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£44.99 SRP for Xbox 360 titles News
Xbox 360 News by Eurogamer staff
It seems that £44.99 is the suggested retail price (SRP) for Xbox 360 games. Microsoft today confirmed that the standard edition of its forthcoming title Perfect Dark Zero will sport the higher-than-normal price tag - effectively signalling its intention to hike up game prices for the start of the next generation.
Microsoft also confirmed today that the SRP of the Limited Edition two-disc version would cost £49.99.
A poll of retailers revealed that even the most competitive stores will be charging around £39.99 for standard Xbox 360 games - much more than gamers are currently paying.
Historically speaking, SRP on console games is about £5 more than you can expect to pay if you shop around. The full SRP on current generation console games is around £39.99, although £34.99 tends to be the most common launch price in-store. However, an aggressive summer price war recently drove prices down to around £29.99 - or even lower in some cases.
That's not happening with Xbox 360 though, at least not ahead of launch, with most retailers stocking the likes of Perfect Dark Zero (standard edition) and Kameo: Elements of Power for £39.99 - presumably representing the standard discount - and £44.99 in other cases.
Worryingly, a number of third-party titles cost even more. The same retailers asking for £39.99 for PD Zero and Kameo want £44.99 for Ubisoft's multiformat titles King Kong and Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter, while others are charging as much as £49.99. Likewise Call of Duty 2 and Need For Speed: Most Wanted.
In other words, you're going to be hard-pressed to buy an Xbox 360 game without spending £40, and probably £45 in many cases.
Hypothetically speaking, then, you might be faced with this choice: spend £29.99 or £34.99 on the Xbox version of a new multiformat game, like King Kong, or pay £49.99 to play it on Xbox 360. The difference? On Xbox 360 it'll probably contribute to your Gamerscore, and it'll probably have high definition video modes. The Xbox version would offer those too, of course, except European Xbox 1s don't allow users to access the high definition video options. YAY THE FUTURE.
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Poster
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lower the cost of games and you instantly become more appealing.
I think they need to look at how well online games like Counter-Strike have done, the simple reason to CS being so big was that it was free and was actually updated. If they release games cheap and offer updates etc to always improve, they will get games with a massive user base which will allow income to flow in from other avenues. |
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The normal retail prices of 30-40 EUR for games for the Nintendo DS certainly were a major factor in my decision to buy one. I also noticed that my willingness to buy a game increased higher than proportionally with decreasing price. So I presume they could get more money out of me by focusing on a lower price point.
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erictheking
07/09/05 @ 12:06
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IGN have stated a US launch price of $49.99 for the deluxe version & $39.99 for the normal version of PD. If MS didn't do a straight price conversion with the console why would they with the games?
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Mr_Whacker
07/09/05 @ 12:07
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I remember them charging £45 pounds for a lot of earlier PS1 titles. Never did that any harm.
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Play.com will be getting all my business. They seem to have a flat rate of £39.99 on all their 360 games. I can live with that. Many of the other major online retailers are asking for the full whack £45-£50. What's the incentive? I can go down the high street and pick it up for that price. My regular online retailer will be losing all my business because they want the full price tag. No way.
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This is no problem. If you rush down to GAME to buy it the day it comes out for the top price, it's your own fault for being so stupid. It's not hard to find games for cheaper than the RRP. I'll be buying most of my Xbox 360 games second hand for considerably less than £44.99, and I suggest others do the same.
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Yep, Xbox1 launch games started at that price.
The really retarded thing is in the US the SRP is the same for the next gen for all official MS releases so we're definitely still being screwed in Europe, even if not on the hardware this time. And as this is an official price announcement then it looks unlikely this is just a clerical error or retailer greed. Time to write some angry letters to MS, claiming to be from other countries in Europe (they know the Xbox1 did very well in the UK so probably don't care that much), asking why exactly their new attempt at balanced international pricing isn't reflected in their software releases. If we saw street prices of £30-35 for official MS releases I can guarantee you the other publishers would quickly drop their £50 SRP idea damn quickly. |
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Derblington
07/09/05 @ 12:51
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EA are joking surely? They get enough flak for putting out upgrades every year at £30!
