The $60 price point for AAA gaming is more than fair when you account for microtransactions and the general lack of polish/completeness that these AAA titles release in.
They can't hit us with incomplete and bug ridden titles year after year and expect us to support a higher price point. It doesn't work like that.
GTA VI can support a higher price point because Rockstar is a known commodity with a good track record at releases, delaying the PC release for arbitrary reasons not withstanding.
Bottom line, I'm happy to pay more for games as long as they are feature complete.
My tastes are highly atypical, so take my advice with a shaker of salt. I’d suspect part of the general decline is franchise fatigue. The MCU had something like 30 movies leading up to the final Avengers film, plus all the side stories on various streaming platforms. Even if you’re really into superhero stuff, that’s a huge commitment of time and money.
Now granted, you don’t have to watch EVERYTHING in these franchises to understand what’s going on in any given film, but we also have to consider cultural saturation. Maybe the country’s top critics all agree that Guardians of the Galaxy Part 8 is the new Citizen Kane; are you even remotely excited?
It’s true in videogames as well. Call of Duty has been memed to hell and back for years as the game for basic dudebros. The long tail of gaming is filled with weird indie adventures and truck simulators.
Then again, these franchise releases still make obscene amounts of money, so what do I know? Southeast Asian horror might be right up my alley, but it’s not likely to gross two morbillion dollars anytime soon.
I have about 1500 hours on Baldur's Gate 3, rookie numbers to some, and I paid for it twice (once on PC for me and when it came to Xbox for my husband...don't ask how many iterations of Skyrim I've paid for over the years). As far as personal entertainment goes, good video games have incredible value for the price, and if gamers want the VA's paid fairly (and not replaced with AI) and the devs treated well, we're going to have to accept the higher price point one way or another. Because if it isn't the up front price, it'll be the subscription service or the PTW microtransactions or the $30 DLC with the "real" ending.
It’d be fun to have more re-released films. The original Indiana Jones trilogy would be great. Heat would be another one. I know they do this around anniversaries of the films.
Agreed 100%. Even in the Before Time, my theater-going was mostly weird cult horror and big-screen rereleases of old classics. These days I stick to Godzilla films.
I just don' wanna spend two plus hours sitting next to a bunch of strangers and breathing their air. Especially since I know HALF of them are fucktard crazy too. I've become a real germophobe since COVID esp. since I've had it twice and ALL the shots
So you are asking my advice for free. I shall do this because I love The Movies.
It needs to be an experience. The person in a horror movie who yells out- ‘Don’t go down there!’ Is an unsung hero. And throwing your popcorn in the air? Is fun. Make it a rollercoaster ride without the near heart attack inducing, should I be on this thing? Second guessing.
And believe in the Talent. Anyone who chooses to try and make a movie IS Talent.
And if The Studio teaches you nothing than it should teach this: we love movies as well.
I'm wondering how a sustained economic downturn would affect theaters. Historically, economic downturns have been beneficial for theaters, although that was before streaming. That being said, I feel like reducing the number of streaming platforms will be a pretty easy low hanging fruit for households. Netflix and maybe Disney+ would be fine.
Still, would people still look to movie theaters as a reasonably priced alternative to vacations, concerts, and sporting events?
I think the writing has been on the wall for a long time. Games were extremely expensive when I was a kid. I think the OG Nintendo comes in at like $800+ when you adjust for inflation.
I am curious to see how this affects the PC market. Access to a 'gaming PC' typically means shelling out a decent chunk of money - much more than you would for a Switch 2 or a PS5. But once you're in, the cost of activity is much less. AAA games typically see rapid price drops, and there is an endless stream of high quality indie games that cost less than a pizza to get.
One small element, part of a larger awareness campaign.
In other places, Spain most notably to my knowledge, they have broader entertainment and “a night out” options. There, they bundle movie admission with meal options at near by restaurants. Movie goers can buy couples’ or family movie passes which include a choice of restaurant options: fast food, middle quality, and high-end prie fixe meals. For instance, a couple can get two movie admissions (let’s say worth $25) and two meal-deal the BK across the street (worth $18) for $40. Or, two movie admissions and dinner for two (wine extra) at the fine dining pasta restaurant down the street (worth $75 person) for $160 total. The theaters and restaurants advertise the food options and coming attractions together at both locations.
