“What you see right there is variable pricing,” Bowser told The Washington Post. “We’ll look at each game, really look at the development that’s gone into the game, the breadth and depth of the gameplay, if you will, the durability over time and the repeatability of gameplay experiences.
AKA corporate greed.
Given modern platforms and tooling, development should be cheaper and faster than ever. You have a huge talent pool, you can cobble together something in Unreal or other Switch-compatible engine, and run automated builds and tests before shipping right to the online store.
That’s called an asset flip, and they are rightfully mocked.
Using a pre-built engine/modern toolset and not doing anything yourself are two different animals.
No one has to painstakingly write their games out in assembler like they used too. Nor do they have to pay for the costs of manufacturing/logistics for digital copies.
Also keep in mind, their sales are way higher than they where 30 years ago because of market growth.
There’s a reason indie games are flourishing, its because games are cheaper and easier to make than ever. (Not that their cheap nor easy)
You should go visit every game company and tell them how they are all doing it wrong. You could call yourself the Department of Gaming Efficiency
Name one game Nintendo has made that is so technically advanced or mechanically complex they can justify charging twenty more smackers than any other AAA developer?
Its not about telling people how to do their job. Its about the fact games are cheaper and easier to make than ever, and one of the biggest names in the industry is suddenly charging more than everyone else…
Every game company? There are so many companies and studios that release amazing games at $20 value, $30, $40,$50, $60. Anything above $60 is simply price gouging.