Faperture Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 In a recent interview with Rock, Paper, Shotgun, GOG.com's Managing director Guillaume Rambourg and marketing head Trevor Longino try to make the case that Steam's practice of discounting games actually hurts developers in the long run. The duo questions the frequent sales on Steam, adding that heavy discounting also sends the wrong message to gamers."Selling games at too high a discount - one often sees discounts above 80 percent off here and there - sends a message to gamers: this game, simply put, isn't worth very much," the pair said. "Of course you make thousands and thousands of sales of a game when it's that cheap, but you're damaging the long-term value of your brand because people will just wait for the next insane sale. Slashing the price of your game is easy. Improving the content of your offer when you release your game, that's more ambitious."Rambourg continued by saying that his focus is on convincing gamers to spend their money on games when they are released by adding value."Heavy discounts are bad for gamers, too," he said. "If a gamer buys a game he or she doesn't want just because it's on sale, they're being trained to make bad purchases, and they're also learning that games aren't valuable. We all know gamers who spend more every month on games than they want to, just because there were too many games that were discounted too deeply. That's not good for anyone."Rambourg admitted that one thing Steam's sales do is convince people who are unsure about a certain product to give it a try because the risk is a lot lower. At the end of the day he hopes for some kind of happy medium between the two extremes.http://gamepolitics.com/2012/04/12/gog-steams-discounting-practices-hurt-gamers-devalue-gamesThis interview kind of pisses me off. I've been fed up on paying full retail on games for a long time. I recently sold 123 games on craigslist for $600. Most of which were bought brand new at $60. Sure, I could have sold each individually, but by the time I was done, I would have gotten maybe a few hundred more and wasted way too much time with shipping and meeting people on craigslist. Not only that, only the good would sell first, leaving me stuck with the crappy ones that no one wants. So yeah, I know the value of my games very well. Less than 10% of what I originally paid for them.The only part of this interview he actually makes any sense is the bottom, which is exactly why we love sales. It gets us to buy a crappy game we probably would have paid full retail on and been pissed off about. (Brink)/rant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeeKnuckle Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 I saw that you were thinking about writing up something about that article. Glad you did, and I'm glad you shared it, here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floppy Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 I love Steam sales and will defend them with my life if need be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dateranoth Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Guess it doesn't count with their old games?http://www.gog.com/promo/interplay_blast?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=game_subject&utm_campaign=interplay_blast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skylark95 Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Despite how much I like GOG... I really have to disagree with this statement... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faperture Posted April 13, 2012 Author Share Posted April 13, 2012 Guess it doesn't count with their old games?http://www.gog.com/p...interplay_blastI know, right? Guess I should start making "smarter" game buying choices and not buy my games from them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeeKnuckle Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 lol Dat. I just got that email and laughed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dateranoth Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 lol I know. Like I said though. It obviously doesn't count if you are taking old games, slightly reworking them, and selling them at a profit. I love GoG.com but the guy needs to get off his soapbox. I agree that they should make quality games. People that want them will buy at release and the others will wait for a sale. It's like this with tons of merchandise and games should be no different. I get irritated when they try to place games movies music etc in a different category. Old merchandise is old merchandise. The further from its release the cheaper it will be. Aside from a few types of collectors and antique items. Just because a digital game is never 'used' doesn't mean it should hold its value forever. Hell GoG.com is a shiny example of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeeKnuckle Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 I had just finished reading this great article, too.http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2012/04/opinion-kohler-video-expensive/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dateranoth Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 That was a good article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avahra Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 ""If a gamer buys a game he or she doesn't want just because it's on sale, they're being trained to make bad purchases"lol sounds like a personal problem, not something that is trained. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faperture Posted April 14, 2012 Author Share Posted April 14, 2012 I had just finished reading this great article, too.http://www.wired.com...ideo-expensive/I LOVE this article. Finally someone who makes some sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevnvek Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 I LOVE this article. Finally someone who makes some sense.Agreed, very good read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skylark95 Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 That article pk posted was one of the best I have ever read on the gaming industry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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