How much would you pay for a Sierra Adventure Game Nowadays?
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- Ruler of the Castle
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How much would you pay for a Sierra Adventure Game Nowadays?
If you found a brand spanking new Sierra game, in a DVD case, with an original story, plenty of classic style adventuring, and many hours of game play at the store, how much would you be willing to pay (US Dollars)?
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- Slacker of Shapeir
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Milan, realize you're asking...
a group of hardcore adventure gamers. Most of the people who read/post here are avid Sierra fans, especially their adventure games, so the answers here isn't what the general public might say.
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Poll
Hey, this is in the wrong forum!
<notices poll creator>
Uh, never mind.
Anyways, if we're talking about a full-blown packaged game rather than just a disc in a case or a download, I'd probably go up to $40. But something bare bones (like one of the Sierra Classics editions) would probably be $25, tops.
<notices poll creator>
Uh, never mind.
Anyways, if we're talking about a full-blown packaged game rather than just a disc in a case or a download, I'd probably go up to $40. But something bare bones (like one of the Sierra Classics editions) would probably be $25, tops.
- johnb4467
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Re: Milan, realize you're asking...
I'd definitely take the above quoted into consideration...I'm pleased with what you guys are doing & I think most of us will support you regardless, but if you're looking to us for "general-public-pricing-plans", I wouldn't ask us -- we're like your little lemmings being lead off the cliff....BeerNutts wrote:a group of hardcore adventure gamers. Most of the people who read/post here are avid Sierra fans, especially their adventure games, so the answers here isn't what the general public might say.
Pricing is going to be a really hard thing, especially since this is your first release as a company & you may not have a large sum for advertising, etc. Since brand-recognition isn't going to be getting you a lot of sales, a lower price may be a better route, as you'll get more word-of-mouth advertising (as more copies would be circulating), and of course that would lead into higher overall sales statistics. As long as you can settle for just "breaking even" with this first title, you may be able to kinda treat this as a bit more of building a name & reputation for the company. If you *CAN* advertise a bit & can afford to hit some bigger game publications (you'll have to ask others for names, sorry), then you may be able to charge a bit more since you can (hopefully) expect more sales...though my concern there is that the majority of readers for those publications may not be in your target demographic (as we "old" Sierra/Lucasarts fans are likely, well...a bit "older").
This is going to sound like boring business, but I'd have everyone who's willing either do a bunch of polls here on the boards, or even do an online check-box survey on people's age, interests, what they do, where online they visit, what game-related publications they subscribe to, etc. Hopefully if you get enough people submitting info (and I think most of us would, as long as you make known why you're asking) you'll get some general findings. Then you may get some help on where to advertise.
I'm sure you've already thought of it, but I'd be sure to also send out copies of the finished game to publications for review. A lot of the editors & writers at publications like gamespot are older in general and may fondly remember the adventure game days & write a review simply because of it. I've read reviews of this sort for games like Quest for Glory V when it came out. Newer adventure games like Syberia and The Longest Journey have gotten a huge amount of attention because of free advertising through places like that (though, of course, the games warrant it).
You're obviously a smart, talented group...so I'm sure most of this is just stating the obvious...but I hope at least a bit of it may be of use.
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I will not give my vote on this since I don't use dollar in my land.
Most newest game are on 5999 kr and 6999 kr. And when they are getting older they will be on 4999 or 3999kr Sometimes it is on 2999 kr
You can see that here
www.bt.is
Most newest game are on 5999 kr and 6999 kr. And when they are getting older they will be on 4999 or 3999kr Sometimes it is on 2999 kr
You can see that here
www.bt.is
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Assumption
I wouldn't make the assumption that this question is only about Al.
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How Much would I pay for a brand NEW Sierra adventure game?
I don't have a lot of money, but I'll put it into a game I'm convinced I'll love..
I'm a real sucker for "Collector's Editions". I've paid $70 for a game knowing I'd get a special movie/interview with the game's creator on the disc, and special Collector's Edition concept art on real cardboard, and a neat pewter figurine of one of the cooler characters in the game.. maybe a small cloth bag with a couple mock-ups of the coins or other important items that are in the game, plus the classic full-color cloth map is always a huge plus. It's soo gratifying to find an important item in the game, and be able to pick up the trinket out of the box and hold it in my hands, while my character picks it up and begins to inspect it.. ;)
Without all the frills, bobbles, bells and whistles, I generally pay $30-$40 for a game I really want.