It seems to work, for a part of the film going market. It’s easy to see how this bundled option could be spread. Open a checking account, get four movie passes to the coming attractions shown on the TV screens in the bank teller line, etc.
“But, again: $70-$80 for a game you play for 30-50 hours, depending on how much you want to complete, is an absolute steal in terms of hourly cost per entertainment dollar.”
I used to say this very same thing about the $9.99 per month I paid for EverQuest. 😊
Well, in this regard, one must also consider the amount of entertainment that Trump and his cronies continuously instigate so that the masses' attention remains distracted, including comedy late shows. What entertainment can compete with it? Check how many readers pay attention to the problem of inflation. Check how much money influencers, pro and con, make just by calling attention to Trump and his crimes. I am not criticizing what they do or diminishing their role in society (especially a society» addicted to instant gratification or passive entertainment like ours. If you do not begin teaching a child to feed themself, they will never stop playing with food and depend on you to feed them.
People used to see trailers on tv ads more than anywhere else. How do you decide you want to make this the week to go to a movie? You see something by good is coming out. Now, there’s no more tv ads. No one is watching old school tv anymore, it’s all YouTube, Netflix, Amazon, and podcasts, with a few other streaming services as well. They need to look at where people spend the time on their phones, and advertise there.
I was just thinking, as I sit here watching the morning news on channel 4, that I never see ads for movies. Sure, the DC area is a weird market and the local channels often carry ads aimed at fewer than 1000 viewers, but it seems like low hanging fruit.
I can remember paying $50 (maybe $55?) for Super Metroid in 1994, so yeah, the fact that big-budget games still usually top out around $60 or $70 is kind of nuts. If anyone knows of an article breaking down how and why the industry has kept prices roughly the same for three decades, I'd be interested to read it.
I guess they could pause the movie in the middle and show trailers then.
Or lock the doors at the end of the movie and show the trailers then, unlocking the doors only after they're finished.
Ok, needs workshopping, but no bad ideas in brainstorming!
I'll be your huckleberry on this one, Sonny.
The $60 price point for AAA gaming is more than fair when you account for microtransactions and the general lack of polish/completeness that these AAA titles release in.
They can't hit us with incomplete and bug ridden titles year after year and expect us to support a higher price point. It doesn't work like that.
GTA VI can support a higher price point because Rockstar is a known commodity with a good track record at releases, delaying the PC release for arbitrary reasons not withstanding.
Bottom line, I'm happy to pay more for games as long as they are feature complete.
My tastes are highly atypical, so take my advice with a shaker of salt. I’d suspect part of the general decline is franchise fatigue. The MCU had something like 30 movies leading up to the final Avengers film, plus all the side stories on various streaming platforms. Even if you’re really into superhero stuff, that’s a huge commitment of time and money.
Now granted, you don’t have to watch EVERYTHING in these franchises to understand what’s going on in any given film, but we also have to consider cultural saturation. Maybe the country’s top critics all agree that Guardians of the Galaxy Part 8 is the new Citizen Kane; are you even remotely excited?
It’s true in videogames as well. Call of Duty has been memed to hell and back for years as the game for basic dudebros. The long tail of gaming is filled with weird indie adventures and truck simulators.
Then again, these franchise releases still make obscene amounts of money, so what do I know? Southeast Asian horror might be right up my alley, but it’s not likely to gross two morbillion dollars anytime soon.
I have about 1500 hours on Baldur's Gate 3, rookie numbers to some, and I paid for it twice (once on PC for me and when it came to Xbox for my husband...don't ask how many iterations of Skyrim I've paid for over the years). As far as personal entertainment goes, good video games have incredible value for the price, and if gamers want the VA's paid fairly (and not replaced with AI) and the devs treated well, we're going to have to accept the higher price point one way or another. Because if it isn't the up front price, it'll be the subscription service or the PTW microtransactions or the $30 DLC with the "real" ending.
It’d be fun to have more re-released films. The original Indiana Jones trilogy would be great. Heat would be another one. I know they do this around anniversaries of the films.
Agreed 100%. Even in the Before Time, my theater-going was mostly weird cult horror and big-screen rereleases of old classics. These days I stick to Godzilla films.