Taking the Xbox and 360 King Kong example - do you think that the xbox version won't play on the 360 in order for you to pay the inflated price if you want to play it? Because that would blow. |
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Well, hopefully the price of games in €'s will be similar to that in $'s.
Seeing as the console is around the same price in €'s as it is in $'s. Nothing new here about forking out near €60 for a game depending on how high profile it is. The DS games are priced at €45. But again, depends on where you shop and the game. Or if you can wait for any of the new next gen games to appear in the "Previously Owned" basket. Personally, I'll wait to see the pricing of the games before considering getting the 360. |
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PES_Fanboy
07/09/05 @ 13:12
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I remember paying £65 for a SNES game in about 1992ish, so by the same twisted logic, I could write an article on a website saying that games are much cheaper.
I also remember paying £2.99 for my Commodore 16 titles... |
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asandbrook
07/09/05 @ 13:17
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As many have already stated - this is fairly par for the course and the fact that Play.com, for example, have already got a flat rate of 39.99 for their 360 games then this isn't that bad a scenario. The people who only want to pay those sub-£30 pre-owned prices will never in a million years be early adopters so they might as well quieten down and sit tight. I 'spose the best idea is to shell out on a title that you know you're going to get serious longevity out of...my thinking is Elder Scrolls: Oblivion...and then by the time you've finished that (if at all - it's going to be ridiculously long) the games will already be on pre-owned/Ebay etc...
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PES_Fanboy
07/09/05 @ 13:32
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I remember baulking at £4.99 games, even though they came in bigger boxes. I suppose the average price for developing a game in those days was £11.80, and now it's 2 million squid or something, so those days won't be back...
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question is, do we get more gameplay for our money......i think this question may be irrelevant.
Is all of this extra money really going to the graphic artist. I remember talking my dad into paying £70 for Quest for the Rings on the Videopac in the early eighties....with inflation thats gotta be around £130. |
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bootsy_NL_30
07/09/05 @ 14:14
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"yay the future" .......and it was almost well written.sigh,I hope Eurogamer doesnt start putting plastic personality like this into all their articles.
and sorry but "yikes"!? isnt that an exclamation that would probably be better suited to a 1960's episode of Batman?
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 07/09/05 @ 15:10
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mr_chiquita
07/09/05 @ 14:43
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As someone mentioned didn't gmaes like Street Fighter II and StarFox cost £60 cos they had extra gubbins in the carts?
With inflation that must be getting on for like £80. I can't work out why loads of sites are reporting this like it some sort of shocking new thing? Console games have had a standard RRP of £39.99 for years. It's only after the "Platinum Collections" start hitting the shelves that prices come down. |
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"I find it hypocritical of Eurogamer to put a negative view on MS's game prices (when Sony's more expensive blu ray will no doubt be cost more) "
I can't agree more. All the articles i have read about programming for the 360 indicates it takes more effort/time/money to produce games for it. As for using King Kong as an example - bullshit. Why not say.....Crikey, if you buy PG3 for the xbox 360, your getting a racing game that will make you go hard down below it looks so good, is supported by the develpers with online competitions and will keep you busy for months..... We will even let you watch other people race on Gotham TV - NOT available on the xbox or other consoles. Anyway, if a game is good enough then you will pay the money. I'm still playing Pro Evo over live at least twice a week, 11 months after i bought it - how much does that equate to re quality gaming per hour ???? If even some of the games play 1/2 as well as they look then any xbox360 owner will be happy. |
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"£39.99 for standard Xbox 360 games - much more than gamers are currently paying." I'm not currently paying anything for 360 games :)
In real terms (taking inflation into account), games will be cheaper on the 360 than most were on th SNES and Megadrive.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 07/09/05 @ 16:23
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vin - you talk sense mate. Anyone who buys a next gen console at release is a plonker with more money than sense.
Wait a year.. there may be better games by then.. Or even one of the other consoles will be out and tempting you more. Either way, it'll be cheaper, as will the games. Console and games will always be more expensive while there is no competition from the others. Which is one VERY good reason (the fanboys seem to miss) that having an overall winner to the console "war" is a VERY bad thing. |
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Hmm, you'd have to be pretty dumb to jump onto the bandwagon of the next gen from day one, especially when they're pulling price hike bullshit like this with it.
