Sunday, November 13, 2011
How come the big three video game companies don't want me as a customer in the future?
I consider myself a gamer. I am 35. When I was 29 I remember hearing a statistic that the average gamer was 29 years old. Just a month ago I heard that the average age of a gamer is 35. I have grown up with video games. I have had(in order) a Pong, Atari 2600, Intellivision, Commodore 64, NES, Gameboy, SNES, Sega Genesis, Sega CD, N64, PSX, GCN, GBA, XBOX, PS2, and recently XBOX 360. Next purchase will be a Wii, and then a PS3. I have been hearing a lot of debate about digital distribution and the future of console gaming. I do not play online games. I prefer RPG'S, FPS(story or campaign mode), fighting games, and strategy games. Not every gamer has access to the internet at home. Before I get a bunch of smart-alecky responses, I visit a coffee shop 2 or 3 times a week that has internet access. I hang out with friends or play games with them physically in the same room if I want a social experience that includes games and people. But generally, I play games when I am alone. I have been a consumer of the gaming industries products for 25 years. I am hearing that in about 10 years gamers will have to have an internet connection to purchase software. On average I buy one new game every month and about 2-4 used games a month. If the big three expect the average gamer to plop down $300-$400 for the next-gen console and then $50 a month for internet access, and then $50-$60 for a game(cause you know they won't stray from that price point even though they didn't have to pay for the physical media, the manual, or the case, and not even the production costs for all of those ingredients that make a traditional game purchase). I am a collector and the manual and case has always been a big part of my purchase decisions. I still currently own an Intellivision(35), NES(25), SNES(32), N64(15), PSX(15), GCN(20), GBA(15), XBOX(30), PS2(10), and an XBOX360(15). The numbers in parenthesis are the number of games I own. Are these future down-loadable only consoles going to have enough hard drive space to own 30+ games? Or are they going to nickel and dime us with external storage devices? Am I going to have to start making a lot more money just to support my hobby(more than a hobby but not quite an obsession)?
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