Do you find that the episodes are cheap - pricewise?
I just got thinking about this when i read the thread Sergei started and Emily said that the game is cheap.
Actually 6*$9=$54 which is more than the price of a average game here. Buying each episode only makes sense for those who aren't sure about game or if you can't afford the game at once.
It only looks cheap if you buy the whole season at once which makes $35. But then you still don't have a CD with the whole game on it, so you have to add the shipping costs to this sum which makes maybe another $10 (what are shipping costs to europe?) which gives $45 (or $64 altough i don't know if it will be possible at all) which would be a avergage price for a game here.
Without this you still won't have a CD, a booklet, only some files on your harddisk. Doesn't look cheap to me and weren't we once told by almost all game studios that as soon as their chunk of the cake is getting bigger they also would lower the prices?
Well, looking at the numbers i don't see this happening...
And beside of this TTG has the advantage of more than one distribution channel. GameTap Deal/Sales, TTG online sales (with all the benefits like lying much longer on the shelf), later on traditional reseller once the cd is ready? With some further investment the console versions.
Looks like a cash cow to me if you have a game which is doing well.
I don't grudge them their success but "cheap" actually looks different to me.
Regards,
taumel
Actually 6*$9=$54 which is more than the price of a average game here. Buying each episode only makes sense for those who aren't sure about game or if you can't afford the game at once.
It only looks cheap if you buy the whole season at once which makes $35. But then you still don't have a CD with the whole game on it, so you have to add the shipping costs to this sum which makes maybe another $10 (what are shipping costs to europe?) which gives $45 (or $64 altough i don't know if it will be possible at all) which would be a avergage price for a game here.
Without this you still won't have a CD, a booklet, only some files on your harddisk. Doesn't look cheap to me and weren't we once told by almost all game studios that as soon as their chunk of the cake is getting bigger they also would lower the prices?
Well, looking at the numbers i don't see this happening...
And beside of this TTG has the advantage of more than one distribution channel. GameTap Deal/Sales, TTG online sales (with all the benefits like lying much longer on the shelf), later on traditional reseller once the cd is ready? With some further investment the console versions.
Looks like a cash cow to me if you have a game which is doing well.
I don't grudge them their success but "cheap" actually looks different to me.
Regards,
taumel
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Comments
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JK
The main knock on episodic gaming has been that the total price of all episodes game ends up costing more than the price of an average game. The Season Price offer has thrown that argument out the window, so it is cheap compared to Half-Life episodes that cost $20 each (3 episodes are less than a full game, yet cost more at $60). It's true you could buy them 6 * $9, but that upgrade offer is still there so anybody who buys them each individually would kind of be foolish not to go for the season deal once they've bought 4 episodes individually (4 * 9 = $36). So most people end up either playing 1-3 episode for $9 each or six episodes for $35 (which translates to $5.83 per episode). A lot of people like to compare prices when judging value, so things are cheap/expensive if they can get a lot more/less for the same price. In America, $5.83 is about 2 gallons of gas, a meal at McDonald's, and cheaper than a movie ticket. It's a subjective call on whether you think that is cheap or expensive.
I actually am of the mindset that the Gametap deal allows Telltale to sell at the lower, more palatable price--look at the initial pricing for the Bone episodes and Texas Hold Em, the games that Telltale made without a co-publisher giving them funding--Bone was initially priced at $20 an episode (later $12.99) and you still have to pay $5 more for the CD versions (shipping also extra). Texas Hold Em costs $12.99 as well. In comparison, Sam and Max appears cheap to my eyes.
Though I do agree (and feel) that they're probably making lots of money.
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Edit:
On rereading my post, my reactions are this: Wow, that's a very rambly post--I guess it's late... I hope nobody insults the sentences that run on and on in my second paragraph...
Yes, the games are short and sometimes way too easy. So what? I enjoyed every minute that I was playing each episode and even find myself singing the Ted E Bear song
I got the whole season for $35, that is about the price of a game. If I had the enite game, I would probably have finished it and set it aside by now.
If you don't want to buy the whole series you don't have to spend more than a few dollars to find that out.
