Any shopping tips? ;)
New movies can't really be effectively re-sold claiming "better
graphics, more realism" (unless they re-release on new formats like
DVD, but that doesn't happen very often), and a movie cannot be easily
de-valued by new movie releases or new playback hardware and software
capabilities the way games can.
There are also no compatibility issues to speak of with movies, DVD
regions notwithstanding. Therefore they are always a 'safe buy', hence
they tend to keep their value more. Also, people are still replacing
all their old VHS originals with DVDs now...at quite a rapid pace, so
there's no reason for them to reduce prices of DVDs too much - the
demand is still quite strong.
A movie is the same now as the day it was released. A game can be...up
to a point...and with a lot of maintenance and in-depth knowledge to
keep it current and running fine on the changing hardware/software
platform. Prices plummet mostly because of this, I reckon. That and
the rapidly changing technology bringing us better visuals, sound and
immersion (generally speaking :)
I think console games also hold their value a lot more than PC games
due to some of the reasons outlined above, too - the platform doesn't
change so much and they can be used by 'simple' users without a worry,
and the demand is quite a bit higher for console games than PC titles,
so again, no need to rapidly drop prices to sell off excess inventory.
A good example of a game that has kept its price nice and high is
Battlefield 1942. Demand is high so why bother? GPL may be considered
highly in sim niche circles, but from what I've heard it tanked in the
sales department on the whole, so a rapid price reduction was probably
necessary.
Yes, but this is a long term thing to the point of the game being
obsolete. Many, for example, will play a good sim virtually (no pun
intended) every day for months. How many movies have this sort of value?
Compare the overall time of entertainment of a good computer game to a good
movie. No comparison!
I assure you that GPL could pull as much as most DVDs - just not as many
sales. But so what? DVD piracy would be virtually non existant if the prices
were where they should be. Return to the investors would be about the same.
I've seen a ton of DVDs that most people wouldn't take off your hands for
free! Yet they want $25 for them in stores. Joke! Why price things at a
point where no one will purchase and also create a thriving piracy culture?
Stupid!
If I can go to a multi millon dollar Cinema complex to see the movie on
first release for, say, $10, then why should it cost any more to get it on a
cheap bit of plastic - a DVD? That is then played back on at least $1000 of
electrical equiptment at MY expense?
M***to story - DVD pricing is idiotic!
GO THE PIRATES!
Mike, answer me this? Compare the amount of time you spent on your
favourite PC game ever to your favourite movie. You either don't get into PC
games much and/or you have a great passion for unsurprising repitition!
Every genre of pc game will exist forever, as will every film genre. But
hey, let's explore this a bit more though. MS let you upgrade to a new OS
for a reduced price compared to buying the new OS outright. Yet you pay 2 to
3 times as much for a DVD compared to the price of entry to the cinema on
first release????? You kiddin!? Oh, but hang on. Now I forked out all that
money for DVD players, decoders, speakers, etc so it makes sense that the
DVD should also cost more. Or did I get that "mixed up"?
> > A good example is a racing sim by a company named Papyrus - Grand Prix
> >Legends. This is possibly the best piece of software code outside of
NASA,
> >costing around $70 when released here in Australia in 1998. It can be
> >purchased anywhere now for under $10 - new and legal.
> where did you find it for so little?
> Ebay currently has a copy of Grand Prix Legends on sale in Australia
> going for 26 bux currently. I think u should tell them :)
> Any shopping tips? ;)
No more in depth explainations of the absurdly obvious please! :)
> > WHY? (ie why does software taper off but not DVDs?)
> Ah, I'll try to answer this too.
> Computers move fast, technology-wise. Games and the platform to run
> them are a moving target, riddled with complexity, compatibility
> problems and whatnot. The 'freshness' or 'Expiry Date' for a game
> comes around much sooner than that of a movie. A movie can pretty much
> be enjoyed (and sold) by anyone with the device to play the movie
> (which doesn't change half as much as the software and hardware of
> PCs).
> New movies can't really be effectively re-sold claiming "better
> graphics, more realism" (unless they re-release on new formats like
> DVD, but that doesn't happen very often), and a movie cannot be easily
> de-valued by new movie releases or new playback hardware and software
> capabilities the way games can.
> There are also no compatibility issues to speak of with movies, DVD
> regions notwithstanding. Therefore they are always a 'safe buy', hence
> they tend to keep their value more. Also, people are still replacing
> all their old VHS originals with DVDs now...at quite a rapid pace, so
> there's no reason for them to reduce prices of DVDs too much - the
> demand is still quite strong.
> A movie is the same now as the day it was released. A game can be...up
> to a point...and with a lot of maintenance and in-depth knowledge to
> keep it current and running fine on the changing hardware/software
> platform. Prices plummet mostly because of this, I reckon. That and
> the rapidly changing technology bringing us better visuals, sound and
> immersion (generally speaking :)
> I think console games also hold their value a lot more than PC games
> due to some of the reasons outlined above, too - the platform doesn't
> change so much and they can be used by 'simple' users without a worry,
> and the demand is quite a bit higher for console games than PC titles,
> so again, no need to rapidly drop prices to sell off excess inventory.
