MSRP

[cube_b3]

I am fairly new in the states so I don't know the history of retail prices of videogames.

I know that the full price for a Dreamcast game was 49.95$.

This trend continued with PS2, Xbox, Gamecube and even Nintendo Wii.
As far as I know 360 decided to fuck things up and take the price to 59.95.

I initially thought this was because of the recession, but I read somewhere that game development prices have increased.
I call bull shit on that because the market has increased 10 times.

The MD/Snes as far as I know sold 30/35 Million units world wide. The PS2 alone has exceeded 100 Million and still continues to sell like hot cakes world wide.

While I am sure we will start discussing the reasons for price change.
I wanted to get the history down first and since we have a global audience here.
I would love to learn more about Euro, Pound and Yen's as well.

1st Gen Full Price XX$/XX£/XXE/XXY Sega All Stars XX$/XX£/XXE/XXY
2nd Gen Full Price XX$/XX£/XXE/XXY Sega All Stars XX$/XX£/XXE/XXY
3rd Gen Full Price XX$/XX£/XXE/XXY Sega All Stars XX$/XX£/XXE/XXY
4th Gen Full Price XX$/XX£/XXE/XXY Sega All Stars XX$/XX£/XXE/XXY
5th Gen Full Price XX$/XX£/XXE/XXY Sega All Stars 50$/XX£/XXE/XXY
6th Gen Full Price 50$/25£/XXE/XXY Sega All Stars 20$/XX£/XXE/XXY.
7th Gen Full Price 60$/XX£/XXE/XXY Greatest Hits 30$/XX£/XXE/XXY.

XX = Price Unknown
E = Euro
Y = Yen

[BlueCrab]

I've never seen any non-special edition games in the Xbox 360/PS3/Wii generation go for more than $59.99 at launch, so I think you have your number wrong there. Hell, even most of the special edition games I bought for the Xbox 360 or PS3 on release day were $59.99 or less...

[cube_b3]

Fixed that mistake. What about the previous Gens?

I suppose Special Editions are all to common so they must have a standardized price now, i'll google and and add that in.
Edit: Seems like limited, special or collectors edition prices are all over the place, so I won't add them on the list

[DaMadFiddler]

The PlayStation is largely responsible for stabilizing "major release" prices at $50, where they remained until the 360/PS3. The original PlayStation is one of my least favorite systems in terms of its library, but it was an important part of industry evolution. One of the (many) reasons is the aforementioned price stabilization: before Sony helped standardize the $50 price, game pricing was sort of a free-for-all. In the cartridge days, a new game could be anywhere from $30 to $80, with--for example--many new SNES games costing well over $50 on release, and that was 20 years ago.

The current(ly ending) console generation bumped it up to $60, but also introduced digital distribution, where a lot of smaller titles could be had for significantly less (though you don't get a physical copy).

Nobody's going to cheer for rising costs, but it really doesn't seem unreasonable, especially since there are so many other alternatives (half of my favorite games on the PS3 are inexpensive downloads). And given how rapidly game prices fall, there are plenty of ways to avoid that $60 price tag. I can't remember the last game I paid $60 for.

[cube_b3]

Which is all the more reason games should be priced at 46.50$, that way they will be 50$ after tax and customers can just pay with a solid 50. It will trigger a massive chain reaction and increase retail efficiency therefore save corporations time and most sales associates on retail are paid hourly.

[Specially Cork]

The UK is an interesting place to look at, because online competition has seen rounds of huge price-cuts that typically end up remaining for the rest of the console's lifecycle. For this reason, Brits know they really should shop around as game prices can differ quite dramatically from store to store, and Europeans see Britain as an import paradise where software is dirt cheap.

To take on example: GTAV

The UK RRP is around £44.99 - £49.99 on PS3 software, but Amazon are selling it for £34.99
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Grand-Theft-Aut ... eft+auto+v

Now, that's with 20% sales tax already built in to the price. (We don't add it later)

In Germany, the same game is €69.00 (£59.00!)
http://www.amazon.de/Rockstar-Games-Gra ... eft+auto+v

That's with 19% sales tax built in.

Finally, the US, $59.99 (£37.00)
http://www.amazon.com/Grand-Theft-Auto- ... eft+auto+v

That's with no tax.

This is strange to me. America is usually much cheaper than the UK for everything

How did games in the UK end up so discounted that they're now the cheapest going?

And...

Why are American stores like Amazon and GameStop selling at the same price with no discounts whatsoever? Aren't they competitors? If not price, what else is there to compete on?

[Skynet]

To add another comparison into the mix, the RRP for most new release games in Australia is anywhere from $89.95 - $109.95 with our tax already included in the price. Then there are the stores that never actually charge RRP and put it anywhere from $79.95 - $99.95 depending on where you shop. As it is I've preordered GTA5 and was told not to put any money down simply because the store knows there will be a price war once released. We have a standard (which is higher than the rest of the world) for game pricing, then hardly anyone ever follows it. It's really up in the air as to how much you will pay for a new release.

[BlueCrab]

Which is all the more reason games should be priced at 46.50$, that way they will be 50$ after tax and customers can just pay with a solid 50. It will trigger a massive chain reaction and increase retail efficiency therefore save corporations time and most sales associates on retail are paid hourly.

Of course, sales taxes are all over the place depending on what state (and sometimes what county or town) you're in, so there's really no way to settle on a price that would give you a total of an exact amount after tax. For instance, where I am, the amount before tax would have to be $47.17 to end up at exactly $50.

[|darc|]

One of the (many) reasons is the aforementioned price stabilization: before Sony helped standardize the $50 price, game pricing was sort of a free-for-all. In the cartridge days, a new game could be anywhere from $30 to $80, with--for example--many new SNES games costing well over $50 on release, and that was 20 years ago.

