August 12th, 2012

Pachter: Games on the Wii U should cost $60

68 Comments

Michael Pachter has said that if games cost $50 on the Wii U, Nintendo is “making a mistake”. The thought process is that this “would signal to the public that the Wii U is of lower quality than the other consoles”. But to me, this feels like a mis-placed appreciation of psychology.

It’s true that pricing affects perception. When something costs more, people believe it’s worth more. But in a world where mobile games exist, and plenty of experiences can be enjoyed for less than a dollar, $50 already carries that higher perceived value. Tacking on $10 would just be a jab at gamer’s wallets.

  • G-man

    With all the mobile games, video games should cost less considering the price of iOS and Android games.

  • Lol

    What can you expect from Shitter?

  • T.Finland

    Criticism is good and all that, but I suggest no-one shares these brain farts this guy seems to pull. I have never spent more than 40 euros on a videogame and never will. 50 is too much, 60 is WAAAY too much. The article speaks of dollars but it’s pretty much the same amount always.

    • Emblem

      He’s not talking about Euros and I think 60$ is a good price.

    • This guy

      No a doller is about .81 a euro so a $60 game is 40 euros…

  • Huge Chunks of Balsa Wood

    I really hate this guy.

  • Egghollo

    This guy is really stupid.

  • Perry

    Exactly. Well put, David!

  • IHAEFEA

    DOES HE WANT TO PAY 10$ EXTRA?

  • http://www.facebook.com/jack.smith.315080 Jack Smith

    Wii U games will be priced as much as they sell for on other consoles.

  • eastwood

    if you can get a ps3 or a xbo game for 50 way sud you spent 60 for a wii u ?

  • http://profiles.google.com/xdavidxhoylexx David Hoyle

    i just found out zombi u is $60 at targets website. im definitely not getting that sht unless it has something like black ops zombies. no less then 4 players on online multiplayer and including online chat with anyone. if that doesnt happen, im probably only going to get a wii u becuz of nintendos hardare failing for my wii. its nothing new, my dsi was failing becuz nintendos hardware so i had to get a 3ds to keep my dsiware. a waste of $250 though.

    anyway, games should be just as much as movies and no more. and i dont even buy movies becuz movies are stupid. who wants to sit down and do nothing?

    • Nice Ness

      dude that is incredibly messed up and you sound just a like a modern wannabe gamer, i mean really!? Call of Duty Zombies? its a survival game not a action mini-game, I will tell you this im pretty sure it wont be like Black Ops, It will have online mulitplayer but its 1 vs 1, 1 survives while other sends zombies to kill you, adding peple who not only make the survival horror of the game less scary, it would also make it seem like its just ripping off Call of Duty, just cause this game has zombies and is a FPS doesnt mean you should automatically jump to Call of Duty Zombies, if you want that play the Call of Duty games that come out each year. But i doubt your gonna find that here, its survival horror and its gonna stay that way :/ this game would suck if it went the way of RE 5 WHICH WAS A GOOD GAME, just not a good RE game, and becomes an action survival game.

    • http://profiles.google.com/xdavidxhoylexx David Hoyle

      cod was creative, sort of, with zombies. of course they lack alot of content. it only takes a child to give better idea ofhow to make it better. but if zombiu is really 1 vs 1 thats just a waste. i dont play mw3 not becuz it does suck, but the survival was only 2 players which was part if its fail. and the multiplayer didnt have hardcore capture the flag. mw3 was just trash.

    • Nice Ness

      CoD is barely creative, and why on earth would you sacrifice the WHOLE THEME of the game just to make people like you happy? Im happy with the way it is, if you dont like the game dont comment about it, dont think about it, dont buy, dont watch or read reviews about, just leave the game be and just wait for Black Ops 2 to hit the Wii U, and if u think MW3 sucks because it lacks Capture the flag then well your a wannabe gamer, ik think CoD sucks but the games that are made are amazing games. This game isnt Call of Duty, Call of Duty wasnt creative with Zombies, not at all, because it was an action survival thing, its just a mini-game so its not that creative dude. If you want CoD zombies, just play your old CoD games, dont expect a generic shooter here.

    • Hybrilynx

      i hate lazy people. lazy people is why homeless people still exist and so many other bad things in life. which includes boring games lacking content. lacking, content.