I just don' wanna spend two plus hours sitting next to a bunch of strangers and breathing their air. Especially since I know HALF of them are fucktard crazy too. I've become a real germophobe since COVID esp. since I've had it twice and ALL the shots
So you are asking my advice for free. I shall do this because I love The Movies.
It needs to be an experience. The person in a horror movie who yells out- ‘Don’t go down there!’ Is an unsung hero. And throwing your popcorn in the air? Is fun. Make it a rollercoaster ride without the near heart attack inducing, should I be on this thing? Second guessing.
And believe in the Talent. Anyone who chooses to try and make a movie IS Talent.
And if The Studio teaches you nothing than it should teach this: we love movies as well.
I'm wondering how a sustained economic downturn would affect theaters. Historically, economic downturns have been beneficial for theaters, although that was before streaming. That being said, I feel like reducing the number of streaming platforms will be a pretty easy low hanging fruit for households. Netflix and maybe Disney+ would be fine.
Still, would people still look to movie theaters as a reasonably priced alternative to vacations, concerts, and sporting events?
GOLD DIGGERS OF 2025
I think the writing has been on the wall for a long time. Games were extremely expensive when I was a kid. I think the OG Nintendo comes in at like $800+ when you adjust for inflation.
I am curious to see how this affects the PC market. Access to a 'gaming PC' typically means shelling out a decent chunk of money - much more than you would for a Switch 2 or a PS5. But once you're in, the cost of activity is much less. AAA games typically see rapid price drops, and there is an endless stream of high quality indie games that cost less than a pizza to get.
One small element, part of a larger awareness campaign.
In other places, Spain most notably to my knowledge, they have broader entertainment and “a night out” options. There, they bundle movie admission with meal options at near by restaurants. Movie goers can buy couples’ or family movie passes which include a choice of restaurant options: fast food, middle quality, and high-end prie fixe meals. For instance, a couple can get two movie admissions (let’s say worth $25) and two meal-deal the BK across the street (worth $18) for $40. Or, two movie admissions and dinner for two (wine extra) at the fine dining pasta restaurant down the street (worth $75 person) for $160 total. The theaters and restaurants advertise the food options and coming attractions together at both locations.
It seems to work, for a part of the film going market. It’s easy to see how this bundled option could be spread. Open a checking account, get four movie passes to the coming attractions shown on the TV screens in the bank teller line, etc.
“But, again: $70-$80 for a game you play for 30-50 hours, depending on how much you want to complete, is an absolute steal in terms of hourly cost per entertainment dollar.”
I used to say this very same thing about the $9.99 per month I paid for EverQuest. 😊
Free popcorn?
Popcorn is the main way theaters make money! That's one reason for the explosion in novelty popcorn buckets in recent years.
Well, in this regard, one must also consider the amount of entertainment that Trump and his cronies continuously instigate so that the masses' attention remains distracted, including comedy late shows. What entertainment can compete with it? Check how many readers pay attention to the problem of inflation. Check how much money influencers, pro and con, make just by calling attention to Trump and his crimes. I am not criticizing what they do or diminishing their role in society (especially a society» addicted to instant gratification or passive entertainment like ours. If you do not begin teaching a child to feed themself, they will never stop playing with food and depend on you to feed them.
People used to see trailers on tv ads more than anywhere else. How do you decide you want to make this the week to go to a movie? You see something by good is coming out. Now, there’s no more tv ads. No one is watching old school tv anymore, it’s all YouTube, Netflix, Amazon, and podcasts, with a few other streaming services as well. They need to look at where people spend the time on their phones, and advertise there.
Yeah, the decline of TV ads and "primetime viewing" more generally is absolutely a huge factor here.
I was just thinking, as I sit here watching the morning news on channel 4, that I never see ads for movies. Sure, the DC area is a weird market and the local channels often carry ads aimed at fewer than 1000 viewers, but it seems like low hanging fruit.
I can remember paying $50 (maybe $55?) for Super Metroid in 1994, so yeah, the fact that big-budget games still usually top out around $60 or $70 is kind of nuts. If anyone knows of an article breaking down how and why the industry has kept prices roughly the same for three decades, I'd be interested to read it.
The interview that Sonny had with Matthew Ball is a great starting point for that: https://www.thebulwark.com/p/why-is-gaming-underperforming-expectations
That is a great starting point! And Matthew's full presentation is pretty helpful: https://www.matthewball.co/all/stateofvideogaming2025