Video Game Prices Should Be Lowered, $60 Is Too Much

"Games are too expensive and the industry would benefit from lower price points" -Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim director Todd Howard. But I do think industry-wide we would benefit from more games out at $19 or $29. I would try more games. Because I'm not going to try a game for $60. It's a tough decision. Especially with big games like Call of Duty, Battlefield, and Assassins Creed happening within short succession of each other (all within a month or two), there is no way the average American has the salary to afford all of these titles; or maybe even two depending on their income.

Thank you, Dbh32, for starting this unique debate. I would like to welcome you to DDO, and hope that you stick around for a while. Let's begin.

We live in a free market economy in which prices are set by supply and demand. Video game retailers set the prices to the point where they believe they will receive the most total profit from the sale of the video games. They most certainly put in a lot of research into determining this magic price because of the tremendous impact it can have on their profit margin, so it's a safe bet to say that they know the right prices better than me or my opponent.

It is true that one would not want to try out a game for $60, but one doesn't have to purchase a game to try it out. Video game rentals are available [1], and demos for some games can be downloaded via online services [2]. One could also play a game at a friend's house to decide whether or not the game is worth its listed price.

My opponent accurately points out that people would, on the whole, buy more games if they were cheaper, but it is unlikely that they would buy sufficiently more games to cover the drop in price. To use my opponent's example list, if the prices of those games were dropped to $20, some people may buy one, others may buy two, and a few may buy all three, but this would still result in less total profit to the video game developers. Most people simply don't have the time to play three new video games at once, so they only have the need to buy a single game, no matter the price. Determining the exact price to maximize profit would depend on a thorough analysis of the games' exact demand line, further complicated by the substitution effect, but as I said before, the developers understand the demand for their video games more than we ever could.

In conclusion, the video game developers set the price, and they know what they're doing, so we should defer to their current decisions for the prices of their goods.

Good luck, Dbh32.

1. http://www.gamefly.com...
2. http://www.escapistmagazine.com...

Extend all arguments. I hope my opponent posts his next round. It would be a shame for him to leave so soon.

Sadly, my opponent has yet again failed to respond. He best do so soon.

Well, this is a shame.

That's all, folks.