I’m a little puzzled at the moment as there a lot of indignant chatter regarding the price of No Man’s Sky, as yesterday the US PlayStation store accidentally posted it was going to be $59.99, before quickly deleting the post. I’m not sure why this is news when Amazon has been listing the game for £54 since before Christmas.
“60 dollars for a indie game, no thanks,” is one of the many comments floating around. Again I’m not sure why people are referring to this an an indie game, Hello Games are a small team but everything else about the title just screams AAA game. Sony are throwing huge amounts of money at promoting it and “indie games” don’t show up Colbert or headline E3 shows.
Oh and, Elite Dangerous and Star Citizen are indie games, both of them are space epics and both of them are $60. Just sayin’.
Compared to a simple side scrolling arcade game, Hello Game’s previous effort Joe Danger, No Man’s Sky is leagues ahead in both terms of content and development. It would also take you 585 billion years to visit every planet in the game, so thats 975 million years of playtime per dollar. And yet people still complain it’s too expensive.
To those people I have a simple message: Shush.
You can read more about No Man’s Sky tomorrow afternoon because I was lucky enough to get my paws on it last week.
tactical20
It’s putting me off a bit tbh. Yes it’s all very clever and huge and everything, but if it turns out to basically be a tech demo with little actual ‘game’, $60 is a lot.
tactical20
Also, Amazon clearly use placeholder prices as well as dates, so obviously that’s why no one had paid much attention before Sony listing the price.
pitchforkdisney
Look – before the comments go crazy; Tuff says ‘Shush’ and then tells us he’s played it. Sounds like he thinks it’s more than a tech demo to me…but then I can read text AND subtext.
Tuffcub
To be clear to Sony’s lawyers, I an not inferring anything about anything till after 4pm tomorrow. And even then I might not be.
MrYd
I think I might have played the original Elite on the Spectrum 30 years ago for almost 585 billion years. At least, that’s how long the endless process of loading the game and then failing to get that stupid plastic lens thing to work seemed to take.
And that cost £15 back then. I think. I’m sure it was a very expensive game at the time.
Which works out at £40something now, with inflation. For 585 billion years of actual game, and not swearing at ridiculous anti-piracy devices. That looks and sounds a lot nicer.
So anyone moaning about the price should indeed shush.
Avenger
585 Billion years to explore all the planets, but why would I want to?
It’s a serious question. I’d like to see some gameplay.
Starman
That’s my question too. Don’t see how a huge randomly made world makes it worth more. I’d rather it be a smaller world that has been crafted to be interesting. This game is the PS4’s Titanfall in terms of hype vs content (as in variety of things you can actually do)
JustTaylorNow
No just no, this game is a hype fad. But to charge full retail for indie game no just no
max
“Full retail for indie game”
What?!? Can only “big publishers” request a “full retail price”. If you think the game lacks enough content, enough gameplay or whatever, sure. But claiming that you shouldn’t have to pay a certain amount just because the game is released by an independent developer is borderline stupid.
I have played several indie games that are bigger and more rich in the gameplay experience than some big games from big publishers out there. Of course I am happy if the small indie developer sets a lower price, but if they want to be payed more, that is up to them. Just as it is up to me if I want to pay that amount.
But the reason “indie game” is NOT a valid reason. If you think it is a hype fad, just wait and see if you were right.
JustTaylorNow
“Just as it is up to me if I want to pay that amount” and it’s up to me not to want to pay full price, see where this is going, it’s a matter of personal opinion. If you are happy to pay good on you, I am not…
Jag
Ok so by that logic shouldn’t Yarny which is by EA have been full price?
Personally if people are unsure whether a game will be worth it that’s (partly) what reviews and previews are for.
I’m a big fan of Hello Games and No Man’s Sky looks ace but I’m still waiting for proper hands on reports before I decide whether to buy it.
JustTaylorNow
I don’t buy EA games, Fifa is the only EA game I have on new gen.
I will buy the game but if it means waiting till its indie price then I will wait for however long it takes to drop that price
TSBonyman
That is a little bit surprising tbh, given that the original game was coming in at less than 100MB. I presume that had to increase though as they had to flesh out the gameplay/engagements and also added VR. I’m looking forward to reading your hands-on TC.
Tuffcub
VR has not been confirmed at all.
Kris Lipscombe
In what way does the game’s file size relate to price?
tactical20
Obviously there are some exceptions and there is no formula or hard fast rule, but if you look at the size of full price games on your hdd vs the size of < £10 indie games, you will answer your own question.
I feel like I'm being a grumpy argumentative prick all the time, but recently I've noticed a lot of TSA articles ignoring the glaringly obvious.
TSBonyman
TC – Oh i thought that was why it had been delayed.
Kris – as i say, that was my assumption because the game was initially based on a small mathemathical formula and didn’t use the type of photo-realistic textures etc that take up a lot of resources in many other games. I’m not complaining about the price, just a little surprised.
TSBonyman
For example, Minecraft offers a similar near-endless experience for a third of the price.
Tuffcub
VR hasnt been confirmed, they said they were looking in to it and then stopped talking about it completely, but NMS is scheduled for release around the same time as PSVR.
NMS runs at 1080p 60fps, which is required for PSVR.
PSVR has not got a killer launch title and they need one.
Make your own conclusions.
TSBonyman
I was indeed drawing my own conclusions ;)
camdaz
Right from the start I got the impression that it was a full price game, which it deserves to be.
RudeAwakening
Tuffcub, tell me its everything we have been dreaming about!!
ron_mcphatty
Seems like a fair price given the clever mathematical effort going into the universe generation and the fact it’s going to be some sort of lonely MMO without subscription costs. I’ve got my preorder in, £46.86, no doubt Amazon will let it dip to £39.99 at some point.
Andrewww
Wasn’t that what the delay was about, when it became clear there was such a hype for the game?
And, the whole concept of an ‘indie game’ is a fuzzy one, much worse is concluding that an ‘indie game’ absolutely has to be of a specific type, price, etc.
If it’s a good game and worth it, then that’s fine, developers need to pay rent, eat, and feed their kids too.
The Lone Steven
If it’s a case of being cheap as chips and fish on PC and a massive price difference on the consoles, i can understand why people are getting angry at the price.
If it’s not that.
Since when has a price and it’s origin dictated if it’s deserving of being brought? Indie games can provide the same amount of quality as triple AAA games. I mean, look at COD! It’s £40-50 every year and content wise, i feel it’s not worth that price. Look at Godzilla. Another triple AAA pile of shit, £40. Look at Star Wars battlefront, £40-£100+. Look at etc….
All that matters is the quality. Hello Games could be in some debt and this is a bid to resolve it. They may have incurred a lot higher costs then their last game due to the new engine if they have used it. They may fancy getting a lot of cash to put towards increasing their studio and slowly grow.
Man, gamers can be right picky gits over nothing.
Yes, i know i sound like an old fart.