RANDOM VIDEO GAME NEWS!

[pmp10]

What could have been more gothic than the new design which consists of black leather, completely white skin, and stitch-work that reminds me of Catwoman in Batman Returns? Dear lord

Black fingernails.

Apparently they were in for initial redesign.

[Gorgon]

 

If you buy a new game at normal pricing you are getting screwed by STEAM guaranteed.

Could you expand on what you mean by this?

 

Outside of the fact you don't get a physical copy , I haven't noticed the new games seeming more expensive (in the US, I mean) via Steam. Is it the non-US Steam market you're referring to? I know that's often a big contention point, but I thought the non-US high prices often applied to even non-Steam gaming as well.

Lets take Tomb Raider as a forinstance. Steam pricing comes to 373 DKK, no costs associated with distribution other than maintenance of STEAM servers.

 

Random web search finds the game at 246 DKK if you pick it up at your game store. Should not be possible if not for publishers still subsidising brick and mortar outlets.  STEAM has built up a monopoly of convenience from their customer base, for all the sales it's still missing one vital component : competition. You can get the game at competitive prices but only when they decide.

 

Re sale of game keys brings competition back into the equation which is good for consumers.

[alanschu]

 

Random web search finds the game at 246 DKK if you pick it up at your game store. Should not be possible if not for publishers still subsidising brick and mortar outlets.  STEAM has built up a monopoly of convenience from their customer base, for all the sales it's still missing one vital component : competition. You can get the game at competitive prices but only when they decide.

 

I have zero clue as to why Steam prices are the way they are in places like Europe compared to retail (or the US), but I get the impression that you seem to think that it is Valve that sets the price for games on Steam.

[AwesomeOcelot]

 

 

 

 

If you buy a new game at normal pricing you are getting screwed by STEAM guaranteed.

Could you expand on what you mean by this?

 

Outside of the fact you don't get a physical copy , I haven't noticed the new games seeming more expensive (in the US, I mean) via Steam. Is it the non-US Steam market you're referring to? I know that's often a big contention point, but I thought the non-US high prices often applied to even non-Steam gaming as well.

 

 

Lets take Tomb Raider as a forinstance. Steam pricing comes to 373 DKK, no costs associated with distribution other than maintenance of STEAM servers.

 

Random web search finds the game at 246 DKK if you pick it up at your game store. Should not be possible if not for publishers still subsidising brick and mortar outlets.  STEAM has built up a monopoly of convenience from their customer base, for all the sales it's still missing one vital component : competition. You can get the game at competitive prices but only when they decide.

 

Re sale of game keys brings competition back into the equation which is good for consumers.

 

 

Steam does not set prices for other publisher's games, competition between services won't drive down prices. The UK Steam price for Tomb Raider is 260 DKK, there's not more competition.

 

Amazon UK is selling Tomb Raider for 195 DKK, but the same Austrian company's website is selling it for 373 DKK, and prices in Germany aren't that much different to that price.

 

I believe publishers and Steam have had region locked games in the past, if this becomes more widespread they will do it more, and they'll probably blame it on the various incidents that have been happening within the resale market.

Edited March 15, 2013 by AwesomeOcelot

[Gorgon]

Steam does not set prices for other publisher's games, competition between services won't drive down prices. The UK Steam price for Tomb Raider is 260 DKK, there's not more competition.

Amazon UK is selling Tomb Raider for 195 DKK, but the same Austrian company's website is selling it for 373 DKK, and prices in Germany aren't that much different to that price.

I believe publishers and Steam have had region locked games in the past, if this becomes more widespread they will do it more, and they'll probably blame it on the various incidents that have been happening within the resale market.

 

 

 

Could you expand on what you mean by this?

Outside of the fact you don't get a physical copy , I haven't noticed the new games seeming more expensive (in the US, I mean) via Steam. Is it the non-US Steam market you're referring to? I know that's often a big contention point, but I thought the non-US high prices often applied to even non-Steam gaming as well.

 

Lets take Tomb Raider as a forinstance. Steam pricing comes to 373 DKK, no costs associated with distribution other than maintenance of STEAM servers.
 
