I am not a gamer. The price gouging on things gamers enjoy is irritating. It happened with headphones, mice, and now keyboards. As “gamers” and particularly streamers grew as a market category, the prices for goods associated with them went insane. Even considering inflation, $150 for a Logitech keyboard is just nuts, even if it is mechanical.
I think "gamer with neon lights" is certainly a segment with amazing margins, especially compared to standard office equipment. Most "gaming" mice/keyboards/chairs/computers/whatever are just decorated and brightly coloured versions of other products with insane markups. Alienware PC's are a great example here - The parts in one of those PC's can cost around half the cost of what the company actually sells it for. Other peripherals have similar price increases once they're branded as a device for gaming rather than office use as they know consumers are willing to pay more. I realize that there are lots of kids who want "gaming" gear (that their parents will pay for) but the PC gaming market is certainly geared towards mid 20's/30's who have the scratch to be able to afford this stuff. Not that these people are stupid or misinformed for doing so, some simply appreciate the aesthetic (even if it's something you or me might not particularly like).
I don't agree that gamers are cheap as a group. Most gamers I know not only own several consoles and a graphics card that cost more than many peoples computers, they also happily buy $60+ games on the day of release several times a month. If you try to tell them that by waiting 6 month they can get the same games for half the price, they'll look at you as if that was the stupidest thing they've heard in their entire life.
Has there been a videogame console which didn't have overpriced peripherals? As far as I can remember additional controllers were always ridiculously overpriced, even back when they were just a plastic case with a bunch of buttons. Let's not even talk about Sony's price gouging with memory cards (all the way back to the PS1).
I guess it's a way to make a nice profit from what is effectively a captive audience. You can either buy the original peripherals at extortionate prices or you can try your luck with off-brand copies.
I really didn't understand that point at all. Were they talking about price? Because adjusted for inflation, computers consoles and games have never been cheaper.
I don't understand the part about the market accepting the price, or rather, I find it hard to believe that it's sustainable. I've played PC games my whole life and used to enjoy building and re-building my gaming PC every so often. Paying 2k for a single piece of hardware just doesn't seem like the right choice anymore. Makes more sense to buy a console (or two) these days.
Do you think that because most have $2k+ of gaming gear + regularly drop $120 each game? I'd say that they spend money on the aforementioned things because there's no cheap alternative. They dumped all their money into hardware + games (unavoidable costs) so they can't afford to spend money elsewhere.
They would be more inclined if gamers were willing to pay the additional cost. Unfortunately they rarely are. The gaming community, especially the hard core community, is one of the most oddly-miserly communities I’ve ever seen. Some of them will spend thousands on liquid cooling and high end graphic cards, specialized input devices, etc., but balk or even rage at paying an additional few bucks over the lifetime of a game for improved features and support.
Has it not been that way since the days of the PS1?
The cost of games is like printers and ink. The hardware is the loss leader more than made up for by the "subscription" to those over-priced consumables.
There was anger and upset, and many articles in dead-tree magazines at the change in the expected price of full games, and sheer greed of manufacturers, during the launch phase of those consoles.
Ads were another bait and switch for yet more greed.
Outside certain enthusiast group gamers are somewhat price sensitive. And this new generation went beyond that level. Not yet having anything on acceptable, albeit high price level. But I might be wrong, have to see how sales go after scalpers get burned.
Do you mind elaborating on the "overcharging for games" part? Console games in the 80s were about $45, so games today are actually cheaper if inflation is taken into account.
Back in the late 80s/early 90s the cost of a new game was only $40, if you were part of the glorious PCMR. Now we're just subsidizing the console plebs.
> This is objectively a worse experience than I grew up with (and it costs a whole lot more too.)
This is objectively wrong. Inflation-adjusted Nintendo console launch prices have been trending downward since the 80s. Games are cheaper too. I remember saving up to spend $40-$50 for NES games in the early 90s, which would be in the $100 range in today's dollars. That's significantly more expensive than the $60 first-party Switch games today.
You have to realize there are people (like me, for example) who never (well almost never!) buy games at full price. I either look for used one, or wait for discounts. I have no urge to play most of the games - I do make an exception once in a while, like when a new GTA comes out. But that's it.
I mean it's the same for every product. The first computers were ridiculously expensive before becoming ridiculously cheap. It's all about the cycle of "early adopters" then reaching the mass market. If you want to reach the mass market with your games, it's much easier to do so by lowering your price. Doing TV marketing works, too, but it costs so much money it's not even for the same league of games. You can only do TV if you expect to sell several millions of it.
Anyway, back to my point: not all gamers want to spend 60$ in the first place. Some won't. So they will either buy your game at 5$ or never buy it. The rest is all about lost opportunities.
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