Don Bradman Cricket 14 General Discussion

[ricky87]

haha, harsh! He's slowed down because he was telling us too much and doesn't want to spoil everything.

Yeah i know! It was partly meant to be a joke and partly I was hinting at Table Top Cricket.

 

[angad]

Nope, that's for games that have been on the market for a while. All the new release ones there are priced 1800 and above - unless PES 2012 is a "new" game over there?

Umm....NO....but surely you missed the prices of the new games listed on this site...for e.g. there is Fifa 13 there which was launched at 1499, there is crysis 3 there which was launched at 1499, Metro Last Light is releasing for 999, Far Cry3 was listed at 999!! GTA 4 was released here for mere 499 bucks ...that is less than 10 USD! Infact there are very few games (talking about standard editions) listed above 1499, and none of them are sports titles!

Here is another website which will give you a fair idea of the pricing of these games:

Computer Intencity - Computer Computer Buy Online at Best Price

Now again, anyone reading this, please dont take my statements in the wrong perspective!! There is no way that I am trying to state how BigAnt should price their game....they are in the best position to price their game...the only reason I posted the two URLs were to give the members here an idea on the pricing of the games in India.

Anyways, it really doesnt matter whatever price is decided by BigAnt for the PC version of the game....my ps3 version would anyways cost twice the amount of PC x-(

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Yup, prices for everything vary all over the world. Lots of things at play; Higher taxes, GST, import costs and much more - so often the price variances aren't anything to do with the developers at all. Basically, they set an "X Amount" for return on investment to make a profit, then the retailer adds on their amount and then the government gets their GST (if it applies) and then you get your final price-point. But the developer has a number in mind based on their investment and costs that they pass on to to consumer. "Staggered Release" usually happens with markets where the game is cheaper, because of the internet, retailers generally don't want their customers heading off-shore and missing out on their payday*. So markets where the game is 'cheaper' generally get delayed product - it's part of the reason why discs still have "regions" attached to them and why often developers like Ubisoft will "delay" the PC version to maximise proft of PS3 and XBOX sales in key markets - leaving the PC gamers hostage until it's released a few months later. That's a pretty [read: very] basic rundown of how these things work, pretty sure there's some economics specialists floating around who can explain it much better than me, but that's the general 'layman' jist.



*Rugby World Cup in New Zealand comes to mind where NZ folks could purchase the All Blacks replica shirt online for HALF the price you would pay in retail in NZ. Adidas actually asked the website to take down sales for NZ customers to maximize their profit. Pretty disgusting and the government stepped in - but that's an example of how the online vs. retail thing can get a bit dodgy.

I agree!! Most probably we would see a delayed PC release for this game as well in India. The deal is, that hardcore gamers who need the game on day 1 would anyways import the game at a higher price than wait for the low price official release in India. I would personally prefer that the game is launched at the same time with the rest of the world, even if the price is higher, but I guess it would not make much sense for the publishers to do so.

 

[Biggs]

...there is Fifa 13, crysis 3, Far Cry3, GTA 4

Those are all massive games by massive studios with huge budgets and none of them are "launch" titles, all are HUGE established brands and sequels. Those prices are due to all those titles making their money back and then-some in Western markets. They're essentially "beer money" for those studios at those prices. You're not comparing like-with-like...

Again, those prices are not sustainable for a small-budget start-up cricket title. Big Ant are not EA Sports, Ubisoft or RockStar. You need to be realistic. Keep in mind too BigAnt has had a rough time of it financially lately... All these factors need to be taken into account.

There's also the (unlikely) third alternative that BigAnt offer the game as a direct-digital-download from their website, thus cutting out all the retailer and shipping junk and you just download it direct from their site, after paying for it. That would be amazing, probably a more likely scenario whereby you could pick up the game cheaper perhaps.

 

[MattW]

For the flipside of the argument - why should someone in the rest of the world pay full price for a game being sold for a fifth of it elsewhere?

I'm happy to pay for good games to be developed, but not to subsidise the same game being sold to some parts of the world for next to nothing. I doubt that a developer sees more out of a copy sold for $80 at EB than they do one sold for $50 by Amazon; but they certainly get less out of it being sold for $10.

I think it's telling that Codemasters have now totally left the cricket market a few years after trying to sell AC09 for next to nothing. If you want to sell a game at that sort of price, it has to be made for that sort of price. That's why you get constant variants of street cricket out of Trine and not a real game.

 

[Nikhil V]

When is the released date of Big Ant?

 

[sami ullah khan]

^Only Ross knows and he won't tell unless he knows for sure when Ashes 2013 is releasing.

 

[Biggs]

For the flipside of the argument - why should someone in the rest of the world pay full price for a game being sold for a fifth of it elsewhere?

...and this is exactly the heart of the issue. Why should Person A in England pay $89.99 for a game and Person B in India pay $18?! Sure, taxes and different economies play a HUGE part in that but the argument of "well, they need to penetrate the market here therefore make it cheap" falls apart when the price Person B is paying doesn't even cover the basic development costs of the game - which would lead to the exact situation we're in now of four years without a cricket game because it sent everyone broke offering it below cost. Lets not kid ourselves, it's about making money for these guys as much as it is making a good game and we as fans should SUPPORT it with our wallets, because we want these games to continue and the studios therefore to put more time, resources and money into any sequels.

I doubt that a developer sees more out of a copy sold for $80 at EB than they do one sold for $50 by Amazon; but they certainly get less out of it being sold for $10.

There's actually more likely more money in it for the developer via online-based retail than in-store. Ross might need to weigh in on that, but I imagine the markups on printing physical discs, packaging and marketing in-store are all factors in the higher-price on disk. Whereas, digital download might be the way to go to get more bang for your buck in the sub continent market. That being said, you do make a ton more money when you have a big ol' Shane Warne standee sitting in EB games from the casual gamer...

