Letter from the Editor – What price Xbox One & PS4?

Let’s say, let’s just say that we like the games. We like the technological advances announced for the Xbox One and PS4. A more intuitive ability to connect with others quickly while playing, without interruption, is welcome. Let’s all agree now that being able to start playing a game we didn’t own a minute ago, on a whim, is something we expect to be able to do going forward. Processing power, graphics; yes please. None of this stuff has ever been in question. In fact core gamers and our more casual brethren have been very satisfied with the quality of console hardware and software for decades and will continue to be so in the eighth generation. So what is our problem? We gamers do have a problem with the industry. That’s just a fact. We’re extremely belligerent. We’ve developed a siege mentality. There is one reason and one reason alone. Others may cite a variety of factors but they, my friends, are tripping balls. It is solely, solely about money.

The industry is now filled with snake oil salesman and for no good reason because they are not selling snake oil. The product you are being sold is a good one. You want it. You want them to sell it to you. So why are our games consoles and the games made for them coming with lies and embellishments all the time? We are on the defence with every announcement made and have to pick through the slick smarm for the truth. Why? It’s because of the price point. Gamers are being up-sold and we don’t like it.

Let’s look at some examples where the reality of gamers’ very basic issues get clouded by grinning salesman, babbling on about shoe care protector spray and volcano insurance. The outspoken Hideki Kamiya tells us on Twitter that The Wonderful 101 focuses on fun, not length, and that if you don’t want to finish a game the day after you bought it then don’t buy his game. An online philosophical debate about the relevance of length to a game is hurriedly initiated by the game’s producer swerving away from the bald reality which is this: Platinum Games can make the game as short as they like, they just can’t charge full price for it, which is what they intend to do. Gamers love short and sweet gaming experiences, just not for 40 quid, that’s all.

Another example is the ‘always on’ issue, whether it’s the need for an internet connection for games like Diablo 3 or SimCity in order to have any meaningful experience with it, or to get reasonable functionality from a console. We are faced with a barrage of nonsensical doublespeak about it being ‘critical to the integrity of the experience’ or offline play not fitting with ‘the vision’. Microsoft Creative Director, Adam Orth was silenced by the company after he showed just how disconnected their staff are from their customers. He tweeted about his bemusement of  ‘the drama’ gamers are making about a console always needing to have an internet connection. We’ve to ‘get with the times’. We’ve got to #dealwithit. How about if you lived somewhere with a poor broadband connection, Adam? “Why on earth would I live there?” he tweeted before being promptly shown the door by his employers. The problem again is a starkly simple one. EA would not refund any customer for SimCity whether they could play it or not. Microsoft want you to pay them a subscription fee whether you can use their service consistently or not. If the cost to the consumer reflected the functionality of the product then gamers would have no issues with the industry. We are being up-sold and we don’t like it. That is our problem.

It’s not just the principle of the thing either. The world is in a massive economic slump. You probably noticed this when your local vegan delicatessen became a branch of Value Bastard or when you lost your job. Does the industry think we want to buy a grubby, fingerprint-smeared copy of the sequel to our favourite game, three weeks after it came out, with the plastic on the cover gone all cloudy? Those are the clouds of poverty, not greed. So how should games be priced then? Go look at the front page of Steam right now. Like that, okay? If games are going to be supplied in a digital format, so be it, but that means a dynamic and reactive economy needs to be implemented in those digital storefronts where flash sales, bundles and competing innovative business models can be tried out. PC games are flourishing, mobile is a boom industry, PlayStation Plus has become a real success story. Why? Because they are cheap and times are hard. The coming console generation can bring an end to our problem and dispel the siege mentality gamers now have against the industry. Stop selling us snake oil and start selling us games.

Kirsten Kearney
Editor