    • Nice Ness

      ok i will tell you thats an ignorant way to think, its not an insult its just the truth, yes lazy people dont really help the situations but they dont make it worse, they aren’t to blame for the worlds problems, yes you can hate us, but dont blame problems on the lazy people because we neither cause it nor do we make it worse, and laziness isn’t to blame for lack of content, Games like thing a milked out every year so you can blame them for not having the time or deciedeing against putting it in. Lazy is a nuetral party so please do not be ignorant like that

    • Nice Ness

      too put my comment in a nutshell cause i cant see it right now…Stop being ignorant, lazy people like me dont cause the problems but we dont help solve them, so dont be ignorant, you can hate us, but do it with facts not with ignorance

    • Nice Ness

      And videogames are just interactive movies, so basicly your doing the same things with movies and games, except games you control the main character of the game, you really need to fix your out-look on this :O

    • Co-Wink-Key dink inc

      Why do they have to explain voice chat and that, if we already know it’s the standard?

    • http://profiles.google.com/xdavidxhoylexx David Hoyle

      the dsi can have voice chat. the point is, its useless only for people on your friends list. nintendo, or people that make games on a nintendo console, always does things soft, i cant tell if this will be the same too. if i cant hear people wine about dying becuz they suck and say hey this guy is good im glad hes on my team, its not going to be very fun.

    • Co-Wink-Key dink inc

      Your comment makes no sense

    • LaLaLa

      Meh, he just wants the wii u to have voice chat while playing a game.

    • BellaKazza

      You know what makes me sad? Stupidity.
      And you make me really, Really, REALLY sad.

    • rockytem

      uuum… people watch movies for the same reason people play games; to escape from alternate reality. games cost more because they’re like interactive movies and usually take longer to finish than movies.

    • Co-Wink-Key dink inc

      There really more completed than movies, though movies tend to spend more than in video games, which is why the CG can’t compete much to the movies

  • KarjamP

    On the bright side, at least he’s not talking negatively about Nintendo this time. :P

  • http://www.facebook.com/martin.kearney.104 Martin Kearney

    Acually, if the Wii U games were $50 inastead of $60, you pay less for a better game (when I say that, I’m talking about 3rd party ports like Assasin’s Creed 3, Mass Effect 3, Batman etc.

    • http://PolyKhromeGames.blogspot.com/ Brian Lockett

      If Nintendo markets the Wii U that way, bringing out this very point, I think that’d help make the Wii U even more attractive.

    • Kaizar

      The Wii U games will most likely be $30 to $50 each with most being $50 at first, but later you will see a lot at $40 and evn enough at $30.

      Like how 3DS games are release at $20 to $40.

      Nintendo has definitely been learning from the 3DS, which explains the Launch Titles being so ridiculously GOOD!

      The 25 GB Compact Disc are not Blu-Ray, so they don’t own Sony anything…..and if it’s Nintendo’s own 25 GB Disc, then the price will definitely be $30 to $50, bu mostly to completely $50 each at launch.

      THIRD POWER!

    • Kaizar

      And even though PS3 & 360 games cost $50, you got to remember those systems release back then, when it use to cost so much more to produce 25 GB dDisc then it does now in 2012.

      SHABLAGOO!

    • This guy

      I read that it is a blueray disk but they just call it something elce

    • Tails the Foxhound

      That’s essentially what’s going on, yes.

    • http://PolyKhromeGames.blogspot.com/ Brian Lockett

      Interesting consideration, but I think you’re missing a few things there.

      First off, Sony doesn’t own Blu-ray solely–Blu-ray is an initiative owned by several major companies called the Blu-ray Disc Association. Actually, it was MIT that actually invented the format, and it’s been with support of several big companies has the standard been driven. Sony is among the several companies with a part in Blu-ray standard, and they as one of the biggest electronics company in the world with their stake in the Blu-ray standard just have been one of the earliest and biggest promoters of it. So even if Nintendo did use the Blu-ray brand, it wouldn’t be Sony they’d be paying money to–it’s be the whole Blu-ray initiative, which includes Sony, but which also includes the likes of Sharp, Panasonic, Pioneer, and LG Electronics. Keep in mind that both GameCube and Wii discs were built by Nintendo partnering with Panasonic as their manufacturer, so money’s already going to someone on that board of Blu-ray founders.

      Also, since Nintendo does not actually make their disc formats 100% by themselves, Nintendo doesn’t own the disc format themselves solely, exactly–they partner with a manufacturer (again, Panasonic) to produce the discs for their company, and their manufacturing partner gets part of the money they make on the discs. Nintendo designs the consoles, but companies like Foxconn and Panasonic manufacture their console designs.

