Does gaming cost too much?
This week's Escapist has a Casual Friday piece concerning the cost of gaming. According to the article, games--as compared to movies--cost too much, providing a barrier to entry that will stop the industry from hitting mainstream. The short shelf-life of games is also a problem: instead of having new, expensive games every six months, why not have cheaper games that are available for longer, just like movies can be bought years after their release?
It's an interesting point, but Jason Smith seems to have entirely overlooked one of the hottest segments of the gaming market at the moment--casual games. Casual games meet all the criteria--they're cheap, there's a low barrier to entry technologically (they're even available on multiple platforms), they're widespread and available for long after their release, especially if they're good. Casual games may well be the key to the mainstream, and yet this article entirely ignores their existence. Nice work.
