Anthem85
CAGiversary!
I have been thinking about this all day on how to approach it. There isn't really a good way so ill just get right into it.
In the last 3 years we have been living with out Xbox 360's and PS3's buying up games left and right and then adding playtime to them with DLC. Now this is an amazing thing devs have done for gaming to extend the life of a game. At what point do we as consumers feel we are getting ripped off? With the introduction of avatar Market Place I think MS has gone to far. Here is my thoughts...
Look at a company like valve, They release most (if not all) of there DLC on the PC for free. MS has in turn said we can allow that to happen on XBL. Why? they say it devalues content on the service. I think not. and I know you feel the same. Now im not saying all content should be free so don't explode on me here. Im just saying a Dev should have control on what it wants to release and price it how they would like to price it without MS trying to get every penny it can out of the consumer. I understand that there in the business to make money but there is a line. I feel they have crossed this line so many times.
Why doesn't MS have better sales on this stuff? The business model they have in place is of old. Its the same concept they use on there OS platform. Charge as much as you can because people will pay it. If you look at Steam there numbers are off the charts with there sales. here are the numbers
10% sale = 35% increase in sales (real dollars, not units shipped)
25% sale = 245% increase in sales
50% sale = 320% increase in sales
75% sale = 1470% increase in sales
L4D on steam went up 3000% one weekend by offering it for 50% off. in that weekend they released a statement that said that they sold more games and made more money 1 year after release than they did in the first year of release.... This is amazing. This even crosses over to the iphone. Devs are selling content at record low prices between $1-$5 and are making millions doing so (not all of course) Apple is even getting into this new pricing structure by offering there latest OS for $30. This kind of structure is saying hey we will sell a hell of alot more product and make more money because were supporting a wider range of people. Its working! more people are buying cheaper in this save more economy.
More people would flock to the 360 and purchase more if things like these happened.
Now my last thought before this post gets to long is the new avatar costs. they are looking for $4 for a outfit on premium things. This is out of control. People will and do buy them. I am a victim of this as I purchased the Clone trooper suit. Also look at the new Instand download games. They just released saints row 2 for $30 on this service. the game costs $20 at retail. THATS RETAIL with packaging and a store taking a cut. With digital there is no middle man, no packaging this should cost $15-$20 at the most. When does this stop being ok to do? when will MS start seeing that the consumer is not willing to do this much longer. Our views are changing when it comes to digital goods.
In closing everyone will say well don't buy it or you speak with your wallet. This is a clouded response as there are no other options. And we will be stuck to purchase these things because it extends our experience and fulfills us on the things we want.
The thing id like to see is MS start experimenting with its pricing structure to open it up. We already pay $50 a year and we just started getting ad's in our NXE. They need to step back and take a look at what they can do better for the consumer, not for themselves. Because if they would think of us and price things at a decent range they would make more money than they are now because more people will be willing to spend. Thank you to anyone that has read this. I tried to not bash as much as I could but express a view that I had. I do love my xbox and will continue to support it but I wish things would change.
In the last 3 years we have been living with out Xbox 360's and PS3's buying up games left and right and then adding playtime to them with DLC. Now this is an amazing thing devs have done for gaming to extend the life of a game. At what point do we as consumers feel we are getting ripped off? With the introduction of avatar Market Place I think MS has gone to far. Here is my thoughts...
Look at a company like valve, They release most (if not all) of there DLC on the PC for free. MS has in turn said we can allow that to happen on XBL. Why? they say it devalues content on the service. I think not. and I know you feel the same. Now im not saying all content should be free so don't explode on me here. Im just saying a Dev should have control on what it wants to release and price it how they would like to price it without MS trying to get every penny it can out of the consumer. I understand that there in the business to make money but there is a line. I feel they have crossed this line so many times.
Why doesn't MS have better sales on this stuff? The business model they have in place is of old. Its the same concept they use on there OS platform. Charge as much as you can because people will pay it. If you look at Steam there numbers are off the charts with there sales. here are the numbers
10% sale = 35% increase in sales (real dollars, not units shipped)
25% sale = 245% increase in sales
50% sale = 320% increase in sales
75% sale = 1470% increase in sales
L4D on steam went up 3000% one weekend by offering it for 50% off. in that weekend they released a statement that said that they sold more games and made more money 1 year after release than they did in the first year of release.... This is amazing. This even crosses over to the iphone. Devs are selling content at record low prices between $1-$5 and are making millions doing so (not all of course) Apple is even getting into this new pricing structure by offering there latest OS for $30. This kind of structure is saying hey we will sell a hell of alot more product and make more money because were supporting a wider range of people. Its working! more people are buying cheaper in this save more economy.
More people would flock to the 360 and purchase more if things like these happened.
Now my last thought before this post gets to long is the new avatar costs. they are looking for $4 for a outfit on premium things. This is out of control. People will and do buy them. I am a victim of this as I purchased the Clone trooper suit. Also look at the new Instand download games. They just released saints row 2 for $30 on this service. the game costs $20 at retail. THATS RETAIL with packaging and a store taking a cut. With digital there is no middle man, no packaging this should cost $15-$20 at the most. When does this stop being ok to do? when will MS start seeing that the consumer is not willing to do this much longer. Our views are changing when it comes to digital goods.
In closing everyone will say well don't buy it or you speak with your wallet. This is a clouded response as there are no other options. And we will be stuck to purchase these things because it extends our experience and fulfills us on the things we want.
The thing id like to see is MS start experimenting with its pricing structure to open it up. We already pay $50 a year and we just started getting ad's in our NXE. They need to step back and take a look at what they can do better for the consumer, not for themselves. Because if they would think of us and price things at a decent range they would make more money than they are now because more people will be willing to spend. Thank you to anyone that has read this. I tried to not bash as much as I could but express a view that I had. I do love my xbox and will continue to support it but I wish things would change.
ing avatar. Don't try to hide behind a cause.
