Epic's Mike Capps: Apps Are Killing Us

[NuclearShadow]

I do not believe any game is worth $60. I can see special collectors editions that come with neat little extras to cost that or above, But other than that no game is worth $60 a copy. I don't wish to sound old with a "back in my day" kind of saying but when games hit $40 I accepted it, when games hit $50 I once again accepted it. Half of $100 is enough though I refuse to buy any game for $60. Because If I do, and if all of you do it won't be long before we see the price-tag of $70.

You can excuse this with the cost of development all you want but not only does that simply not add up when a successful game rakes in tons of sales and record breaking profits. But with these higher budgets we are NOT seeing better games. We see better graphics and cool effects like physics which are certainly nice. But average game-play has not improved for a long time in-fact I would argue that its gotten worse. Half-life 2 was released in 2004, now if you played it (and you very well damn should have already) Try to think of any new FPS games you truly enjoyed equal or more than it. Not a very long list if anything right?
Bigger budgets, bigger price-tag, more sales, and less game-play quality.
So why pay $60?

 

[badaxe2]

"...high-quality entertainment that can be relatively small and cheap"

That's what they call an oxymoron.

 

[jalek]

Uncertainty among the established companies? Sounds like time for government intervention to freeze everything and make the marketplace safer. Obviously the solution is for Epic, Sony, and the others to start writing checks to Congressmen, it's worked so far for movies and somewhat for music.

 

[badaxe2]

Dollar apps are the lowest form of interactive entertainment; enough to make Wii shovelware look deep. We should all be very ashamed of the human race if this is where the industry is going.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

i cant even stand the word "apps". your not geting much when you buy an app, your not even getting the whole word its derived from.

 

[Trueno07]

Good, Good!!

Maybe this will kick developers and publishers in the butt, and make them think about the 60$ crap they put out.

 

[xerroz]

"t introduced the concept of high-quality entertainment that can be relatively small and cheap-- it can even be carried around in your pocket. "

LMFAO, really? High quality entertainment? no game sold on the appstore can compare to games published by Bioware and the like. Not even games like RAGE

 

[mleejr]

How did you omit Onlive?! I LOVE my onlive microconsole and playpack. The playpack/steam...maybe cloud gaming, are the future.

 

[cumi2k4]

"The company is likely to sell more "units" of its $5.99 Infinity Blade fighting title than the $59.99 Bulletstorm first-person shooter on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3-- apparently that's the path consumers are now taking."

Just like honda civics sell more units compared to Ferrari or Hummer... so what's your point?

 

[eddieroolz]

What Apps have done is to exploit the human nature. $1.00 upfront and further microtransactions seem like it costs less than buying a $60 title.

 

[dco]

Personally as a student living in Australia the price of games is a joke, our dollar is slightly higher than America's but yet we're still expected to pay $70-$100 for AAA titles on both PC and consoles that can be finished in one afternoon.

 

[rantoc]

[citation][nom]dco[/nom]Personally as a student living in Australia the price of games is a joke, our dollar is slightly higher than America's but yet we're still expected to pay $70-$100 for AAA titles on both PC and consoles that can be finished in one afternoon.[/citation]

Same in Europe, you pay with euro thats worth quite abit more than dollars. Even with the extra euro tax included in that, the price its heavier. Add to that the games gets released a few days after NA and its laughable that some people ask why some choce to pirate games rather than wait and pay more. Maby another good start to even the consumer field, few wants to pay more and even so get the merchandise later, its no good consumer enticement to purchase future titles.

 

[bin1127]

They are complaining Bulletstorm isn't selling. Epic should really try their own games and see if even they would buy it.

 

[Guest]

I'm waiting for Diablo 3 too. If it's gonna fail, I'm going to lose my faith in games.

 

[brisingamen]

im shocked so many developers are struggling making the pc gaming arena more exiting,

first of all the market needs fewer but better more polished games.

second the interface of many games makes games not fun, and frustrating.
---how many games do i play thinking, playing games shouldnt be frustrating or bewildering, ive been playing games for 20 years, played in the world cyber games, if i get lost or confused with the layout of some games how is a casual gamer or new gamer supposed to get into these games?

 

[potatolord]

More spam needed on this thread.

 

[kartu]

...Apple introduced concept of high-quality entertainment...

You guys have no shame...

 

[Guest]

Oh well, goodbye epic, your loss will not be really missed!

I am all for sorting out the chaff from PC game developers, leaving less but stronger developers, allowing a move back to focused better games. less developers is exactly what the shrinking PC game market needs!

 

[mchuf]

If the big publisher/developers want to sell a game for $60, then the game has to be worth $60. Too often you get short and boring single player with tacked-on or generic multiplayer. Then they want to sell you more maps at $10 - $15 at a time. A $60 game needs to be more entertaining than a $1 - $5 app with more re-playability. If a developer doesn't realize this, then they deserve to go out of business.

 

[back_by_demand]

First they say Apps are killing the business, they go on to say they cannot predict what will happen in 5 years time.

Unconnected.

Apps are not killing the business, and no one can predict what will happen in 5 years time unless you own a flying Delorean.