They can give some ?....to buy games

What are the dollar amounts for EU and Japan?

Damn folks, we're in a recession here! The crevices of your mattresses must be lonely :)

Is it possible to bring back the discussion on whether or not $60 dollar games are a necessity? I'm a free capitalist and all but just a couple of years ago they were trying to make us sorry for them for the amount of money that goes into producing next-gen games. Now they are swimming in dough like Scrooge McDuck.

wow, this is the most wimpy recession ever.

I may not be able to afford gas, but i sure as fuck can buy MGS4 when it comes out.

That percentage for accessories is bigger than i ever would have thought it would be.

Ride the Silver Bullet!

I'd buy that for a dollar.

I bet all those architects are wishing they had been designing Sim City buildings instead of real ones at this point.

Thank god I got my raise recently, I wouldn't be able to afford any of the awesome games coming out!

@TheThirdWheel: I remember when SNES games got as high as $70....

Big Money! Big Prizes! Iiiiiiiii Love it!

@TheThirdWheel: sure. games should have never cost $60 bucks. I've been saying this since before this generation started and have since stopped buying games at full price. I'm surprised soo many people put up with it. It's like gas or cigarettes. You don't need it but they'll stil buy it and buy it even heavier than they did when it was cheaper. It's like the market (dumb consumers that complain about debt) will sustain the business model.

Just like 20 dollar t-shirts and 1.50 bottles of coke and everything else they try to bump up the price with the excuse of inflation. Stop buying shit people and they will lower the prices. This stuff does not cost as much as they are selling to you.

Sheesh. And they wonder why people pirate.

@TheThirdWheel: I completely agree. I've made a similar comment in a discussion about a "dying PC gaming industry."

I'm positive that I'd purchase more games if they weren't each $60. I imagine a lot of people who don't frequent gaming blogs would have the same opinion. Dropping price doesn't always mean a loss in profit, especially if it can reach a new layer of customers who wouldn't purchase a title at a higher price.

Video Game Industry: Racing up the charts with a Silver Bullet.

so is this not including the half billion GTA IV made?

Someone needs to come up with a "the entire video game industry prints money" gif

@exkon: true but that wasn't the norm and at least you knew why the game was that high to begin with.Carts were expensive to begin with and the more megs they put into it the higher it cost. And also when you have to put Super FX chips in Starfox and megarace and other components in Virtua racing I'm surprised it wasn't the norm back then. Cd's were supposed to cut costs and now they are just increasing them for the heck of it. The market sustains them when people have less and didn't before when people had more and the dollar went farther. Go figure. People will just accept anything I suppose.

@Netnavi: Agreed. CD's cost next to nothing to produce, and aren't nearly as cool as carts. The fact remains that people want their flaming sh*t (including myself). Although, I'm glad that video games are making money, if they weren't who would pay the $100 million so we could have our Grand Theft Auto IV?

@Michael McWhertor: "Oh, a refreshing Coors Light may even be knocked back." ARE YOU FRICKIN KIDDING ME? It's bad enough that we have to put up with ads all over the homepage but now you are slipping ads into your articles! That disgusts me. Fellow kotakuites, we must rise up against the infiltration of product placements in the articles. If we don't nip this at the bud all our favorite blogs will be overrun with ads and we won't be able to tell whether products are recommended because they are good or because someone got paid.

@Netnavi: @iFlingPoo: @Netnavi:

Here's the original Forbes article on why games costs $60. It was part of Kotaku story.

[www.forbes.com]

@AxCrusnik:
I think it was a joke reference to all of us making references to the ads in all the threads...
...a practice much enhanced by the consumption of Coors Light Beer!

@AxCrusnik: I'm pretty sure that was a wink at our obvious distaste for these ads.

Could be worse. Could be "Introducing Kotaku Pro, just 19.95 a year..."

Homies got bills to pay, yo.

keep making fun games and I'll keep spending my money on them. Demo be damned, I be getting Grid when it's out and Lost Planet Colonies hopefully at the end of the month.

Is the picture from Smash TV?

@AxCrusnik:

im sorry, i was sipping a delicious(and cold, i might add) Coors Light beer, what were you saying?

@AxCrusnik: It's a joke. Settle down you big sheila.

can someone explain to me how this works...if gtaiv made 500-600 million ten how come over all the industry made 600 million in software-so what im implying is 500 mill of that was by gtaiv?

I agree. I could be an ad for a video game, which would be bad since we just got over the whole credibility vs. advertising thing with Gamespot. IMHO, I much prefer non-gaming related advertising.

So long as there isn't an review for Coors Light that results in Fahey being fired, I'd say everything's gravy.

Integrity, Kotaku has it.

That and cool refreshing Coors Light!

rofl, Coors is going to flip seeing how many people are talking about the ads.

What's with Kotaku promoting alcohol? You might as well be running ads for Phillip Morris or something.