      But, in any case, while disc media do affect the price of games, it’s not the discs themselves are not what largely determine the price of the games anymore–nowadays, it’s the cost of game development that increases the cost of games. The cost of development will be on the same level and somewhat more than that of current consoles. In fact, it’s been a major concern with the entire gaming industry in recent years. Games are expected to cost about $60 million on average to produce a major-title game in this upcoming next generation of HD games, and several developers are already feeling the pinch with current-generation games.

      What makes these games cost so much more is that the bigger the games are, the more you either need to spend more time on making it, or more money on people to get the game out sooner. An MMO will easily cost you $100 million–and that’s a conservative estimate. The major PS3 title “God of War III” cost a whopping $44 million and three years of development, and it didn’t even use half of PS3′s total power. So imagine how much it costs for a game trying to utilize most of the (stronger console) Wii U’s power? Developers take huge gambles in games. There’s more reason to trust that $60 will be the price of a AAA Wii U game, while $30-50 might go towards less-than-AAA games (since, sadly, there’s bound to be a good deal of cheaply-developed family-targeted shovelware on Wii U, anyways). But for “core” titles, as HD console games demand more and more content, the $60 price is likely staying.

      Finally, one can’t really compare the price model system of Nintendo’s console with how they go about pricing their handheld games, just for the simple fact that handheld games are far smaller in terms of game development scope and game media costs. Plus, they price it towards the expectation that paying $50 for a handheld game is ridiculous.

      When it comes to their consoles, for their AAA titles, Nintendo goes with the norm in pricing. All GameCube games were the same price as PS2 and Xbox games. Wii was different, in that it had games not up to the same level of game development costs as a PS3 and Xbox 360 game, so naturally, it could still afford to sell its games at $50. But now, with Wii U, you’re dealing with a console that’ll have games with (at least) slightly more content than PS3 and Xbox 360 games. You can expect it to keep that price tag for its biggest games, and really, I don’t think we can ever expect AAA console games to ever go lower than $60 again.

    • http://PolyKhromeGames.blogspot.com/ Brian Lockett

      That’s it–I’m taking a LOONG break from commenting. I hate making long posts.

    • Kaizar

      You shouldn’t hate a good post you make no matter what the length.

      And I just got a list from GameStop for upcoming Wii U games and some of them are confirmed at $29.99 & $39.99, but the rest of the prices I can’t confirmed until September or October or November, but the other games were listed with such prices as $49.99 & 3 of them currently say $59.99 & a lot of them still say $99.99.

      But with the 3DS having $20 to $40 on release, I think the Wii U will be $30 to $50, and we already have confirmation of $30 & $40 Wii U games and I think there will be $50 as well.

      Nintendo did say that they are learning from the 3DS on how to handle the Wii U with us customers.

      It’s a good thing that 2 to 8 GB cartridges have become so cheap to produce now, and same goes for 25 GB disc in the year 2012, which is why Capcom sold Resident Evil: Revelations at $40 for a 4 GB Cartrdige.

      MINT BERRY CRUNCH!

    • http://PolyKhromeGames.blogspot.com/ Brian Lockett

      I think you bring up some interesting consideration. Though, I bet those $30 to $40 games on Wii U are the games you can expect to cost that much–the more casual/family-targeted like SiNG and Wii U Fit, the games that are already long out on other consoles like Batman: Arkham City and Mass Efect, and the quickly-developed launch games like ZombiU and Nintendoland. I think it’s safe to say that the heavier-hitting major titles at launch–
      Pikmin 3, Project P-100 and Rayman Legends–will cost a full $60.

      Though, while Nintendo did say they’re learning from the mistakes made with the 3DS, from what I read, they were talking about about the pricing of the console and the needing to have good games early on for Wii U, rather than saying anything about the price of games. Notice that while the actual 3DS’ handheld system itself got a price cut, its game prices didn’t. 3DS games were about $40 (for a major title) at launch, and they’re still $40 (for a major title) today.

      I agree about the cost of the game media being cheaper and being a good thing. That allows Nintendo to sell a game cheaper without making the cost of the disc a high reason for the cost of the game. But still, it seems that game development costs have taken the place of the reason for keeping that extra $10 more on our major-titled games.

    • Tails the Foxhound

      You said what I was going to say (somewhere in there), but better. ;_; Why do people keep making me irrelevant/redundant.

    • http://PolyKhromeGames.blogspot.com/ Brian Lockett

      You’re not irrelevant. ;)

  • VioletFox

    I would be overjoyed if games stayed 50 dollars.

