Do you find that the episodes are cheap - pricewise?

[taumel]

I just got thinking about this when i read the thread Sergei started and Emily said that the game is cheap.

Actually 6*$9=$54 which is more than the price of a average game here. Buying each episode only makes sense for those who aren't sure about game or if you can't afford the game at once.

It only looks cheap if you buy the whole season at once which makes $35. But then you still don't have a CD with the whole game on it, so you have to add the shipping costs to this sum which makes maybe another $10 (what are shipping costs to europe?) which gives $45 (or $64 altough i don't know if it will be possible at all) which would be a avergage price for a game here.

Without this you still won't have a CD, a booklet, only some files on your harddisk. Doesn't look cheap to me and weren't we once told by almost all game studios that as soon as their chunk of the cake is getting bigger they also would lower the prices?

Well, looking at the numbers i don't see this happening...

And beside of this TTG has the advantage of more than one distribution channel. GameTap Deal/Sales, TTG online sales (with all the benefits like lying much longer on the shelf), later on traditional reseller once the cd is ready? With some further investment the console versions.

Looks like a cash cow to me if you have a game which is doing well.

I don't grudge them their success but "cheap" actually looks different to me.


Regards,

taumel

[JK1985]

Well in Sweden $54 is just little under average game price... New PC games often costs over 400 SEK and that is about $58. So in my eyes even $54 for 6 episodes is quite cheap
//
JK

[numble]

I wouldn't include shipping into a price evaluation--buy a regular-priced game here ($45-$49) and it also includes shipping cost (total $55-$59). And if you want to factor in whatever is making it a "cash cow," shipping costs do not factor into profit margins. A $2 CD will still cost the same money to ship as would a $70 CD.

The main knock on episodic gaming has been that the total price of all episodes game ends up costing more than the price of an average game. The Season Price offer has thrown that argument out the window, so it is cheap compared to Half-Life episodes that cost $20 each (3 episodes are less than a full game, yet cost more at $60). It's true you could buy them 6 * $9, but that upgrade offer is still there so anybody who buys them each individually would kind of be foolish not to go for the season deal once they've bought 4 episodes individually (4 * 9 = $36). So most people end up either playing 1-3 episode for $9 each or six episodes for $35 (which translates to $5.83 per episode). A lot of people like to compare prices when judging value, so things are cheap/expensive if they can get a lot more/less for the same price. In America, $5.83 is about 2 gallons of gas, a meal at McDonald's, and cheaper than a movie ticket. It's a subjective call on whether you think that is cheap or expensive.

I actually am of the mindset that the Gametap deal allows Telltale to sell at the lower, more palatable price--look at the initial pricing for the Bone episodes and Texas Hold Em, the games that Telltale made without a co-publisher giving them funding--Bone was initially priced at $20 an episode (later $12.99) and you still have to pay $5 more for the CD versions (shipping also extra). Texas Hold Em costs $12.99 as well. In comparison, Sam and Max appears cheap to my eyes.

Though I do agree (and feel) that they're probably making lots of money.

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Edit:
On rereading my post, my reactions are this: Wow, that's a very rambly post--I guess it's late... I hope nobody insults the sentences that run on and on in my second paragraph...

[Rasher]

I happen to think that the episodes are great value for money. This value comes from the fact that I enjoy playing the games and that they make me laugh. I find myself looking forward to each episode.

Yes, the games are short and sometimes way too easy. So what? I enjoyed every minute that I was playing each episode and even find myself singing the Ted E Bear song Can't put a price on that.

I got the whole season for $35, that is about the price of a game. If I had the enite game, I would probably have finished it and set it aside by now.

[Hero1]

Well in Australia games are basically $100. $35 US for the season works out about $45.. Its absolute great value here for us Aussies.. $6 an episode considering everything that goes into making a game is a great price.. more value for episodes like culture shock over episode 3 tho

[EwanV]

With the current exchange rates It works out as something like £20 in the UK and the average game new costs £30-35.

If you don't want to buy the whole series you don't have to spend more than a few dollars to find that out.

Besides which your missing the point,
1. I like adventure games
2. You like adventure games (or you wouldnt be here)
3. Nobody else is making adventure games
4. If you want publishers to start making adventure games again this has to be a success so you have to buy it at any price.

[taumel]

Well, a few things:

a) A price always is relative to how enjoyable and how long i can play. So if comparing to other episodic games i would say that Sam&Max might be the cheapest one(?) but it is also the one where i played the shortest timeframe.

b) Secondly i for sure would include shipping costs as i simply compare to what do i get when i walk a few minutes to my local store. What do i have to pay there to get a full packaged cd/dvd and what do i have to pay here to get the same? And if i do get less how much cheaper is this in comparisson? And here i don't feel that a "cheap" price tag is valid.

c) Cheap also is very relative depending on where you life in the world. The same price in russia for sure is much more expensive as the price might appear in europe or the usa.