@Kenny: It's actually the inverse. Alcohol is promoting us!

@ZinkO: The Game (the kind you just lost): Mindshare!

@AxCrusnik: Nip in the bud? We don't drink Bud around here, pal! *cracks open a frosty Silver Bullet*

@exkon: I repeat, I'm glad the video game industry is making money. If they weren't, who would shell out the $100 million it cost to make GTA IV.

The industry has changed and game developer's need to start thinking differently about how they plan to make up for the Hollywood budgets they create. I don't know, maybe pay developers/programmers less, or throw a big old rotating Coor's Light Bottle during loading screens or in-game advertisements (god-forbid).

Bottom line is it's not my problem. But good for them for fronting the dough. As always, the risk taker makes the money, not the consumer...

mindshare indeed.

also beer. Man, this endorsment stuff is harder than it looks.

Today was the stuff of legends. Generations hence shall remember the day when every single post on Kotaku was threadjacked by Coors Light inside jokes.

Yes, they shall remember and celebrate, not with fireworks or flags, not with confetti or parades, but with... yes, you guessed it... A NICE, COLD, REFRESHING COORS LIGHT BEER!

Fortunately, the average gamer is not in his(her) mid fifties, otherwise there would be Free Viagra Samples and Botox banners spamming the site.

I just got a text from McWhertor. Hes says it's a Code Blue!

I love "Smash TV"

@iFlingPoo: Ah, yes, but think of all the limp-dick/stiff-lips jokes we could make!

BIG MONEY! BIG PRIZES! I LUUUUUUUUV IT!

@Antiterra: I know, but wouldn't it get "old" after a while.

Besides, everyone knows if you drink Coors Light, you look like a supermodel, well, a drunk, worn out supermodel with beer-gut.

@exkon:
I've read all that stuff before and I have heard up and down how the costs are higher this time and all the rhetoric that they've spewed forth in order to justify and convince the gaming public. I call bulshit.

everyone got by before with 50 bucks a game and PC games still cost the same. But now the excuse is piracy for them when it's really about going where the money is, consoles. They can charge 60 because people buy it for 60. Plain and simple. Stop buying games at 60 and you can bet that the price for all new games will go back to 50 bucks to please the consumers.

This happens in every market so it's not surprising. Once they get you hooked or convinced that that's the only way to get the product then they'll stick to it. I only get games at 60 when it's the main event type games. The games that are their that people will be talking about for a while. Games that define the console. But if I hear it sucks then I'll wait for a price drop.

Example:MGS 4. Same day purchase at 60 bucks. (screw lame-o special eds. Give me something worth it next time)

But: Ninja Gaiden 2 (or sigma. Haven't played yet) I will wait for a price drop. Jut not worth the price IMO.

Big Money! Big Prizes!.....Good Luck....you'll need it!

I'm really surprised that they've sold that much in just accessories in comparison to games and systems. Even if everyone that bought a PS3/360/Wii bought two more controllers (the most expensive accessory that people buy regularly) it still doesn't add up. I know I'm not seeing the whole picture since I really don't buy any accessories, but the mere fact they sold THAT much is surprising to me.

As the conversation going on above me, I agree that $60 a game is ridiculous, but I still picked up GTA day one as I'm sure many of you did. Some games are "worth" it and some aren't. I know I've become extremely picky as to which I play and I think one of the real reasons of disgust for "casual games" is that they're still priced around the same as the games that are worth it. Even $30 for a game that I'll only play for a couple of hours before I get bored is too expensive.

When I wake up in the morning, I head on over to Coorstaku for all the latest, coldest, refreshingest gaming news. KotaCoors puts a silver bullet in the heart of videogame news ignorance. So when you're feeling blue... it means you are ready for consumption.

Wait what was I talking about?

I was just at Best Buy looking at 360 games minutes ago.

GTA4 $60
Skate $60
Mass Effect $60

while

Simpsons Game $40
Kane and Lynch $40
A refreshing Coors Lite tallboy $2.39

It's all about demand, as supply is more or less unlimited. Please
stop buying GTA4 so I can get it cheaper. Thank you.

@Yonderboy: Hey, I'm selling my copy of GTA IV for a meagre $12*, interested?

*(+ $49.99 for shipment, eBay-style)

I know for a fact that pc games can be cheaper, at least console devs can say they have to pay royalties or some shit like that.

@Antiterra: Limited edition or no deal.

You know, what all these beer pictured articles really need is a couple (tastefully) having sex in a canoe.

@Yonderboy: That they do... And lumberjacks. Completely irrelevant, sure, but lumberjacks are always OK (they sleep all night and they work all day).

@ZinkO: The Game (the kind you just lost): @D2point0: @freakout: Thank God! This was the first article I read in a while so I wasn't aware that other people had been complaining about the ads. It's just that the rise of product placements is really pissing me off. Viva la revolutione!