Sorry if this has been addressed, but why is the PC version of New Vegas 10 dollars less than the console versions? I mean the PC version is better... (Mods baby) and if the game is as good as we all know it will be, why would obsidian not want an extra bazillion dollars? I would galdly pay ten dollars more for these guys, unlike MW2 which was 60 bucks for PC, and svcked.

Edit: I know that PC games are usually 10 dollars less, but im just saying that obsidian deserves more money (If the game is amazing, which it will be).

There was a rather large outcry over the PC version of MW2 costing $60, and I don't think Obsidian or Bethesda want that kind of bad press on their hands.

Microsoft/Sony needs to make up for the loss of money that they are taking on the consoles so they make them more expensive.
Piracy is a much bigger problem on the PC, so if the developer can persuade the consumer to actually buy the product for the cheaper price, then they are still making money.
All "gaming" computers cost a lot more then a console, so in theory we spend more on the hardware and then less on the software.

Console manufacturers get a cut of game sales to subsidize the price of the console (they're oftentimes sold at a loss). At release console games are almost always $10 more than PC versions.


Ninjas!


Sort of. I really only count the price of the video card and anything specifically needed to support it as a gaming expense, though, since I use my PC for so much more than gaming. When you look at it that way PC gaming can actually be cheaper than console gaming over time. :shrug: Then again, I use my desktop PC for work and my HTPC as a multi-function entertainment device, so I have reasons outside of gaming to avoid letting the CPU and such get too outdated.

Same story as other games we've released (such as Oblivion and Fallout 3) -- console games are $59, PC game is $49

Also, let's refrain from discussing piracy and/or starting a console war.

It's pretty simple. For all console games that aren't on the Wii, you are paying extra so that Microsoft and Sony can sell the consoles for the prices they do - otherwise they'd be a lot more expensive at release. Basically, MS and Sony sell the hardware at a loss then make that money back by the games costing more. In this way, you get your xbox for ~$399 when it was first released instead of the ~$1000+ the components would have cost. But MS and Sony aren't going to eat a huge loss of hundreds of bucks per customer - they aren't charities. So they make each console game cost ten bucks more than it would on the PC to recoup the cost.

Activision (owners of Call of Duty franchise) are the only guys who sell their PC games for the same price as consoles in a show of bold faced greed, possibly driven by the fact that the only division of Activision that is actually profitable is Blizzard with their "I'm so popular I can practically print money" franchises of Starcraft and Warcraft.

Games on PC have to compete with free indie titles, and the best games of yesteryear, for a player's attention and money. One unspoken benefit to the console manufacturers and publishers is that when a new generation of a console comes out, the new games for it have a "fresh field" or limited competition against other games. They are no longer competing against the Games of the Years past on the previous generation of consoles. If players own the new console, and want to play good games on them, they have to buy recent titles, keeping money flowing into everyone's pockets.

However, on the PC, you have an entirely different mechanic. New Vegas on the consoles only has to compete against Fallout 3, but on PC New Vegas has to compete against every Fallout game ever made (save for FO:BOS, but we all know how that would go anyway), because players on PC can play those old games from 12 years ago on the same machine they are playing the latest release on. Services like Steam and GOG.com provide games that have become cult classics or stood the test of time. This can makes PC gamers a harder audience to reach, so $10 less ensures a higher chance of them buying and playing the latest game from a company.

Publishers also spend less money getting games to PC gamers, and can pass along the discount. When a game is sold digitally on a service like Steam, the publisher is out Valve's take per unit, but I guarantee that take is less than what they have to spend to press a disc, store the physical game in a warehouse, ship it across the country, and pay the brick and mortar retailers their cut.

And it isn't like PC gamers are getting a $10 discount - we just never had a $10 price hike imposed on us.


This, of course, is the biggest factor in the price increase.

I love my 360, but it sees a new game very rarely, mainly exclusives that I can't wait for. My PC sees a lot more gaming action, and a big consideration in that is it being more friendly to my wallet. You think $10 less than consoles is a deal? Check out some of Steam's deals sometimes - every game in a series like every Company of Heroes for just $12.50 total, or a title marked down 75% after just a few months. I buy games on Steam even when I don't have time to play them. The deals are just too good to pass up!

The way I understood it, that extra $10 is to cover console licensing fees which aren't passed along to PC players since there's no licensing fee for PC applications.

PC Games have always been less and only recently have they gone to digital distribution. Oblivion came to Steam long after the inital release. Publishing Costs for all those PC versions amounted to the same as the console, less the ones sold Direct2Drive. Putting Oblivion on Steam was probably to some extent a beta to test distribution with Steam and what issues would arise. For sure to have another market.




This is the main reason.

Agree with this..