Besides which your missing the point,
1. I like adventure games
2. You like adventure games (or you wouldnt be here)
3. Nobody else is making adventure games
4. If you want publishers to start making adventure games again this has to be a success so you have to buy it at any price.
a) A price always is relative to how enjoyable and how long i can play. So if comparing to other episodic games i would say that Sam&Max might be the cheapest one(?) but it is also the one where i played the shortest timeframe.
b) Secondly i for sure would include shipping costs as i simply compare to what do i get when i walk a few minutes to my local store. What do i have to pay there to get a full packaged cd/dvd and what do i have to pay here to get the same? And if i do get less how much cheaper is this in comparisson? And here i don't feel that a "cheap" price tag is valid.
c) Cheap also is very relative depending on where you life in the world. The same price in russia for sure is much more expensive as the price might appear in europe or the usa.
And as they get much more out of the cake i wonder why the prices are equal to even beeing higher here than if i would have bought the game in a store to the usual price.
That ones simple economics.
Telltale are small, they wont sell millions of units, so they require a higher profit margin to stay in business.
I think their site get's good traffic too and even if this wasn't the case there still are a lot of options to reach more users through the well known game portals (didn't i see Texas Hold'em on Reflexive too?) or distribution channels. I don't see them in the need begging for money...
By the way are there any stats around about sold copies so far?
But don' get me wrong. I'm very happy that they are around with this game. I just don't feel that it's cheap...
PC Format (UK Magazine) just awarded culture shock the "Most Disapointing Game" prize in their annual game awards.
I thought that was a little harsh, especially as the whole complaint was that on the whole they think the episodes are too short and the games too easy.
#3 is wrong. Some companies still do make adventure games. Cyan Worlds of Spokane Washington certainly does...
Simple economics, eh?
Bad economics more like.
The economic law of supply tells us that since Telltale will have a lower Qs (quantity supplied) they will end up selling at a LOWER price. :rolleyes:
As for CDs, I don't care about those very much - they just take up space, and all you really need to play is a copy of the game on your hard disk.
I know I personally would prefer a CD version of it rather than a digital one (or even a CDr one), and having considered the option of a digital over a physical release myself in the past (that's a different story altogether), I came to the conclusion that there are more people out there who'd prefer a physical copy than a digital one (researched). Maybe it's because it "requires more effort on whichever company's part" making it appear there's more value for money.
Anyway, I don't want to be restricted by the authorisation code forever, which requires an internet connection & the authorisation code handy. Pff!
Yes do you really think they are making bundles of money when they have to pay 30 staff members..and the time it takes to make an adventure game.. $6 is a great price.
For me to buy the season, it'll cost me £20, and it should last me much longer than most £40 games I've bought.
I may or may not pay extra for the whole season on CD, it depends on how much it'll cost for shipping, but I'd go up to a £10/£15, which would still be way under the £50 it'd cost me to buy a new Xbox 360 game, for example.
Sam & Max Episode: $8.95
I think the episode is a better value. Longer playtime, better gameplay, more challenging puzzles.
you get to play sam and max and other wonderful games for 99cents for the first month, then $6.95 for extra months.
But remember--$6.95 is only if you pay for a 12 month plan. So $83.40 (or $82.41 if it's 99 cents + 11 months @ $6.95) gets you the whole season on Gametap, while $34.95 gets you the whole season (that you get to keep) on Telltale.
That $83.40 also goes towards many other games, though. Of course, Gametap titles are prone to strange bugs, censorship, and poor emulation, so whether it's a better deal or not remains up for debate.
Censorship? Do tell...
Anyway, as someone who jumped on the Gametap wagon when they were offering even cheaper deals, I've realized that, after the initial few weeks of "Wow, Last Express, Zork:GI, Worms Armageddon!", there's little much for me on that network besides Sam and Max. Admittedly this is probably because I am running a very old computer that doesn't dare play nice games like Beyond Good and Evil, Splinter Cell, and Silent Hill; my mind would probably soon change should I suddenly be in the possession of a nicer rig.
