Gaming: The Wallet Drainer
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If a CD takes two cents to make, why does it cost $60? And why do
cartriges, at the manufacturing price of $2, cost the same amount? It's all in the industry
standings. Think about it. Nintendo can still afford to make cartrige games because they so totally dominated the industry for so many years. The NES, SNES, GB, and N64 have all -- at one point for the N64 -- overrun their competitors, both here and in the Japan. Talk about 8-bit gaming, and the first thing to pop into gamers' minds is the NES. Similar for the 16-bit world and handhelds. And ask about 32-bit? The uninformed will often say, "Oh, they destroyed the PSX and Saturn. Just look at that-- twice the bits!" Now, let's look at the Sony side of things. Since they're the relative newcomers, they need to cut down on manufacturing costs. End of story. And also, they need to charge more. Look at the PSY. A $350 estimated launch price? $70 for a game? That's just because of the SGI components and DVD technology, respectively. If you want the glitz, you'll need to pay. Sega almost always was the first to come out with the new technology: color portable gaming with the Game Gear, 16 bits with the Genesis, and 32 bits with the Saturn. And now, their savior, the Dreamcast. With a relatively low launch cost ($199) and more for less (I'm talking about the GDs here), they don't seem like the kind of company that has to raise money quick, out of fear of going bankrupt. They're just being competitive, and wisely too. Think about it. If you can get good gaming for less money than an equally good game from a different company, you'll buy the cheaper one. And where's Atari in all of this? Dead. No matter how much you love your Lynx or Jaguar (loser), you'll have to face facts someday...... :^) |
Related Pages: Rants The Nintendo Supersite The Sega Supersite |