If you want to sell a game at that sort of price, it has to be made for that sort of price. That's why you get constant variants of street cricket out of Trine and not a real game.

Totally agree. If you want cheap games, you get cheap-looking/playing games. That's the crux of it really. You have to be prepared to pay a bit more for quality. That's life.

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I can't imagine anyone on this forum looking at the ridiculous amount of features promised, discussed and some only hinted at by Ross and the incredible [read: free] player-creator we've received that is only a SAMPLE of the full version saying to Ross;

"Yeah, $18 is all I'll pay"

Less than a meal for two at McDonalds.

Ridiculous.

 

[SibiNaayagam]

For the flipside of the argument - why should someone in the rest of the world pay full price for a game being sold for a fifth of it elsewhere?

I'm sorry but India is led by incompetent leaders and thus our economy has taken a beating. You can't generalise there. Its purely irrelevant.

One day our pockets might fill better and we would be happy to pay you the full amount. But as of today this is our plight.

Selling for the right price matters. Its simple as that.
The two big positives in India are the huge population and the interest in cricket. Together it can enhance the market.

Instead of looking at your strengths, if someone goes by the way you say, then its just debate; not a solution.

 

[timchrist984]

The two big positives in India are the huge population and the interest in cricket. Together it can enhance the market.

A huge population interested in cricket doesn't justify why the game might cost $80 in Australia/Europe, subsidising the meagre $10 price tag in India

 

[sahilnatu]

"$18 is all I'll pay" sounds ridiculous. "Rs.1000 is all I'll pay" gives you the right situation. Rs.1000 is a real big deal in India, comparing it with $18 doesn't tell you that.
Moreover, I'm sure ppl here on PC would shell out money, but what we're talking about is the rest of the ppl in the country.
See, you could either go with SimCity style always online DRM or low priced game, if you want to curb piracy. All this talk of low price makes sense because of piracy. The higher you price the game, the more ppl turn towards piracy. So its all about low price/more copies or high price/less copies. They need to maximize their profit (the profit from subcontinent) with these constraints.

Edit: A meal for two? McVeggie costs $1 here. With the cheapest vegetarian burger (Mc Aloo Tikki) starting at 50 cents. Hope that gives you an idea about what Rs.1000 means.

 

[angad]

...and this is exactly the heart of the issue. Why should Person A in England pay $89.99 for a game and Person B in India pay $18?! Sure, taxes and different economies play a HUGE part in that but the argument of "well, they need to penetrate the market here therefore make it cheap" falls apart when the price Person B is paying doesn't even cover the basic development costs of the game - which would lead to the exact situation we're in now of four years without a cricket game because it sent everyone broke offering it below cost. Lets not kid ourselves, it's about making money for these guys as much as it is making a good game and we as fans should SUPPORT it with our wallets, because we want these games to continue and the studios therefore to put more time, resource and money into any sequels.




There's actually more likely more money in it for the developer via online-based retail than in-store. Ross might need to weigh in on that, but I imagine the markups on printing physical discs, packaging and marketing in-store are all factors in the higher-price on disk. Whereas, digital download might be the way to go to get more bang for your buck in the sub continent market. That being said, you do make a ton more money when you have a big ol' Shane Warne standee sitting in EB games from the casual gamer...



Totally agree. If you want cheap games, you get cheap-looking/playing games. That's the crux of it really. You have to be prepared to pay a bit more for quality. That's life.

Well I agree to most of the stuff you have written!!! Dunno why the price difference is so huge between the two countries....specially since gaming is a luxurious hobby that should command a premium as against something that is a necessity and thus burdened by the difference in economies. If anything, I am surprised at how the games are not infact more expensive than other countries, as in India, one needs to pay a Duty (tax) on the import of a software material as well, thus the price here should infact be the MRP in UK (from where most of our console games are imported) + Duty + any other taxes!!

Still, I am happy that the prices are not that high here and we are able to afford a premium passion of ours (whether others like it or not)!! Specially without a structure where you can rent games or return games, it would have been way expensive to be able to play as many games as we have been able to. So, why not make hay till the sun shines !

 

[timchrist984]

So its all about low price/more copies or high price/less copies. They need to maximize their profit (the profit from subcontinent) with these constraints

I honestly don't think Big Ant will generate much profit at all from sub continental sales. It doesn't really matter how many copies are sold when they are being sold for peanuts as opposed to the price the rest of the world is paying.

 

[sahilnatu]

I honestly don't think Big Ant will generate much profit at all from sub continental sales. It doesn't really matter how many copies are sold when they are being sold for peanuts as opposed to the price the rest of the world is paying.

Agree with you there, its the harsh reality. Thats the very reason I mentioned "profit from subcontinent" cos it would stand negligibly small in front of the total profit.
I only pray for BigAnt to get maximum profit from here as also from elsewhere. Don't want them to stop making cricket games because they have a niche market.

 

[angad]

"Yeah, $18 is all I'll pay"

Less than a meal for two at McDonalds.

Less than a meal for two at McDonalds in your country!! Over here a Mcdonald meal for two can also be Rs. 40 (happy price menu ) to Rs.400 (full on combos)!

So, really, you are buying the game at $60 which is slightly more than 18*3, while people in India are buying the same game at 1500, which is slightly more than 400*3. Sounds equal to mE!!

 

[MattW]

I honestly don't think Big Ant will generate much profit at all from sub continental sales.

That assumes they would profit. It costs a whole lot up front to distribute it, with no guarantee it will work.