I’m currently watching a Marvel Wolverine review bash video, as this is the cool thing to do right now. I don’t even own a Playstation 5. Why do I watch that video? Well first its a creator I like to watch and scondly, I am fascinated by the topic of not liking AAA games. Sometimes games aren’t bad, if the price is good. So the game isn’t actually that bad if you wait for a sale? Usually ratings are tied to the price of the game, and sometimes not.
And it got me thinking… we need a rating that does exactly that, a price recommendation when the game is worth to buy. In example an old classic might get a good rating, because the game itself and the emulation is good. But it might have a too high of a price and they did not add features or updated it to modern audiences, that it feels like a useless “remaster”. Or a game itself feels redundant, because there are better options for cheaper price, then the worth it price could be low. But that does not mean the game itself is bad, regardless of its actual price.
Some personal examples with games on Steam (I will round up prices to have whole numbers only):
Final Fantasy 7 (original version, not remake)
Rating: 10/10
Worth the Price: 10 €
Price on Steam: 13 € (currently under 6 €)
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade
Rating: 9/10
Worth the Price: 30 €
Price on Steam: 40 € (currently 10 €)
I just noticed that I evaluated the worth price higher, because I purchased the games when it was more expensive. What do you think?
I think the age of the game factors into its “worth”, kind of regardless how good it is. The original FF7 is fantastic, but it’s nearly 30 years old. In some ways it feels crazy to give them money for it at all.
For modern / recently released games, buying them is kind of also voting for what games, franchises, genres, etc you want more of. On a recently released game, they’re still evaluating if it’s a success, or if they should go in another direction in the future. So how much you want more of that kind of game should factor into how much that new game is worth. I’m normally a “wait for a sale” kind of guy, but there are some franchises that I love that I always buy the game at full price as soon as it comes out (or when the reviews come out), just because I want to be a part of that message saying “hey, I want more of this”.
For older games, all that stuff has kind of already been decided. The people got paid, got their bonuses, or laid off (or both, fucking game industry), a sequel got greenlit or thrown out, budgets were made or not. A few people buying it now isn’t really going to change anything.