What Kind of Value Should We Place on $.99 Cent Games?

[lockwoodx]

An article by game designer Ian Bogost takes a look at what type of value we attach to games, and how it relates to price. Inspiration for the article (http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4038/persuasive_games_i_want_my_99_.php) came from the complaint of a user who bought Bogost's latest game and afterward wanted a refund. The price of the game? 99 cents. Quoting:

"Games aren't generally like cups of coffee; they don't get used up. They don't provide immediate gratification, but ongoing challenge and reward. This is part of what Frank Lantz means when he claims that games are not media (http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4038/persuasive_games_i_want_my_99_.php). Yet, when we buy something for a very low price, we are conditioned to see it as expendable. What costs a dollar these days? Hardly anything. A cup of coffee. A pack of sticky notes. A Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger. A lottery ticket. Stuff we use up and discard. ... I contend that iPhone players are not so much dissatisfied as they are confused: should one treat a 99 game as a piece of ephemera, or as a potentially rich experience?"

.99 cent games to me are as valuable as they were entertaining. It's all in the eye of the beholder.

[bean19]

A game's value derives from it's quality. A 99 cent piece of garbage is both a waste of time and a waste of money. A 99 cent game that is fun to play is worth far more than what the person paid for it.

[sixtyfps]

Didja know .99 cents is less than one cent? People scowl at individual pennies; what would they do if present with fractions thereof?

[Rambilin]

Somewhat unrelated but 7 Wonders II and Luxor 2 are only 99cents on steam this weekend. I'm not a big fan of puzzle games but for 99 cents that is a great value.

[speeder]

I have seen people leave negative reviews for free iPhone games. It wasn't that the game was bad, it was just that they did not enjoy it even though other people enjoyed it. That's something you would not see happen with a free cup of coffee.

[Sensei-X]

Somewhat unrelated but 7 Wonders II and Luxor 2 are only 99cents on steam this weekend. I'm not a big fan of puzzle games but for 99 cents that is a great value.

Thanks for the info, gifted both of them to my wife and she thinks they're great.

[Bargash]

I have seen people leave negative reviews for free iPhone games. It wasn't that the game was bad, it was just that they did not enjoy it even though other people enjoyed it. That's something you would not see happen with a free cup of coffee.

I dunno, I've had terrible free cups of coffee.

[Blade]

My brother and I had a discussion on the price of games yesterday.

Frankly, [game] pricing is an abstract. Most games ranging from 99 cents to $60 offer similar levels of value to different people under different circumstances.

[TeeCakes]

I'm a "don't judge a book by it's cover" type of gamer. Even though I've found a few titles in the bargain bin, they've ended up pleasantly surprising me at times. Although I have been caught unawares by a few stinkers that deserved the price reduction, also.