uteotw

Gotta say I agree with most of these...

http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/p...th-it-/1358619

How do they get away with it?
by Mike Smith

Buzz up!


September 29 2:02 P.M.

Over the years, video game companies have pulled some pretty audacious stunts in pursuit of the contents of your wallet. Now that the industry's bigger than ever, they're getting more and more creative. Here's a few recent moneygrabs that leave us wondering: how do they get away with it?



Xbox 360 wireless adapter

Wireless adapter for the PS3 or Wii? $0 -- they're built-in. USB wireless adapter for the PC? $20 or so. USB wireless adapter for the Xbox 360?

$100.

Why the insane mark-up? Beats us, but Microsoft has been getting away with this one ever since launch. Tech-savvy consumers have other options for getting their 360s onto a wireless network, but if you're not willing to read up on the intricacies of 802.11g (and assuming wired isn't an option for you), you're going to have to open up your wallet or miss out on the wealth of fun to be had on Xbox Live. Relief -- of a sort -- is in sight: the adapter is tipped to drop to a still-insulting $80 in the near future as they release a new version.




Microtransactions

Remember when you could just walk into a store, buy a game, and that was the end of it? With the growth of purchasable downloadable updates and game tweaks, modern video games can be expanded well beyond their original capabilities (like, say, with Burnout Paradise's series of outstanding content downloads)...or exploited to nickel-and-dime gamers for features that really should have been in the game to start with.

Several publishers have been tempted by the extra revenues this strategy can offer, but easily the worst (and most recent) offender is EA Sports. Take Madden 10: some of its purchasable downloads give your team boosts like immediate injury recovery, temporary stat boosts, and perhaps most egregiously, the $5 "Elite Status" -- which unlocks the game's toughest difficulty level for online ranked play, among other things. Nice, but didn't we already pay for this game once?



$130 to plug in your PS3

A wave of facepalming and headshaking swept the blogosphere when this Best Buy poster made the rounds this month. It offers to install, configure, and update your PS3 for the tidy sum of $130. Or, you know, you could read the manual. Or consult this nice audio-visual tutorial. Or give your neighbor's kid a few bucks to talk you through it. Or just figure it out as you go along. In short, anything to avoid giving the Geek Squad what's nearly half the price of the console for a five-minute job.


Xbox Live Points

There's nothing inherently eye-popping about having to add credit to an online account before you can buy downloads. There are quite rational and sensible reasons for it, we're told, having to do with credit card minimums and other tedious things like that.

But why is the Xbox's online store priced entirely in Microsoft moon money, where a dollar is worth four-fifths of a "Microsoft Point?" Because they're under the impression that we won't really notice how much things cost, we assume. In fact, the only good thing we can say about it is that it's single-handedly taught an entire generation the lost art of how to multiply and divide by 0.8.



Downloadable games that cost the same as retail

Online distribution's all the rage this year. Take Sony's PSP Go (launching this week), which ditches conventional game distribution altogether in favor of downloading games from Sony's online store. Downloadable games are just like games on disc, except you get, well, less: no box, no manual, and no smiling retailer. Plus, you can't resell them or trade them in. That'd be great...if they cost less than standard retail products.

But they don't. They cost the same. Where does the money once spent on box, manual, and retailer cut go, we wonder? And what's the incentive for Sony (and other exclusive online distribution channels from Microsoft and Nintendo) to cut prices? Better hope you like the convenience of downloadable games, because you sure ain't winning on price.



Used game trade-in values

Here's an exercise for EB Games or GameStop shoppers: the next time you trade in a stack of games, take a stroll down the shelves and check out how much they're going to sell your old games for. Chances are, it's much, much more than the paltry sum you're getting back. Outrageous markups are the stock in trade for the used game biz, and they only get away with it because they think you're too lazy to list them on eBay, or call a pawn store, or put them on Craigslist, or...or anything else, really. You're not, are you?

Chew

I agree with all of them.

pinata242

Might it be because this is a currency that covers multiple economies and real-world currencies? If they made it 1:1 with USD, then it's still going to be off with other markets.

Michael Corvin

^ That is what Major Nelson explained at some point in the past few years pinata. It's easier to change the point value in other markets than the $ value.

I have zero issues with Microsoft Points, and I doubt you'll hear a gripe out of a true CAG. I couldn't begin to tell you how many points I've bought but I know I haven't spent more than 50% of SRP on them. Without "moon money" every XBL purchase would be at full price. MS did gamers a favor with this currency.

And why no slack on Wii Points? Sure the point conversion is nicer $1 = 100 points but you still have to buy them in certain amounts leaving you with extra points after a purchase.

Groucho

How about the endless supply of plastic crap for you to plug your Wiimote into?

mhg83

The Best Buy one doesn't really count. They do not work for the industry and is just a big store trying to rip off the customer.

And I have no sympathy for the dumbasses that would shell out $130 just to have your game console installed!

Chris_D

Yeah, the MS Points thing is dumb. The games cost the equivalent amount across platforms. Also, if you buy a game less than $10 on PSN, you're still forced to load $10 from your credit card so it's pretty much the exact same problem as XBL points. And regardless, that's not even an issue of being ripped off, it's more of an inconvenience.

For rip offs how about $2 for an Animal Crossing Clock, and all the other bullshit on DSiWare. Also, 800 points for that Dodgeball game on XBL, what an embarrassment.

