14 DAY TRIAL // With all the gaming systems, developers and publishers surrounding us today, the gaming market looks like total chaos. Actually, things are more organized today than ever before. One thing that helps keep this balance is the preordering of games. Gameplayer took on this topic and reckoned that game preorders may lead to making them cheaper. Sounds great! Could it be true?
"Three major changes are stirring beneath the surface, all of them with the potential to change the face of the market. They are the growth in the sale of pre-owned games, the expansion of online retail and the emergence of a centralised global currency. Together, they could pressure the local industry to reduce the price of video games," the site reports.
Just yesterday we talked about Eidos throwing Lara's 10 year Anniversary into Steam, while some sites reckon that, had the game been provided for the 360 through XBLA, we could have witnessed a new era of video game distribution.
Preordering games reduces some of the fuss for both gamers and retailers. As gamers trust the preordering system, retailers will only see bigger figures and so will developers respectively. It only makes sense that sooner or later everyone will find that preordering a product is so much more advantageous. That is of course, if cheap a*s gamers start getting their original games, instead of modding their consoles and playing burned DVDs.
Now, add that to the expansion of online retail (good point if I may add), which is absolutely inevitable, and you've got your answer. Everything lies in how many original copies are sold and of course, in publicity. What better place to get all that if not online?
However, there is an aspect that might just cancel the whole games-getting-cheaper thing: Sony. Do you really think that Sony will make their games cheaper? They'd cut an arm or a leg rather than lose $100 on the PS3, even though Blu-ray diodes are now cheaper to make.