wrong. I get that there isn't a lot of room (especially for LoK) but it's a very, very minor discount. It's basically offering a bump of the regular sale price in exchange for a slight reduction of the post-coupon price - this is the price jacking that's meant.

A different way to think of it:

If Tomb Raider actually was $9.99 pre-EC, you'd have some people happy for being able to get it at the sale price of last month and others disappointed that the best it could do was match it (and anyone interested without a coupon pretty much left with the best option of 'get it later'). That would be the price jacking, not that it's higher post-coupon, that it's the same. The difference of $1 is a slight improvement but not really one of the memorable deals and just... ordinary. None of the major EC sales last year or the year before were a case of "boy, I'm sure glad that I got it for $1 less." They were a case of it was a good sale before coupon and a great one after. This also could be said of the usual Steam PM - often Steam and Amazon have around the same sale price so when it gets PM'd you get a good deal pre-coupon but a great one afterwards. If you want it in percentages, it'd be 50%+ on these $5 or less games where I start to accept it as "good enough." So a game with a lowest price of $5 becomes $7.50 before but $2.50 after. Like Spec Ops last year. Not the greatest but solid enough because there's a clear gap between those two levels.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
MysterD said:
I have FF1 for NES.

I have for PSX the following FF games -> FF Anthology (FF5+6), FF7, FF8, and FF9.

FF7 is a bloody classic - I'd like to have that on Steam or DRM, honestly.

Plus - FF7 PC has been modded-up quite a bit.

About FF8 - certainly not my favorite FF, as I do think it's a mess in a lot of ways. But, I'd curious what the mod community has really done w/ FF8.

Also - if we do support these FF's, maybe we could get the REST of the FF's on the PC - especially the newer ones.
Click to expand...
But the rest of them suck.

 
DarkZero104 said:
Post-EC, they're not higher, no. They also shouldn't be. The complaint goes that for the games during the EC sale what you get is Amazon sale price + $5. Coming in with Amazon price + $4 isn't giving a whole lot of credit to saying that claim is wrong. I get that there isn't a lot of room (especially for LoK) but it's a very, very minor discount. It's basically offering a bump of the regular sale price in exchange for a slight reduction of the post-coupon price - this is the price jacking that's meant.

A different way to think of it:

If Tomb Raider actually was $9.99 pre-EC, you'd have some people happy for being able to get it at the sale price of last month and others disappointed that the best it could do was match it (and anyone interested without a coupon pretty much left with the best option of 'get it later'). That would be the price jacking, not that it's higher post-coupon, that it's the same. The difference of $1 is a slight improvement but not really any of the memorable deals. None of the major EC sales last year or the year before were a case of "boy, I'm sure glad that I got it for $1 less." They were a case of it was a good sale before coupon and a great one after. This also could be said of the usual Steam PM - often Steam and Amazon have around the same sale price so when it gets PM'd you get a good deal pre-coupon but a great one afterwards. If you want it in percentages, it'd be 50%+ on these $5 or less games where I start to accept it as "good enough." So a game with a lowest price of $5 becomes $7.50 before but $2.50 after. Like Spec Ops last year. Not the greatest but solid enough because there's a clear gap between those two levels.
Click to expand...
It seems like this entire discussion is based on whether or not a $1 discount from the previous best price should be considered price jacking. If I am taking away the wrong thing from this please let me know (end of the day I might be reading this poorly), if that is the case I'd encourage you to look back through virtually any page on this thread and look at the number of people who regularly state, especially at the ~$5 level, that $1 (or 20% less than the lowest, already bottomed out sale price) is absolutely enticing.

That being said, there's not really any resolution to be had in this conversation. I'm sorry you're not jazzed by the Square Enix deals, it seems like a number of people are. I hope our next sale is more to your liking (or that you find the deals you're looking for elsewhere).

Cheers,

Tony

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Tony, you should just raise the prices on all of the deals. I'm pretty sure the higher it is, the better the deal it is anyway. Everyone would be satisfied.
 
Cheaplikeafox 3.0 said:
But the rest of them suck.
Click to expand...
I have not played FF10-1, 10-2, 12, 13-1, 13-2, and Lightning Returns.

I would like to see these hit the PC - no matter how great, good, bad, mediocre, sucky, terrible, pathetic, or whatever and however that anybody feels about this.

EDIT:

Idiotekque said:
Tactics > IX > X > XII > X-2 > VIII > VII
Click to expand...
Oh, I certainly could got for a PC port of Tactics.

Never played it.

While I'm at - where are them Chrono Trigger + Chrono Cross PC ports? ;)

Even Capcom has figured out PC gamers want their older games - hence RE4 HD: Steam-version coming soon.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
MysterD said:
I have not played FF10-1, 10-2, 12, 13-1, 13-2, and Lightning Returns.

I would like to see these hit the PC - no matter how great, good, bad, mediocre, sucky, terrible, pathetic, or whatever and however that anybody feels about this.
Click to expand...
You're missing out if you haven't played 10. I'm an old school FF guy and that game got me through college.