> A good example of a game that has kept its price nice and high is
> Battlefield 1942. Demand is high so why bother? GPL may be considered
> highly in sim niche circles, but from what I've heard it tanked in the
> sales department on the whole, so a rapid price reduction was probably
> necessary.
>There are rare exceptions :)
Eldred
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>On Wed, 19 Nov 2003 09:41:20 GMT, "Byron John Forbes"
>> A good example is a racing sim by a company named Papyrus - Grand Prix
>>Legends. This is possibly the best piece of software code outside of NASA,
>>costing around $70 when released here in Australia in 1998. It can be
>>purchased anywhere now for under $10 - new and legal.
>where did you find it for so little?
>Ebay currently has a copy of Grand Prix Legends on sale in Australia
>going for 26 bux currently. I think u should tell them :)
>Any shopping tips? ;)
Eldred
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>While I certainly agree with you in principle, there is one hitch that keeps
>older games from being feasible. They simply cannot be run in a lot of
>cases.
>One example, and it's not even near 10 years old. Take Indy Car Racing II
>and try to get it up and running on a current-day Windows XP machine. While
>it may be possible (though I think sound is a deal-breaker), what you would
>have to go through to get it done would really suck. Ditto for Soda Offroad
>Racing. I have both of these and would LOVE to run them, but it just isn't
>going to happen.
Eldred
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With $8000+ worth of movies, I should *hope* not...yow.
Yeah, you like Kelsey Grammer *way* too much...<g>
I've *never* seen Band of Brothers - I don't have HBO. I've heard it's good,
but I haven't bought it.
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>> Not all. Last time I checked, The Sims was still selling at $39 or
>$49(can't
>> remember which).
>Sims Double Deluxe, which is Sims and TWO expansion packs, is now
>for $39 or so in most American stores. Consider most expansion packs
>are $25-$29, that's quite a bit of depreciation.
Eldred
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-Larry
> >> >WHY? (ie why does software taper off but not DVDs?)
> >> Not all. Last time I checked, The Sims was still selling at $39 or
> >$49(can't
> >> remember which).
> >Sims Double Deluxe, which is Sims and TWO expansion packs, is now
> >for $39 or so in most American stores. Consider most expansion packs
> >are $25-$29, that's quite a bit of depreciation.
> Sims Double Deluxe? Hmm...I'll have to look for that. Which expansions
does
> it come with? I already have Livin' Large, House Party, and Hot Date. I
> suppose I could sell the duplicates on Ebay, though...
> Eldred
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-Larry
> >Ditto for MYST. Still a best seller to this day.
> >There are rare exceptions :)
> Ugh...I never understood the draw for that game. My boss loaned it to me
for a
> while. I just thought it was a waste of time.
> Eldred
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-Larry
> >Well, that depends on the Movie, and how many you have :)
> How many people actually watch their movies multiple times? Once you've
seen
> it, you know how it ends...
> I actually gave away a bunch of movies that I'd bought, because I realized
I
> wasn't going to watch them over and over.
> >I now have in excess of 400 movies in my DVD collection. All
store-bought,
> >most from Best Buy (their prices on release-tuesday are as good as
> >anyone's).
> >Once your collection grows to a certain point, watching what you have
> >doesn't get stale any more.
> With $8000+ worth of movies, I should *hope* not...yow.
> >And, of course, there are those really great movies that you watch time
and
> >time again. I call them 'background' movies because I can put them in
and
> >watch them while doing other work and be just as entertained as with any
> >Music CD. Some examples of this (for me) are:
> >1. Demolition Man.
> >2. The 5th Element.
> >3. Aliens.
> >4. The Abyss.
> >5. I come in peace ( a real sleeper of a movie, and dammit when IS it
> >coming out on DVD!).
> >6. Up Periscope! (a wonderful little Kelsey Grammer ditty, also waiting
for
> >the DVD).
> >7. The Pentagon Wars (another Kelsey Grammer goody, also waiting for the
> >DVD).
> >etc...
> >You see what I mean :)
> Yeah, you like Kelsey Grammer *way* too much...<g>
> >I have one Mini-Series that I will probably never tire of watching. Band
Of
> >Brothers. IMHO, this is the best war movie, series, tv show, whatever
you
> >want to call it that has ever been produced.
> I've *never* seen Band of Brothers - I don't have HBO. I've heard it's
good,
> but I haven't bought it.
> Eldred
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It doesn't matter.
The POINT is the game won't run, for whatever reason :)
-Larry
> >Mike,
> >While I certainly agree with you in principle, there is one hitch that
keeps
> >older games from being feasible. They simply cannot be run in a lot of
> >cases.
> >One example, and it's not even near 10 years old. Take Indy Car Racing
II
> >and try to get it up and running on a current-day Windows XP machine.
While
> >it may be possible (though I think sound is a deal-breaker), what you
would
> >have to go through to get it done would really suck. Ditto for Soda
Offroad
> >Racing. I have both of these and would LOVE to run them, but it just
isn't
> >going to happen.
> But that's not a hardware issue - that's a software(OS) issue. If you ran
> win98(or probably even win2k), you could run it just FINE. That's one
reason
> why some of us haven't felt the need to upgrade to XP...
> Eldred
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