s it just me, or is it getting more and more affordable to be a serious gamer as the years go by? It used to be that in order to experience every hot exclusive release, you had to purchase every gaming console under the sun — Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft, there was no playing favorites when you needed them all.
Fast forward to 2010. As more and more studios reevaluate the costs of doing business, the age of the third-party exclusive is all but dead. While you'll still need a Wii to play a Mario game or a PS3 for Ratchet, the EAs and Ubisofts of the world simply can't afford to limit their games' audiences. As such, we're left with a lot more choices — even if we have to wait an extra few months to play a title on our chosen platform, the odds are that it will make it there eventually.
Further easing the strain on gamers' pocketbooks are the prices of the consoles themselves. With a little smart shopping, it's easy to land a system at just a fraction of last year's prices ($150 Xbox 360 Arcade, anyone?). And generally speaking, these lowered prices aren't the result of lowered hardware specifications. All three hardware platforms are capable of far more today than they were at launch — just think Netflix streaming and you'll see what I mean. If you're trying to sell you're non-gaming significant other on purchasing a current-gen system, just tell them about the movies.
And if things didn't seem good enough already, advancements in cloud computing aim to give the budget-conscious even more options. Services like OnLive which were at first thought to be nothing more than vaporware are starting to show their true promise. Imagine playing a cutting edge shooter on that old laptop you bought back in 2005. It's not as far-fetched as you'd think. Generally speaking, if a computer can playback web video, it has what it takes to play modern 3D games remotely.
For as much as some hardcore gamers bemoan the casual acceptance of their pastime, there's a lot to be said for competitive pricing — more consumers means more options and more ways to play the game. I don't see how choice, be it in experience or cost, could ever be a bad thing.
they finally figured out that they got in this to get paid, not turn their back on a group of paying customers. Why gamble on one system's success when you could be successful on all systems?
Establishing tiers offers entry-level or limited-budget gamers options, as well. Retailing as many as three console models or three video game packages a) allows companies to charge mainstay customers the premium prices they believe their product is worth, while b) extending casual gamers a piece of the pie.