Those Bestseller Games mags were great. I got Monkey Island 2, Sam & Max Hit the Road, Knights of Xentar, Albion, Descent, Werewolf vs. Comance 2.0 and Might and Magic 4 & 5 from those mags. There were also compilations like Gold Games that got you 20+ games (most of them decent) for a reasonable price.

I knew exactly what that was going to be before clicking on the link...

The DLCs for Fallout 3 cost $10 each if this wiki is correct, and there were 5 DLCs, so a total of $50. The main game cost $50 or so, which meant you had to pay $100 to get everything at launch.

The Season Pass is pretty much the bulky DLC stuff we used to get in the past, and instead of buying 5 DLCs separately as with Fallout 3, you get them all in one deal at a discount...well, hopefully a discount.

So I'm more annoyed if there's no Season Pass or packaged deal.

I'm of the opinion that it's useless complain about DLC,Season Pass (ecc..) and their ridicolous prize if people continue to buy them because they doesn't really care how much they pay for adding content in a single game;I know that's sad but that's the truth

The problem I see is that some DLC are actually things we used to unlock in games like alternate costumes etc. Expansions used to be something worth buying. Nowadays with season passes you only get some new maps or some rehashed environements.
It's a shame really.

You are absolutely right! That's sad that many people (expecially the young players who,for obvious reason,doesn't know much about the period before DLC,Pre-orders ecc..) still doesn't care much about

There won't be gold-diggers if there aren't any gold-givers (men who are so desperate for sex that they would spend thousands upon thousands of dollars on a woman to "hopefully" get laid).


Same analogy can be applied to game prices.

Game prices won't be so much if people stopped buying games at release day prices or pre-ordering them.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about all of this myself. On the one hand I'd like to see games reasonably priced and any additional future content reasonably priced too, but what "reasonably" means varies greatly from person to person also.

On the other hand, the business side of my brain thinks that if a company charges a certain amount of money for a non-necessity product of some sort (games, entertainment products, hockey pucks, whatever) and enough of a market for that product out there is willing to pay that price because they perceive they get an experience greater than the value the money they're expending to receive it, then there is an argument that the product is worth that as valued by the marketplace as a whole.

Sometimes I think the second option is true for a given game, but am also disappointed by the high price tag even if it is justifiable for what a company put into R&D and what they expect people are willing to pay for the experience. Talk about being torn!

But, ultimately I have a maximum cap on what I will actually spend on any one game, and I almost never buy just-released games for full price because I just don't want to spend that kind of money for a single game. I made an exception for the first time in 8+ years and bought The Witcher 3 pre-release a week before its release both to support the company and because I was particularly excited about it, but also because the new release price was ridiculously low for me compared to any other games I might have been interested in. I got it for around $38 IIRC, which is ridiculous cheap for a brand new game of that epic stature really. I definitely tip my had to CDPR and GOG for that, and I will buy CDPRs games pre-release in similar form in the future as a result.

But yeah, I balk at $60 let alone $70/80/90 or more for a game with or without bonus features and with or without season passes or pewter figurines hand painted by aardvarks in low earth orbit or whatever. Just don't care about that kind of fluff stuff. Instead of getting worked up about it though I just say "not for me at that price" and leave such games on my wishlist for future re-examination. When their prices come down significantly enough and enter my own personal "reasonable zone" then I might buy them, and if their prices don't come down for a while that's ok too because ultimately it means the game must actually be really good to be able to sustain a high price and continue to have market interest to be profitable, so I know when I do get it down the line it'll likely be absolutely amazing. Additionally, the longer I hold out for such titles, usually some hardware upgrades and whatnot happen over time too so by the time I get such a game, my computer is more powerful to play it much higher resolution with more eye candy and performance.

Also, on a few occasions a crazy expensive game has come out and by holding out, I managed to get lucky and win it in a long shot on sites like steamgifts or similar just as a fluke, or received it as an unexpected gift from a friend or community member etc. So in those cases I just got very fortunate luck of the draw so to speak. :)

There is one positive thing to note though, is that there are very very few games out there that can truly keep a high price tag for a prolonged period of time. The Batman series of games are a good example of games that do not keep a high price for very long. :)

Unfortunately, I think Fallout 4 is one of those games that will be able to pull off the high-price thing for a long time as Bethesda's flagships tend to be extremely popular and cult-follower-growing. I'm a member of the cult too, but a cheapo member of the cult so I'm holding off on Fallout 4 for probably a few years as I have all the other Fallout games to play still. In 1/2/3/4 years it'll be on sale bundled with all the DLC etc. for $10 or less likely and I'll finally cave and get it. :)

I definitely feel torn about these games and their pricing though for sure.

Yes. The DLC is just there to help you pretend that inflation doesn't exist.

Yeah, it depends on the individual and their own motivations, disposable income and other factors of course, but when we look at all of the digital download distributors in 2015 and the vast numbers of reasonably priced games they offer now and the level of extreme convenience most of them are made available, they have seriously tipped the value proposition heavily in favour of buying games for a reasonable price largely nowadays. This isn't an all or nothing black and white statement of course. Individual games at a given instant in time may or may not qualify against my statement for individual players and their circumstances and desire to play a particular title.

For my own circumstances and gaming desires though, I find incredible value being able to buy hundreds of games for $3 or less, or $5 or less or $10 or less or whatever I deem reasonable for a particular title or bundle of some sort, and being able to download it and install it relatively hassle free most of the time, get all the bonus goodies that might come with the games, and get automatic updates or manual updates at the push of a button and know that I have the latest version. All without risk of inadvertently having viruses or other malware dumped onto my system like the majority of pirated games/software and/or their cracks and keygens etc. out there invariably does to people. In my eyes most people would rather pay $3/5/10 or whatever for a game than to go through hours/days/weeks of problems because of malware and possibly have to reinstall their system.

Not to mention that most pirated games these days if I understand correctly do not have functional multiplayer components, limiting their usefulness to those who desire such functionality. Another case where it is just worth it to spend a few bucks to have a better and more capable experience IMHO.

I should also note that my opinion above does not even take in the concept of morals or ethics regarding piracy either. Rather I think that paying a reasonable price for a game gives one great value for the money returned in entertainment value and conveniences and by avoiding the various pitfalls and hassles prominent with pirated titles, and that that alone is a strong reason to buy games even if one waits for them to go on door-crasher sale first. It's just economically a good choice with the least headaches IMHO nowadays as a general rule.

GOG, Valve and other distributors know this though, and it is a huge part of their business models. They know that there will always be pirates out there, and that the "general rules" that I mention above wont apply to every person out there for example, but that the larger market as a whole more or less thinks this way and that's what stimulates game sales - putting out an overall quality customer experience where the customer individually sees value in spending the money for the conveniences and good experience returned without the risks of going the other route.

As for games that are too expensive, that's what wishlists and game backlogs are for. :)