PS3 Informer

Gaming Industry Demands Pay Raise?

\n\nRight now economists are telling us that the recession has bottomed out,\nand we are of course hoping that this is the case, so that we can stop\nscrounging for scraps in the gutter and get back to the business of\npayling video games. We are also very eager to see what sort of changes\nare coming in the wake of the Cologne Gamescom Show, now that we know\nabout new hardware and a much needed price cut from Sony.\n\nDespite cuts to the price hardware, one unsettling thing is the ever\nincreasing price of games - not so much because of the price itself but\nthe entire world seems to have been interrupted by how massive the medium\nof gaming actually is and I am slightly concerned that if the accountants\nget more and more control over Games Developers that the true soul of\ngaming may be lost.\n\nAs an example when I was a young 'Whipper Snapper' I remember Street\nFighter 2 was £59.99 - this was about the average for a game but then the\nalmighty Street Fighter 2 Turbo came along and that was £99.99. The\nquality of the game at the time was cutting edge and as a result every\nkind in my school who had a Snes had the SF2 Turbo Tin version of the game\n- whilst Megadrive owners sulked whilst waving copies of Streets of Rage\nabout saying we don't need it.\n\n\n\nAt the time it was plain to see that this cost was a developer investing\nin the genre and the game whilst offering you the best possible cut of an\nexperience. I mean you didn't see any advertisements in the back ground\nfor any Communications Companies or any form of Service Provider\nsplattering every inch of un decorated pixel with their logos. You got the\nfeelings that they were trying to keep costs to a fair amount and that\nthere wasn't any form of 'Your Money or Your Life' going on.\n\nNow as we see - the war of the consoles is getting hotter and hotter I\ncan't help but wonder - these price increases we are seeing - Games,\nConsoles - what and why are the occurring? The recession is continually\ndriving the cost of everything but fuel down [UK at least] yet Tony\nflipping Hawk [excuse the pun] is trying to get us to buy a big numb board\nfor hundreds of pounds whilst the Modern Warfare boys are asking for more\nmoney - an Extra ORANGE AND GREEN [tenner and a fiver to explain to\nanyone over the pond] from us gamers from Team United Kingdom and what\nfor? Their development costs must be at an all time low yet games are\nreaching an all time high.\n\nDon't get me wrong - the developer put years of their lives and souls into\nthe games and as a result they deserve to be paid and paid well - but\nincreasing game prices by 33% during a recession is just greed. We should\nconsider ourselves lucky that our games don't resemble the features and\nattributes of Rodents as Robert Kotick would probably be playing his flute\nfrom the top of the hill as we speak! Not to mention Tony Hawk - I mean\nhow much for a board that we will tire of quicky - at least Dick\nTurpin wore a mask! [I used to skate aggressive board and inline so i know\nthat this bit of kit will end up in the attic if not under the stairs\nwithin weeks]\n\nI would love to know what your views are on this - do you agree with games\nedging ever closer to £100.00 - or do you think developers are being\ndirected by the Accountants with dollar signs in their eyes?