super_monty wrote:
InfiniteStates wrote:
Kogia_breviceps wrote:
...leaves you at the mercy of companies like Microsoft & Sony fixing prices...
OMG how difficult is it to grasp - it's the publisher of the game (e.g. EA, Activision, etc) that price it. Why are people so hung up on the hardware manufacturers setting these prices? It makes no sense... But then people also seem incapable of differentiating between developers and publishers, despite them having very different roles in the games industry.
It's very easy yo understand Sony and Microsoft can refuse to put it up so are enforcing the high price fixing.
But why should they? It's not the place of a shop to interfere with the manufacturer's business. Sure, Sony could put it on the store for less and make up the difference to the publisher. But why should they take that financial hit? That would work out at some very expensive PR for little to no gain.
InfiniteStaes, your slightly aggressive and childish manner to discuss a topic aside, my main point and concern was not who sets the price, but that having only one point of purchase (as you do with download for consoles) leaves us (the customers) open to price fixing.
Having said that, as I said in my post, I do understand the reasons why it occurs (from what I have read, it has lots to do with how the game publishers get their games sold to other retailers). I was wrong to suggest it was Microsoft or Sony, although I am sure they could push for price reductions for us their customers were they to be so inclined.
Kogia_breviceps wrote:InfiniteStaes, your slightly aggressive and childish manner to discuss a topic aside, my main point and concern was not who sets the price, but that having only one point of purchase (as you do with download for consoles) leaves us (the customers) open to price fixing.
Childish and aggressive? You were the one to stoop to personal insults pal. Have a read around this board to see how many instances of Sony/M$ being (incorrectly) blamed for over priced download versions of retail games.
And I consider your main point moot - you are open to price fixing, no matter the number of purchase points...
I got bored looking after that, but no doubt I could go on. Price fixing in a non-essential service is counter-productive though, as people will choose alternatives (e.g. alternative forms of entertainment).
InfiniteStates, you still have a very aggressive manner, I'm not sure there's a need, we can discuss this normally, I think we are both adults. I also didn't make any personal insults, certainly not before you got aggressive and I'm not sure that suggesting someone has come into a discussion aggressively counts as a personal attack. Basically I'm trying to say 'calm down'. I try to enter into online forum conversations the same way I do with real life ones, ie not talking to the others involved as if they are idiots. Anyway, that's getting sidetracked.
You gave very good examples of price-fixing, but they sort of prove the point I was getting at. Those companies tried it, but nobody is forced to buy a car from a Volvo dealer, nor a Unilever product, you have a range of choices available, so price fixing by them can be avoided by the consumer. If you buy a sony download only device, as things currently stand you will have no choice or option of where to buy your games from, there is no escaping the fact that this will mean you won't get the best deals. It won't matter who sets the price, the game publishers or Sony itself, you won't get the deals that you can currently find from a range of retailers who all sell the product.
Not that all this really matters, in my experience web forums are not places you actually have successful conversations, people just tend to say their thing and rage at people who disagree, to avoid us getting into that I've said my piece, I won't add anything more. I'm not going off in a huff, I'll still read anything added, I've just grown tired of trying to have 'debates' on web forums in my old age. No personal insult intended.
Kogia_breviceps wrote:InfiniteStates, you still have a very aggressive manner, I'm not sure there's a need, we can discuss this normally, I think we are both adults. I also didn't make any personal insults, certainly not before you got aggressive and I'm not sure that suggesting someone has come into a discussion aggressively counts as a personal attack. Basically I'm trying to say 'calm down'. I try to enter into online forum conversations the same way I do with real life ones, ie not talking to the others involved as if they are idiots. Anyway, that's getting sidetracked.
Can you quote what prompted your "aggressive and childish" comment, just so we're on the same page, because I fail to see it? My reply to your post may have been a little stiff, but it wasn't specifically your fault. It was just the straw that broke the camel's back regarding misdirected anger in regards to pricing policies.
P.S: telling someone they are childish is a personal attack in my eyes. Unless they actually are a child of course 
Kogia_breviceps wrote:You gave very good examples of price-fixing, but they sort of prove the point I was getting at. Those companies tried it, but nobody is forced to buy a car from a Volvo dealer, nor a Unilever product, you have a range of choices available, so price fixing by them can be avoided by the consumer. If you buy a sony download only device, as things currently stand you will have no choice or option of where to buy your games from, there is no escaping the fact that this will mean you won't get the best deals. It won't matter who sets the price, the game publishers or Sony itself, you won't get the deals that you can currently find from a range of retailers who all sell the product.
I don't necessarily agree. Price fixing in a multi-point market requires co-operation amongst the vendors, else it doesn't work, exactly for the reason of consumer choice you've stated - it would just be one guy charging more than the others. But it's probably quite hard to bring price fixing charges against all parties involved, so it's only the unfortunate or sloppy that get named and shamed in the news.
But I think what you mean is not price fixing, but a monopoly. Which is indeed bad for the consumer. But aren't they illegal? Maybe Sony and Microsoft would be forced to accomodate other vendors if the games industry did shift to a purely downloadable form...?
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