June 29 12:48 P.M.
Ever felt fleeced by the video games industry? Just like in any other business, games publishers and console makers are in it to make money, and sometimes, they cross the line that splits a reasonable profit margin from a consumer-unfriendly rip-off. Everyone's got their favorite stories. These are mine.
Short Games: $15 an hour?
Ever played a $60 video game and completed it in four hours?While plenty of games -- like, say, Mario Kart Wii, LittleBigPlanet, or Halo 3 -- have multiplayer modes and unlockable content, thus giving them near-limitless replay value, some titles just don't add up. Take recent movie tie-in effort Terminator: Salvation on the Xbox 360. It'll cost you $59.99 in stores, but review site IGN knocked it with a 6.3/10, citing, in part, its woeful length. "The future isn't set. That means you still have time to cancel your preorder of Terminator Salvation...a four-hour game with zero replay value. 'Nuff said."
MotionPlus: The Wii delivers, three years late
Remember how those early Wii games were supposed to have amazing, lifelike controls? As it turned out, most titles made do with waggling motions that maybe, if you were lucky, bore a vague resemblance to whatever your on-screen representation was supposed to be doing. Confusion and frustration ensued.
Enter the Motionplus, Nintendo's way of making the Wii Remote sensitive enough for real, one-to-one controls. And it's awesome, turning the just-released Tiger Woods 10 and Grand Slam Tennis into groundbreakingly compelling and realistic experiences. We're sold, but at 20-25 bucks a pop, are you? You'll need to budget for at least two for the authentic Wii social multiplayer experience, meaning an extra $50 just to get the Wii doing what it was supposed to be doing all along.
PSP Go: Smaller, cheaper to make, and...more expensive?
Price of a current-gen PSP? $169.99. Price of the redesigned, smaller, and reportedly cheaper to make PSP Go, hitting streets this fall? $249.99. Something doesn't quite add up here, and as far as we can tell, the only reason Sony's charging more for the slimmer version is because they think shoppers will pay it. No doubt that makes good business sense, but it's hardly a consumer-friendly policy. And while we love the design and ergonomics of the petite portable, that $80 surcharge is hard to swallow.
Buy high, sell low: The trade-in trade-off
Ever been shocked at the low price you receive on a game trade-in, then see the same game selling used at a huge mark-up on your way out? Stores like Gamestop know most consumers don't want the hassle of selling their used games on eBay or Craigslist, and so will happily low-ball you on the buy back price. Often, the cost of avoiding the hassle of a private sale could be as much as $20 or $30. Gamestop and its ilk rely heavily on the huge margins they receive from these transactions, and that's cash that could be going into your pocket.
Price-fixing: Nintendo fined big by EU
Ever wondered how console makers can get away with effectively dictating the prices of new consoles and games to retailers? If so, you're in good company. One such method was exposed in 2002, following a European Commission investigation which culminated in Nintendo being slapped with a huge fine of over 100 million pounds. The EC determined that Nintendo had entered into export-forbidding agreements with seven distributors which enabled it to maintain price differences of up to 67% between different European countries. It's a case that's dragging on and on -- just last year, a Nintendo lawyer reportedly called the amount "unfair, illegal, even shocking."
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Posted: 29 Jun 2009