And as they get much more out of the cake i wonder why the prices are equal to even beeing higher here than if i would have bought the game in a store to the usual price.

[EwanV]

And as they get much more out of the cake i wonder why the prices are equal to even beeing higher here than if i would have bought the game in a store to the usual price.

That ones simple economics.

Telltale are small, they wont sell millions of units, so they require a higher profit margin to stay in business.

[taumel]

Well, they might be a small (30 people?) team compared to larger or big productions but selling in the net isn't about that and they are getting a lot of reviews on- and offline about the game. Actually as it's episodic they get much more advertising this way than if the game would be released as a single full game.

I think their site get's good traffic too and even if this wasn't the case there still are a lot of options to reach more users through the well known game portals (didn't i see Texas Hold'em on Reflexive too?) or distribution channels. I don't see them in the need begging for money...

By the way are there any stats around about sold copies so far?

But don' get me wrong. I'm very happy that they are around with this game. I just don't feel that it's cheap...

[EwanV]

Not all of the reviews are good.

PC Format (UK Magazine) just awarded culture shock the "Most Disapointing Game" prize in their annual game awards.

I thought that was a little harsh, especially as the whole complaint was that on the whole they think the episodes are too short and the games too easy.

[Harald B]

$36 is roughly €27.50 while most games sell a few euros short of €50 around here. Even with the sucker-punch tax (this is the first time I've had to pay sales tax on any overseas purchase) and the shipping I'll be paying later on it's a good deal. I wouldn't call it outrageously cheap, but it's definitely good value for money.

[MrSneeze]

$54-$64 is actually cheaper than recently released games here in the UK, and it may be equivalent to a Saturday's night out. Therefore $36 is almost "budget price". Hooray for weak currencies .

[abdallah]

No I think its a bargain. Im very happy about the prices.

[Yohmi]

In France, the price of a PC game is between $65 and $78 so for me it's a very cheap game regarding to the price and a console game, for next gen, is $92... so 35$ for 6 games of 3 to 4 hours is a great deal for me

[Maratanos]

Originally Posted by EwanV

With the current exchange rates It works out as something like £20 in the UK and the average game new costs £30-35.

If you don't want to buy the whole series you don't have to spend more than a few dollars to find that out.

Besides which your missing the point,
1. I like adventure games
2. You like adventure games (or you wouldnt be here)
3. Nobody else is making adventure games
4. If you want publishers to start making adventure games again this has to be a success so you have to buy it at any price.

#3 is wrong. Some companies still do make adventure games. Cyan Worlds of Spokane Washington certainly does...

Originally Posted by EwanV

And as they get much more out of the cake i wonder why the prices are equal to even beeing higher here than if i would have bought the game in a store to the usual price.

That ones simple economics.

Telltale are small, they wont sell millions of units, so they require a higher profit margin to stay in business.

Simple economics, eh?

Bad economics more like.

The economic law of supply tells us that since Telltale will have a lower Qs (quantity supplied) they will end up selling at a LOWER price.

[Haggis]

I'd say $54 is a bit on the pricey side. Most games on Direct2Drive are 50 dollars or less, including such smash hits as Oblivion. $35 however, is a bargain, compared to what PC games in brick-and-mortar stores are going for... and the Euro-Dollar exchange rate is a nice incentive for the folks on this side of the pond to just jump in and buy the season.

As for CDs, I don't care about those very much - they just take up space, and all you really need to play is a copy of the game on your hard disk.

[Hero1]

I don't understand the appeal of a cd at all.. I've already got the episodes on my hard drive..I could burn those files on to a disc if I wanted to.. why do I need to be sent a cd as well?

[MrSneeze]

It's the principle of the thing. If it's in a physical format, then the thing instantly is more valuable (to some subconsciously, to others consciously - and, of course, to others it doesn't make a difference).

I know I personally would prefer a CD version of it rather than a digital one (or even a CDr one), and having considered the option of a digital over a physical release myself in the past (that's a different story altogether), I came to the conclusion that there are more people out there who'd prefer a physical copy than a digital one (researched). Maybe it's because it "requires more effort on whichever company's part" making it appear there's more value for money.

Anyway, I don't want to be restricted by the authorisation code forever, which requires an internet connection & the authorisation code handy. Pff!

[Lysandus]

I think the price is pretty decent. For their length, the games are incredibly content heavy. After all, you can't just add some more corridors or drop in some more monsters to lengthen the game, as you can do in most other genres of games. Personally I doubt they even have that high of a profit margin on the Sam & Max games at all.

[AdamG]

I find the price to be alright, but at the same time I also desire more content. If they increased the cost for one episode to $12.50 and for a whole season of 6 episodes to $59.99, I would be willing to pay it. For those who can't afford it, or for the young audience, the price would get cheaper several months later as it always does.