It's no wonder Microsoft are rushing out the next gen, they're eager to catch all those insecure fanboys who've had their noses put out of joint by the PSP who'll take any new piece of hardware they can lay their hands on so as not to be 'behind' their 'enemies'. Fools. |
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captain-future
07/09/05 @ 17:49
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lavalant: I also paid £65 for street fighter 2 turbo on the snes.
I payed 5 EUR in 2004 for it... maybe games get cheaper after a while ^^ |
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kentmonkey
07/09/05 @ 18:13
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To all the people saying you're happy with the prices, do you also go walking round Curry's when buying a TV saying "nah mate, that tele is far to cheap at £500, I'd be happy to pay £600".
I just don't get it, why basically tell company's that you are happy to pay more for something, that's why they then increase it. Then hearing that you're happy with £50, they'll increase to £60, then £70 and so on until they push it as far as they can and then drop it by a few pounds to look good again. Think about it, next time you buy a pint, tell the bartender that you'd be happy to pay 50p more and see him snatch your hand off. Me, I don't pay full price for any game ever any more. I always wait for a reduction/sale or pre-owned title to come available. I can't afford the prices they charge now (and to the twat that came back to another poster with "well we don't all work in McDonalds" neither do I, I just have something called a mortgage and a family which is costing me a fortune) so I have to shop around for cheaper online discounts, kind forum members who pick me up a cheap 2nd hand copy here & there (cheers Kdsh7) and swapping/pre-owned. I wouldn't be prepared to pay more for a game and certainly wouldn't go shouting from the rooftops that I would be either. Hey Asda, stop rolling prices back, roll them forward I'm happy to pay more! |
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Funny you say that...when I was looking for a new TV, I was conscious that I didnt want to pay too little for one. So for hardware, the price is less important to me, I'd rather pay that little bit extra with no compromise. More than £35 for a game though? No thanks - unless manuals get back to being Microprose quality.
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kentmonkey
07/09/05 @ 18:32
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Furbs wrote: "Funny you say that...when I was looking for a new TV, I was conscious that I didnt want to pay too little for one. So for hardware, the price is less important to me, I'd rather pay that little bit extra with no compromise. More than £35 for a game though? No thanks - unless manuals get back to being Microprose quality.
I think that's fair enough Furbs, hardware is different as you say and you always want to get the best you can for the money you have available so that it stands less chance of breaking down etc. etc. However, my point was more that if you found a TV for £2000, or £200 and that was the one you wanted, you wouldn't go go shouting that you'd be happy to pay more than that...would you? I hardly ever agree that I'm happy to pay the original price, you'll be surprised what they'll knock off/throw in even in places like Currys if you're prepared to ask (and no that doesn't mean useless extended warranties, more money off for "that bit of damage that isn't actually there" or extra bits and bobs like scart cables, batteries etc. etc. which add up) |
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Maybe I'm missing something here but...
Ps1 at launch £300, games £35-40 PS2 launch £300, games £40 Xbox launch £300 (for a little while) games £40 sensing a pattern here? As far as I'm concerned the console is £20 cheaper than I was expecting and the games are a fiver cheaper than I was expecting. If you don't want to pay that then fine, but quit bitching at the people who actually are prepared to pay the going rate for new technology. When exactly did retardation become the norm round here? |
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Markusdragon
07/09/05 @ 19:12
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And thus my choice to spend more time with my Dreamcast is justified. Mmmmm, Dreamcast.
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"if you have the money then why not buy something you really want. "
1. How do you know you REALLY want it, when no-ones seen games running on final hardware yet?!? Let alone know what the release games are!! 2. Dont come crying on message boards when the price drops very quickly (like it did last time.. and everyone moaned cried and sulked on every board known to man!!) "If you don't want to pay that then fine, but quit bitching at the people who actually are prepared to pay the going rate for new technology. " I will bitch, because if idiots are prepared to pay that price and do go out and spend it.. that will mean they wont come down to a sensible level, and the rest of us (who are prepared to wait) will have to pay the extra costs!
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most recently on 07/09/05 @ 20:22
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