  • RequiredName

    Correction: STUPID people believe it’s worth more. But then stupid people also take complete assholes’ words as valid news worth reporting on, or even listening to. Though if the idea is that he’s a raving lunatic we need to watch out for because this “Mike” character we’re supposed to know thinks he’s so self-important that his opinion matters, then an ounce of precaution helps. Also, mobile games are just crappy flash games. They suck. REAL video gaming requires a dedicated platform to genuinely respect the medium.

  • Ice Climbers

    Pachter is really stupid.

  • Kushi

    in the UK we pay pretty much the same price for all games no matter what console, so all this fuss seems incredible silly

  • Guhtere

    This guy should die in a fire

    • Enigma

      Hahaha. Why?

    • Co-Wink-Key dink inc

      Because he sucks

  • Emblem

    It also depends what game it is. I’m willing to pay 60$ for Aliens Colonial Marines but not for a port like Darksiders 2.

  • YayGs

    I think some games may cost $50 and some may be $60. I hated that 360 and ps3 games were $60, even when most of the PC versions were still $50 (earlier on, as we see now many multiplatform PC games are $60). There are a lot of games that aren’t deserving of the $60 price…

  • ddddd

    Games on WiiU will be at least as costly to make as current gen games and perhaps even more because of the stronger hardware base (even if they are quick ports). The prices will have to rise to give devs some profit.

    • Kaizar

      It’s just as easy & affordable to make games for the Wii U as it is for the 360, despite the Wii U having way way more power in everything.

      WE THE BEST! FOREVER!

  • csaw

    The cost of the game should depend on the quality and content of a game. If a game has alot of content and took the studio alot of resources to make then it should be priced higher. I think smaller games, and especially new ips have a better chance of succeeding if they are priced lower.

  • Enigma

    This is old news.

  • Diamond Ammo

    it should depend on how much it costed to make the game

  • Co-Wink-Key dink inc

    I guess he just want’s to spend on more of his “Pach Cash”
    or Rich people want to spend more

  • Armageddon

    this guy is gay af. why would nintendo be making a mistake. nintendo always does awesome with their decisions

  • Galaxy

    He claimed that the Wii U “won’t work” so why is he giving pricing advice to something that “won’t work” ?

    • http://twitter.com/YuriWhitehall Yuri Whitehall

      i think he’s trying to make a jab at it since there are rumors of next gen game prices rising (these rumors go from 70-100) so he’s trying to say Wii U games will only be worth that much

  • rockytem

    lol! if nintendo wanted to stay in the gaming market, then they’d have enough sense to keep the games at $50. I’m not saying the multi-plats have to stay at $50 because that would push all sales onto the wii u when consumers are given that choice which will make it seem a bit bias. but yeah, nintendo would be ever so wise if they do the opposite of what michael fuckface says.

  • Marc

    Ah Patcher, you have no basics understanding of Economics.

  • Antiform47

    Even if nintendo makes them 60 its not because they believe consumers will think its more valuable. Because why should nintendo care if the buyer thinks its slightly better quality BEFORE they buy it? Its more likely that more buyers would choose the cheaper game anyways, so making it 50 would give them a competitive edge. The reasoning for the games bieng $60(if they are) that patcher believes dosent make sense.

  • Oolan

    And patcher’s life is worth about nada the guy probably sucks a dick while making his rants or whatever

    • RETLAW545

      Jjjjjj

  • LaLaLa

    Patcher should just shut up and get a real job and stop saying Trololololo to everything he hears about!

  • Ryushi

    I somewhat agree and disagree, I mean because the Wii games just didn’t give you as much content as the other versions (when versions like the PS3 and 360 versions, and PC were available) on games like Call of Duty. We always got the short end of the deal, probably because Wii versions just didn’t sell as well; but on the other hand — some Wii games had absolutely stellar sales (Mario Galaxies, Tatsunoko vs Capcom, Smash Bros, etc, etc). But, now the Wii U games are being bumped up above the 360 and PS3 versions (if versions came out for those consoles as well), so $60 for a game with more content than the other versions would actually be a great deal. But, then again if the price remains at $50, sales would most likely increase that much more, I see 360 games that are priced at $50, maybe slightly less, get off the shelves faster than you can say Black Friday.

  • Ryushi

    Oh, and yes I still despise you Pachter, lol.

  • cutefan

    Games really didn’t go up that much my dad paged 40$ for zelda new when he was young

  • Startus

    Who has any respect for Michael Pachter anymore? (Sony Drones and Xbots, maybe). He is the guy that said the Wii would fail at launch “Guaranteed”.

  • EddKupo

    See, the thing about Nintendo is that they know what they’re doing. The cheaper the games, the more buys they’ll make and the more money they’ll get.