I'm a real sucker for "Collector's Editions". I've paid $70 for a game knowing I'd get a special movie/interview with the game's creator on the disc, and special Collector's Edition concept art on real cardboard, and a neat pewter figurine of one of the cooler characters in the game.. maybe a small cloth bag with a couple mock-ups of the coins or other important items that are in the game, plus the classic full-color cloth map is always a huge plus. It's soo gratifying to find an important item in the game, and be able to pick up the trinket out of the box and hold it in my hands, while my character picks it up and begins to inspect it.. ;)
Without all the frills, bobbles, bells and whistles, I generally pay $30-$40 for a game I really want.
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If that were actually going to happen, I'd pay full price for it... or wait a while and see if any additions or whatnot are coming up. If not, I'll just buy the game as it is and get it over with. Best to get it while you have the chance, because later on you may regret not getting it and bemoaning that fact won't bring the game up. This is why I got GKIII when I saw it at the discount bin. I knew that it could very easily be my last chance to get the game and letting it slip through my fingers means that that game would be out of my grasp forever. Thankfully, I didn't let that happen! And now my Classic Sierra game collection is complete! :P
For adults with jobs (or teens, anyway), buying games isn't really that big of a deal, financially speaking, as it doesn't really cost that much compared to other luxuries bought during the month and there's usually enough after all necessities are taken care of. The video gaming industry is recession proof as proven by the fact that whenever an economic slump hits a country, video games companies don't follow suit. I can afford to buy a game a month very easily, but I rarely do anymore, but I'm fully capable of doing so, anyway, so if I see a game I really want, I would buy it and I wouldn't really feel like I'm doing a bad thing to my finances.
Till next time stay cool :smokin
For adults with jobs (or teens, anyway), buying games isn't really that big of a deal, financially speaking, as it doesn't really cost that much compared to other luxuries bought during the month and there's usually enough after all necessities are taken care of. The video gaming industry is recession proof as proven by the fact that whenever an economic slump hits a country, video games companies don't follow suit. I can afford to buy a game a month very easily, but I rarely do anymore, but I'm fully capable of doing so, anyway, so if I see a game I really want, I would buy it and I wouldn't really feel like I'm doing a bad thing to my finances.
Till next time stay cool :smokin
I voted $10-$20. Half the fun of the classic adventures was getting a great game box and goodies inside the box besides just a manual. It's just not the same buying a DVD case, even if you have a ton of extras on the DVD and hopefully a somewhat nice manual included.
Now, if the game came in a nice box with goodies, my vote would move up that scale.
There is of course no reason for developers to release nice boxes and goodies since it increases production cost and the boxes take up valuable shelf space. Most PC games these days come in those small boxes but I'm sure that will eventually switch to just DVD cases.
Some may argue that what's inside (the game itself) is more important. Well, call me nostalgic. I like to have something physical in my hands that connects me to the gaming world.
Now, if the game came in a nice box with goodies, my vote would move up that scale.
There is of course no reason for developers to release nice boxes and goodies since it increases production cost and the boxes take up valuable shelf space. Most PC games these days come in those small boxes but I'm sure that will eventually switch to just DVD cases.
Some may argue that what's inside (the game itself) is more important. Well, call me nostalgic. I like to have something physical in my hands that connects me to the gaming world.
If you found a brand spanking new Sierra game, in a DVD case...
Well, also, I would probably have doubts as to what I was seeing in the first place. I'd see it on the shelf and say to myself, "Well, it looks adventurey, but it's just sitting there in a DVD case like all those other cheap games that claim to be adventures but weren't really. And many of those are in the $20 range (that's Canadian $ for me) so I certainly wouldn't pay more (and in US $) on that face value." That may be the reaction of the jaded fan who sees a DVD case in a store without knowing anything about it. I might pay a bit more if I had, for example, played a downloadable demo...Wow I have to be reading this wrong. Most people would only spend up $20 for a BRAND NEW adventure game?
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- The Prince of Shapeir
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I agree with the points that Relight has brought up, but this was somewhat easier for Sierra to do since they also acted as their own publisher.
These days, however, printing boxes and including extras is very, very costly. There are companys that do provide this service but they will not do it on-demand (per copy). Now, boxes with goodies would be an option but we'd need to start accepting pre-orders in order to have them available -- we'd need at least 1000 orders before we could even consider a boxed version with goodies inside.
Because Himalaya Studios is still a small start up, we simply don't have the advanced funds required to print boxes and goodies from the outset, when there's no way to determine how well the game might sell. If we did this and it sold poorly, then we'd end up stuck with a whole pile of boxes in inventory which we'd have wasted thousands of dollars on. So there's two likely options:
1) We release the game initially in DVD cases for a slightly lower price. Then IF we make enough money from the DVD versions, we'll release a boxed collector's edition later on with extra stuff in a cardboard box.