Rob V

How about Sony online store charging you $5.99 (for example) for an item but only allowing you to add funds to your PSN wallet in whole dollars? What happens to the pennies that you rack up over time?? Seems to me you'd need to make 99 purchases in order to use the leftover pennies; which is total BS.

RichC2

Anyone who has been to a Dave and Busters knows the MS Point System isn't THAT bad by comparison.

The $130 for the PS3 setup is hilarious.

pinata242

I have a degree in mathematics and I can't even figure that shit out. Of course the copious amounts of alcohol never help.

Chris_D

That's funny, maybe it was only the Australian PSN, but it made me add $10 minimum before I could buy something.

Kelkee

The reason that the XBOX360 Wireless adapter is so expensive is because its proprietary.

Its a special built adapter that works exclusively with the XBOX and supports the a/b/g wireless protocols. Notice the 'a' because its the kicker. b/g are cheaper protocols to support basically that's why you see them everywhere and in everything.

a runs on a higher frequency and gives you higher bandwidth. So it costs more money to add it to the adapter. Unfortunately unless you have a router that supports a then you wont be able to take advantage of the benefits of a.

So there you have it. Its not some cheap piece of garbage in fact is pretty darn well made.
Now if only I had one...

uteotw

The PS3 "installation" reminds of when Best Buy (and others) used to charge $100 for "memory installation." Open cover--click into place--close cover--$100 please. Just a way to make money off people who don't know any better.

And I totally agree w/the downloadable game thing. I'd be more inclined to impulse download some game off Live if it was cheaper, but why would I pay the same amount as retail and not get an actual game I can re-sell if I want to? No thanks.

The points thing does annoy me, and I wish it was at least 1:1. I don't want to have to get out a calculator to figure out what a 99-point song (or whatever) is really costing me.

Chris_D

Well, it'd be 1:1 for you Americans, but no one else in the world .

pinata242

I never know what an 80-point song costs me because I've never spent full price on the points.

That's why I'll never use their new option to buy a game with actual $ instead of points.

Obi-Wanma

In the US its a $5 minimum.

Chris_D

Australia takes it up the rear again! Our FF7 is even something like $4 US more based on current exchange rates.

Thanks for the clarification.

RichC2

The copious amounts of alcohol is what makes it acceptable

Krayzie

Does 50% of SRP mean you pay $10 for 1600 points and $25 for 4000 points?
I just bought a 1600 pt card for $15.60 shipped and that's about as good as I've seen without having a Microcenter nearby. I don't see many good deals besides the ebay sellers who are long gone.

Michael Corvin

Yes, on average.

I picked up about 8 of the cards when they were $5 at Target (with shifty coupon) two summers ago. Also picked up 6 or so at CC when they had that 50% off that one week last spring/summer. There's also Reward Zone certificates at Best Buy that work great for getting your points for half price. I got a couple of the 4k cards for around $30 on ebay a few months ago. Not totally 50% off, but damn close.

Then depending on how you look at it(do the math) I used the $20 gift card from TRU's ODST deal on a point card, so $0 (depending on how you view the cost of the game/gc). I actually got a couple cards last week using promo gift cards. So 3200 points for $0. Like I said though everyone views those deals differently. Personally I was going to drop $60 on Halo regardless so the $20 was gravy.

The trick is when you find a killer deal you stock up to last until the next deal. Between those you use the gift cards and reward bonuses from certain stores for your 1-2 card immediate needs.

I did see an ebay seller the other day offering points in any multiple of 1,000 up to 10k points for $60 which is 50% off.

Krayzie

Ah ok, there haven't really been any good deals since I got my 360. The ebay deals were good but it was pretty shady. The new ebay sellers are selling you a new live account filled with points which is even more shady than the previous sellers.

fujishig

I believe if you charge over the minimum in the PSN store, you get charged the exact amount, that's how you use the "change." Not an ideal system, but still an option.

I still don't see how one can rail on the 360 wireless adapter but not other peripherals like the xbox hard drive or the mini keyboard that plugs into the controller (either PS3 or Xbox). Or what about the design flaw that prohibits an Xbox from using both HDMI and optical out without buying a separate cord (or breaking open the component out)?

EA microtransactions do stink. I wonder if we'll get to the point where they start charging for roster updates.

Best Buy geek squad charges something like 50 bucks to setup an iPod. That's on best buy. If we're going to complain about that, what about the "warranties" the stores offer in case the game gets scratched. Please.

Downloadable game prices: if they're going to release stuff online the same time they release it in stores, they can't undercut the stores. I just don't see that happening.

While I'm loathe to defend gamestop, there's a reason trade in values are so low. There's no guarantee that the game they bought from you is going to sell, much less sell for more than they paid you for it (with pricedrops, age, etc.) There are alternatives to selling there, but if you do go there you should know what to expect. I'd replace that with "paying full price for a game that's already been opened and who knows, may even be used" that runs rampant at that store.

chess

I agree with all of them except MS points. I actually would prefer that system on PS3 so I could get deals on cards.

edstein

In defense of the Gamestop buy back pricing. It does make it a lot easier and hassle free to drop a stack of games off and get credit/cash. Ebay/Half/Craigslist methods require posting ads and dealing with buyers directly (shipping, paypal, etc). No one is forcing you to take your games back but it's a nice convenience when you do.

Kelkee

^This.

Sure I could take my own time and make ads/post/reply/ship but my time could be better spent. Being able to walk-in, get credit (if you are a member you get a % more on your trades even) and walk-out is a great convenience.