Cheers,

Tony

 
MysterD said:
I have not played FF10-1, 10-2, 12, 13-1, 13-2, and Lightning Returns.

I would like to see these hit the PC - no matter how great, good, bad, mediocre, sucky, terrible, pathetic, or whatever and however that anybody feels about this.
Click to expand...
Don't even waste your money on the 13 games. I have both of them, collector's edition no less (I was on some CE fix, fuck if I know). They're basically interactive movies with the most dumbed down FF combat you'll ever see. You can probably just watch them somewhere and get the same experience.

 
Amazon DVG Deals said:
You're missing out if you haven't played 10. I'm an old school FF guy and that game got me through college.

Cheers,

Tony
Click to expand...
My last console was the original Playstation.

Hence why I've missed out on ALL of those FF's after FF9.

EDIT:

Idiotekque said:
Don't even waste your money on the 13 games. I have both of them, collector's edition no less (I was on some CE fix, fuck if I know). They're basically interactive movies with the most dumbed down FF combat you'll ever see. You can probably just watch them somewhere and get the same experience.
Click to expand...
Regardless of how you feel - I still want to them to hit the PC.

They're (labeled) Final Fantasy, dammit.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Idiotekque said:
Don't even waste your money on the 13 games. I have both of them, collector's edition no less (I was on some CE fix, fuck if I know). They're basically interactive movies with the most dumbed down FF combat you'll ever see. You can probably just watch them somewhere and get the same experience.
Click to expand...
I know alot of people enjoyed 13...but I have to agree, I couldn't get into it at all, I was super sad.

Cheers,

Tony

 
Amazon DVG Deals said:
It seems like this entire discussion is based on whether or not a $1 discount from the previous best price should be considered price jacking. If I taking away the wrong thing from this please let me know (end of the day I might be reading this poorly), if that is the case I'd encourage you to look back through virtually any page on this thread and look at the number of people who regularly state, especially at the ~$5 level, that $1 (or 20% less than the lowest, already bottomed out sale price) is absolutely enticing.

That being said, there's not really any resolution to be had in this conversation. I'm sorry you're not jazzed by the Square Enix deals, it seems like a number of people are. I hope our next sale is more to your liking (or that you find the deals you're looking for elsewhere).

Cheers,

Tony
Click to expand...
I'm not trying to be dismissive, but I really do think some people would not be satisfied unless all the prices were matched to their lowest price ever and then the coupon applied on top of that. Which I think is ridiculous and unrealistic.

The gist of what he's trying to say is "I could have bought Tomb Raider for $5, and now I can buy it for $4 after my $5 coupon, so to me this coupon was not a $5 coupon, but a $1 coupon."

So he's alleging the pricing are "jacked" to keep the coupon from really being worth $5.

It's a confusing logic and involves time travel and other things.

 
The 'price jacking' argument is ludicrous.  The deals are fairly standard for Squeenix although it's the lowest I've seen the Thief (own them) and Legacy of Kain (thinking about it) bundles ever.

 
Cheaplikeafox 3.0 said:
I'm not trying to be dismissive, but I really do think some people would not be satisfied unless all the prices were matched to their lowest price ever and then the coupon applied on top of that. Which I think is ridiculous and unrealistic.

The gist of what he's trying to say is "I could have bought Tomb Raider for $5, and now I can buy it for $4 after my $5 coupon, so to me this coupon was not a $5 coupon, but a $1 coupon."

So he's alleging the pricing are "jacked" to keep the coupon from really being worth $5.

It's a confusing logic and involves time travel and other things.
Click to expand...
10535254.jpg

 
Amazon DVG Deals said:
I know alot of people enjoyed 13...but I have to agree, I couldn't get into it at all, I was super sad.

Cheers,

Tony
Click to expand...
A lot of people enjoyed Bad Rats.

But yeah, the production value and effort put into the game, characters, world, was really impressive. Sadly the whole thing just fell totally flat. One of the biggest disappointments in gaming in the last decade.

A lot of people hated XII too, but shit, that game had depth in combat, story, world, etc. For all of its flaws, it was still a really impressive game for its time.

Cheaplikeafox 3.0 said:
I'm not trying to be dismissive, but I really do think some people would not be satisfied unless all the prices were matched to their lowest price ever and then the coupon applied on top of that. Which I think is ridiculous and unrealistic.

The gist of what he's trying to say is "I could have bought Tomb Raider for $5, and now I can buy it for $4 after my $5 coupon, so to me this coupon was not a $5 coupon, but a $1 coupon."

So he's alleging the pricing are "jacked" to keep the coupon from really being worth $5.

It's a confusing logic and involves time travel and other things.
Click to expand...
It makes sense, but I think we've all learned that negativity about Amazon deals doesn't go well here.

 
Status
Not open for further replies.
bread's done
Back
Top