2) We start taking pre-orders now and if we get 1000, then we can start selling boxed versions with goodies initially.
Try to remember too, that it takes maybe a week max to design some goodies and put them into a box. But the game itself has taken many years of hard work by alot of people and that is what your money will be supporting. By not including things in the box initially, it's not a cop-out or an act of laziness on our part. Believe me, we've already got the box design and manual fully prepared for printing, as well as the goodies too (in case that opportunity ever presents itself)! If the game sells decently and we can afford to print boxes containing goodies, then that is certainly what we intend to do for every game we release in the future.
As Madara stated, the adventure fans will indeed determine whether the commercial viablity of a 2D adventure game is still feasible. For the sake of the genre (and my dwindling bank account) I sure hope so! But this has always been somewhat of an experiment, the outcome of which will tell us if 2D adventures still have a shelf life, or if they will forever be confined to the underground in this age of big-budgetted 3D shoot-em ups and MMORPGS.
These days, however, printing boxes and including extras is very, very costly. There are companys that do provide this service but they will not do it on-demand (per copy). Now, boxes with goodies would be an option but we'd need to start accepting pre-orders in order to have them available -- we'd need at least 1000 orders before we could even consider a boxed version with goodies inside.
Because Himalaya Studios is still a small start up, we simply don't have the advanced funds required to print boxes and goodies from the outset, when there's no way to determine how well the game might sell. If we did this and it sold poorly, then we'd end up stuck with a whole pile of boxes in inventory which we'd have wasted thousands of dollars on. So there's two likely options:
1) We release the game initially in DVD cases for a slightly lower price. Then IF we make enough money from the DVD versions, we'll release a boxed collector's edition later on with extra stuff in a cardboard box.
2) We start taking pre-orders now and if we get 1000, then we can start selling boxed versions with goodies initially.
Try to remember too, that it takes maybe a week max to design some goodies and put them into a box. But the game itself has taken many years of hard work by alot of people and that is what your money will be supporting. By not including things in the box initially, it's not a cop-out or an act of laziness on our part. Believe me, we've already got the box design and manual fully prepared for printing, as well as the goodies too (in case that opportunity ever presents itself)! If the game sells decently and we can afford to print boxes containing goodies, then that is certainly what we intend to do for every game we release in the future.
As Madara stated, the adventure fans will indeed determine whether the commercial viablity of a 2D adventure game is still feasible. For the sake of the genre (and my dwindling bank account) I sure hope so! But this has always been somewhat of an experiment, the outcome of which will tell us if 2D adventures still have a shelf life, or if they will forever be confined to the underground in this age of big-budgetted 3D shoot-em ups and MMORPGS.
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I hope that Al Emmo is a success. As soon as I get my first salary in the next month (and hopefully some of the compensation that I'm owed from the company I've been training with earlier), I'll buy your game and give a little extra just for good measure! You guys deserve it for all the effort you've put in for King's Quest 1 & 2 and the up coming QFG 2 VGA!
What about everyone else here? Will you guys be buying it?
Till next time stay cool
What about everyone else here? Will you guys be buying it?
Till next time stay cool
I would have.rugged wrote:I wouldn't make the assumption that this question is only about Al.
LOL, there you go.AGD2 wrote:Because Himalaya Studios is still a small start up, we simply don't have the advanced funds required to print boxes and goodies from the outset, when there's no way to determine how well the game might sell.
Ooh, here's an idea. Go old school and distribute Al Emmo in a ziplock bag! LOL That, of course, is how Sierra started with Mystery House. Actually, it wasn't easier for Sierra to do. Ken has said that, for example, distributing Ultima II I believe with the cloth map was very bad for them financially because of how much it cost them to make the stupid things Of course, I'm sure it did get easier for them as they went along. Anyway, so you're saying that Himalaya isn't going to be acting as its own publisher? Either way, I'm not sure how that equates. In any event, I agree with what eriqchang said:AGD2 wrote:...but this was somewhat easier for Sierra to do since they also acted as their own publisher.
I am sure that you will have no problem reaching most adventure fans who are active on the internet. It will take little effort to get Al Emmo promoted on all the major adventure sites. Hopefully you will be able to find a way to reach adventure fans from the early Sierra and LucasArts generation who aren't active on the internet.eriqchang wrote:I have no doubt that "Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine" will sell more than a thousand copies simply due to the connection between AGDI and the successful remakes.