Random web search finds the game at 246 DKK if you pick it up at your game store. Should not be possible if not for publishers still subsidising brick and mortar outlets.  STEAM has built up a monopoly of convenience from their customer base, for all the sales it's still missing one vital component : competition. You can get the game at competitive prices but only when they decide.
 
Re sale of game keys brings competition back into the equation which is good for consumers.

 

A game loses its 'new car smell' after x ammount of months and it's not worth what publishers think it is anymore. We need something to remind them of that. The used games market could be regulated to be more fair to pubishers, I would agree on that, but it serves an important purpose.

[Deadly_Nightshade]

 

http://www.penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/stolen-credit-cards-and-fraudulent-steam-keys-cost-natural-selection-2-team

 

I know a few folks here buy keys from those shady discount places, might want to read this.

I've always wondered how those discount places got their keys. Figured them more for grey market than black.

 

And unlike Prell, I'd definitely call products bought with stolen cards then resold "black."

Some are black and some are grey. And some are legitimate - GetGamesGo and GameRocket are good examples of this. Although I agree you should be careful where you get keys from and avoid the more shady sites (personally I avoid them in favor of security, if slightly higher prices). 

[melkathi]

Dead State first combat alpha video:

[TSBasilisk]

Slitherine gets Warhammer license, mentions their desire to make a strong turn-based strategy game

[C2B]

The Saints are back

 

[Oner]

Dunno what the comments are whining for, this looks hilarous.

[Tale]

There's a couple of positions I see on Saint's Row as a franchise that dislike 3 and, by extension, 4.

1) Saint's Row 3 didn't put enough effort into its world as compared to Saint's Row 2. And they forsee 4 continuing that trend.

2) Saint's Row 3 wasn't serious enough gangsters.

 

I'm on the fence with 4. I'm not in those camps, I rather liked 3, but I'm worried 4 may be rushed.

[melkathi]

Well, 4 was just going to be an expansion for 3. Enter the Dominatrix. Then apparently the content became enough to justify turning it into a stand alone title and push its release back nearly a year.

We'll see. I guess from a tech point of view we wont see any advances. But possibly they'll improve on the world.

[Bos_hybrid]

Dead State is looking good.

[Starwars]

Good news today, with the Dead State combat demo. Also, a new Civ V expansion is due out this summer. Here's an interview: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/03/15/civilization-v-brave-new-world-preview/#more-145899

 

Some concepts in there sound really intriguing. Can't wait to get my hands on it, hope it's as good as Gods and Kings.

[Rostere]

Slitherine gets Warhammer license, mentions their desire to make a strong turn-based strategy game

 

Oooh. I'll be watching this!

[Mamoulian War]

Can you please stop going offtopic in a thread called random video games news and make a separate thread about it?

Edited March 16, 2013 by Mamoulian War

[Malcador]

 

I guess this is one of those 'spiritual successor' thingies.

[Oerwinde]

 

I guess this is one of those 'spiritual successor' thingies.

 

It looks both more and less advanced than Civ IV.

 

Speaking of which, did anyone do an Alpha Centauri mod for that?

[LadyCrimson]

Can you please stop going offtopic in a thread called random video games news and make a separate thread about it?

Yeah....I know we all go off-topic for a bit sometimes, but perhaps the Sarkeesian/tropes discussion could be its own topic.

 

Split the posts into its own thread. Let's move the conversation there.

[Morgoth]

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 1 apparently coming to PC too

[Undecaf]

Might&Magic X teased by Ubisoft, info coming at PAX east.

 

Wasn't Obsidian at talks with Ubi about somehting at some point? Nah, it probably isn't this, although...

Edited March 17, 2013 by Undecaf

[Morgoth]

What Tomb Raider could have been:

 

 

But instead we got a Lara Croft orgasm squealer.

[alanschu]

Have you actually played the new one?  I haven't but most people I know have enjoyed it.

[Fighter]

What Tomb Raider could have been:

 

That's actually what it basically is.

[Nonek]

Personally I can't see why they'd make another game about the cliched karate kicking supermodel when they are sitting on the narrative brilliance that is the Legacy of Kain series, labyrinthine plots, shakespearian prose and self motivated independent characters surely trump another round of shooting more waves of incompetent mooks.