Well, take Die By The Sword for example. Blood and dismemberment have been removed, (and in a game where hacking off your enemy's weapon arm can mean the difference between winning and losing, that's a rather large disappointment)
I also noticed Second Sight has the language censored. No big deal, but censorship nonetheless, and why have a parental lock option if they edit anyway? I'm half-tempted to see how badly they butchered Silent Hill, but the trial version only allows you to pick 4 of the games from the list, and I plan on taking advantage and picking games I never played before :P. (And no, it won't let me try Episode 4
Speaking of Silent Hill, if you can run Sam and Max, you MIGHT be able to run Silent Hill 2. The system requirements are very low. (Don't let Gametap fool you, their system requirement thing is inaccurate as hell.)
It might sound like I dislike Gametap, but I don't. I'm very tempted to splurge and subscribe.
EDIT: Grrrr, I have to let off some newfound steam about Gametap, and since I'm too lazy to do it elsewhere...
So, I chose my 4th and final preview game, having played through Second Sight. A little game known as Far Cry, to be exact. Now, I KNOW my specs are plenty good enough for Far Cry. I know, because I've played both demos of it with nary an issue. Yet, after downloading all 1.5 GB of the Gametap version, and finally starting the game, I knew something was a tad funky. Nothing major, just little details like the game starting me in THE MIDDLE OF THE MAP, then elegantly crashing after 10 minutes or so.
"Eh... It was just a chance occurrence." I say to myself after cursing at the monitor. So, I load the game up again, and this time it starts me at the beginning of the level where it's supposed to.
"Hah!" I say defiantly. I mosey along for about 10 minutes, taking in the beautiful graphics, laughing at the hideous AI (Why do people keep saying Far Cry has good AI? Most of the enemies jitterbug frantically upon seeing the player... Dance Dance Tropical Paradise?), and frolicking amongst the foliage.
BOOM. The game crashes again. After strangling the monitor in a style reminiscent of Homer Simpson, (complete with "Why... won't... you... be... PLAYABLE!?"), I show up here to lower my blood pressure by posting about it.
Long story short, my desire to subscribe to Gametap is dwindling pretty quickly.
And don't forget, TtG is creating machinimas/ect. on a mostly regular base, and not just that, you can get more value if you have the time and desire to do so, not just by playing the Game(episodes).
Well, i'm fine with the price.
An just to mention if someone buys something SW related in pieces, then it is always dearer, at least that is my experience.
Because you have to reward peoples that buy more at one time.
Sry. but i think that is just normal.
If you want to know what a rip off is today, buy some Games from some Publishers. ()Or Console Games as my mad buddy would say.)
Ex. Silent Hill 4 for PC. (not the content itself, but the port.)
Or Settlers II the new generation. ( or the wikings addon)
And...the list goes on, and yes from other publishers too.
Or another example of DL games where you have to pay the same price as the retail version(yeah bandwidth but, come on they buy bandwidth on big masses that their outcomings are not so high as they suggest.
I would buy all my games this way if I could the saving for us here in the UK is great.
A game costs ~40€, what is about 50$.
I really liked the season, and I hope telltale is going to do a second season. If this "expensive price" helps them to do so, I can just say: Knock yourself our, Telltalers.
(But in respect of my financial situation as a student a cheaper season 2 would be GREAT!
The fact that adventure games are hard to come by and Sam and Max having excellent humor is for me a reason to support TellTale to that extend.
I know they are succesfull with the Sam and Max series and every game magazines write about each episode each month and that is good PR (if the episode is great that is).
Well I wouldn't want to see it any other way. Probably they are making a lot of money out of it and that is good for the series on the long term. They can hire more artist and invest on making the episodes available on more platforms (Wii?). I think the price is really good (considering the season package) and if the second season will have the same price I will definitly buy it too.
I see it as $40 for a half year of monthly entertainment.
People who like San & Max get the full season price which is cheaper than most games.
People who aren't as devoted can purchase a few episodes and get their money's worth as well. It all works out.
I think if someone can afford a PC that can run an episode, then they can afford an episode.
Kinda like the people who can afford to buy a PS3 for $600, they can usually afford to buy the $60 games.