One thing you're overlooking, though, is that in the cartridge days, some cartridges were more expensive to manufacture than others. Larger games required larger ROM chips to store the game's programming. And especially with the SNES, many cartridges like Star Fox had coprocessor chips inside.

I'm not really sure you can credit Sony's policies for the price stabilization as much as you can credit the PSX being the first commercially successful optical disc based game console in the West. With the PSX, the cost of manufacturing per unit fell drastically.

Which is all the more reason games should be priced at 46.50$, that way they will be 50$ after tax and customers can just pay with a solid 50. It will trigger a massive chain reaction and increase retail efficiency therefore save corporations time and most sales associates on retail are paid hourly.

As BlueCrab said, states and counties all have their own sales tax rates, so there's no way to standardize a post-tax price. Regardless, what makes you think that a flat $50 price would improve retail efficiency? Most people pay by card, and it's not like counting change is a time consuming process anyway. If this was such a big deal, retailers would already be doing it across the board with many products.

[cube_b3]

Teenagers don't have credit cards.

Is there a state where tax exceeds 10%.

Let's say tax is 10%, lock the price on 45.

I personally hate change, and it has made the rounds.
Pennies are bullshit, that is why most retail stores have those charity boxes or take a penny, leave a penny trays.
I've worked in retail, people may take quarters back, but the rest go in the jar. Off course their are people who prefer to have their coins most usually don't. I hated counting coins after my shift ends.

Back in my early visits to state I would save the coins I would get and often try to pay with those. The looks I used to get from sales associate. One of them was visibly pissed that I paid the tax amount with my change. He verbally said "I have to stay an extra hour and count all your coins, why don't you take them to coin star or soem thing? " The fob that I was, I responded "what's coin star?"

[Specially Cork]

Teenagers don't have credit cards.

Is there a state where tax exceeds 10%.

Let's say tax is 10%, lock the price on 45.

I personally hate change, and it has made the rounds.
Pennies are bullshit, that is why most retail stores have those charity boxes or take a penny, leave a penny trays.
I've worked in retail, people may take quarters back, but the rest go in the jar. Off course their are people who prefer to have their coins most usually don't. I hated counting coins after my shift ends.

Back in my early visits to state I would save the coins I would get and often try to pay with those. The looks I used to get from sales associate. One of them was visibly pissed that I paid the tax amount with my change. He verbally said "I have to stay an extra hour and count all your coins, why don't you take them to coin star or soem thing? " The fob that I was, I responded "what's coin star?"

Let me figure out your proposal here. You want some kind of federal law passed that fixes the price of videogames (and I assume other products also?) so that when sales tax is applied, the end total is a nice round number? I have some questions:

- Will pre-tax game prices differ from state-to-state? For example, Oregon has no tax so games can be a flat 50, but they'd have to be a different price to make it 50 in say...Florida or whatever.

- Doesnt that mean that people in states with less tax get screwed because they now have to make up the excess to get everyone up to a round 50?

- And isn't that excess just going to be more profit? Why would I want to pay more money to EA for my game just to save carrying change?

- Would this apply to everything? If not, why not, and what would it apply to?

And most obviously

- Doesnt this all fall apart when I buy more than one thing?

Also $45 + 10% won't give you a nice round price but whatever.

I think you're idea needs a bit more work to catch up with other solutions such as ditching the penny or moving to a pure cashless society.

[cube_b3]

If you point flaws in my logic the most important one is that games are no longer 50$.

Look, I just like solid bills. I don't like nickles and dimes and keeping with that trend it would be perfect to buy a game with a single bill. It is just a personal preference.

So let's get back on topic: England doesn't have a standardized retail price?

Not for this generation, not the previous ones?

[|darc|]

Teenagers don't have credit cards.

I did when I was a teenager. Besides that, a lot have debit cards nowadays.

I understand where you're coming from but there's no real easy answer to this problem.

[cube_b3]

I just expressed an opinion, it wasn't very thought out.
It was just something that I felt would make life easier.
It isn't even what this topic was/is about.

[|darc|]

Here is an article from Ars Technica that you might find interesting:

Why Retail Console Games Have Never Been Cheaper, Historically

[pixel]

Which is all the more reason games should be priced at 46.50$, that way they will be 50$ after tax and customers can just pay with a solid 50. It will trigger a massive chain reaction and increase retail efficiency therefore save corporations time and most sales associates on retail are paid hourly.

This is more complex than current pricing. Tax law is different at the county, municipal and state level. All three levels of local government can levy sales tax that can change the final price. It is almost impossible to alter the MSRP to correct for the thousands of different taxes.

Edit: Just saw that darc tackled this topic already.

[DaMadFiddler]

Here is an article from Ars Technica that you might find interesting:

Why Retail Console Games Have Never Been Cheaper, Historically

Was just thinking of that.

And if you can't afford games at full retail, you can always do what I (mostly) do: jump into each console generation about halfway through. By that point, the hardware has seen a couple of price drops, and the first wave of games is down to around $20. By the time you're done with those, the games that were current when you bought the system will also be cheap, and by the time you're done with THOSE, the console generation will be ending and you can pick most things up on clearance.

As to pricing: a much simpler solution would simply be to require the marked or listed price to be the gross price, tax included. That would put pressure on both retailers and manufacturers to aim for an end result of a round number across different localities (since most consumer research points to those round numbers as being psychologically powerful in terms of consumer purchasing decisions) without actually mandating it, it simplifies things for the consumer (though it is an added burden for the store), and it doesn't get into any of the weird complications your proposal would entail.