seriously it sucks a lot of games have no DEMOS!
You know it really does. I was thinking about what it is that bugs me so much about this, and it's just that it's all so front-loaded.
Without getting too businessy - generally speaking - revenue from games and a lot of other media is mostly made through merchandising with the base product often being released to subpar returns. ZUN uses an interesting model to look at (they mostly make money through OST sales and merch at cons), and some indie devs release their games for free with optionally paid dlc and paid OSTs to compensate.
With those games you can pay a little (or nothing), and gauge whether you like it and want more.
Whenever I see shit like this though... It's just so obvious to me that the people at Konami are trying to game the system and get as much cash on the initial sale as possible. To get any engagement - massive entry fee. Then they're all like "oh well you're already paying £70 - why not throw in an extra £10 so you don't miss out on these """extras"""". Like piss off, you could have a less predatory model and still make bare cash on this.
It was always a luxury shit so it was always relatively expensive shit. What changed is that what my country always experienced regarding video game industry became a topic of what Americans and Europeans who live in those so "modern countries they are above 3rd-world countries" started to complain about lolol. But because I accepted it's a luxury shit it was part of why I found a job to afford this hobby when I was a teen (Sega Genesis was the first thing I bought with my own money). So if people complains they can vote with lack of their wallet or find a job or a better one, or get their country's shit together. There is no sense in complaining about "why Ferrari cars are so expensive" mentality, perhaps you gotta complain about your own economy that prices are adjusted for your country yet you still complain. This is still even better than tons of countries that they don't even care about decent regional pricing and ignore the existence of currencies other than the Dollar, Euro and Pound lol.
I don't deny there are ways for the individual to work around this. My issue is that there are people out there who sit in offices intentionally doing everything they can to bleed people dry of every penny they can, and that they're doing it in a way that I believe erodes deeper criticism of videogaming. When people discuss films, books, comics and other media, the topic of cost is very rarely addressed except in extreme circumstances. When it comes to modern games, the primary topic of discussion is price - is the game """""good""""" enough to warrant that price tag? It boils the topic down to a very binary metric, which in turn diminishes engagement.
People in this thread have mentioned JRPGs because they're longer, and so to them, by default are more financially satisfying. I'd argue however that the only reason we use that as a metric of judgement in the first place, is because of this toxic developer/consumer relationship. Developers pad games because they know a longer run time is more compelling, specifically because they know they're charging ludicrous prices
Gaming has always been expensive, you must consider inflation. And it was WAY MORE expensive back in the days: no Humble Choice, no free EGS every week, no Steam sales… and importing games that mattered to you, if not available in your country, was sometimes overpriced. Maybe you don't have to act like a spoiled kid too: you can wait for a few months before buying your game when prices drop.
Also, I read jealousy about people buying their games full price and day one. Whether they drop the game or not is not your matter after all, they're not responsible for your situation and they play as they wish in the end. Maybe they're the reason why developers can still make games. Silent Hill fans are probably okay to pay 79,99 € instead of: not playing Silent Hill anymore (excluding Silent Hill 2 Remake, there was no new entry since 2012). And gatekeeping is a big no, you're not a better gamer or consumer
Bruh, I shouldn't have to turn out my pockets and prove I'm not broke every time I want to complain about predatory business tactics. I'm pissed off at whales for getting played, I'm pissed off at corporate heads for playing them, and I'm pissed off that them getting played contributes negatively to videogaming culture as a whole. Inflation this, inflation that - it doesn't hold up. Videogames and the industry have changed since those days. Videogames were not always so widely spread or available and so their higher cost was often necessarry in being able to actually get the games onto the market. As gaming became more mainstream and the process became more standardised, there was a drop in prices relative to inflation, however, since then, there has been a disproportionate and deliberate increase in price again. Simply put, the price is being raised because they can get away with it. If you don't like that I slagged off silent hill and the resident evil games or the culture surrounding them, then fair, but repeating that brainless rhetoric about inflation to stick up for companies that would sell oxygen if they could get away with it, makes you a corporate shill
