MikeVic
12-08-2004, 08:35 PM
Take it for what you will... I haven't bought any console sports games the past two years, and ESPN isn't on computer... but I know this will piss off some people.
hxxp://insidepulse.com/article.php?contentid=29919
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All good things must come to an end. The $20 price point which was successfully used to stimulate sales of the ESPN American sports titles this year will not last indefinitely, according to comments made by Take-Two executive VP Cindi Buckwalter.
At the UBS Media Week Conference last week, Buckwalter said that Take-Two and partner Sega will seek to return pricing to premium levels for the next-generation console versions of the games.
"We continue to evaluate pricing," she told the conference, according to a Reuters report. "When the next-generation hardware comes out, we do expect to introduce the sports products at premium prices."
The $20 pricing was introduced for the ESPN titles after Sega and Take-Two teamed up to co-publish the range, and has proved successful in improving the performance of the SegaSports titles. Not only that, but they've nearly turned the market upside down putting the pressure on Electronic Arts, forcing them to drop prices on several of its key EA Sports titles in order to stay competitive.
There is only one question, however. Buckwalter's comments confirm that premium pricing will be used for next-generation console SKUs. This is most likely because product development will be more expensive and that the early adopter market is less sensitive to pricing. All well and good. But what about current-gen systems? It's still not clear whether the $20 price will continue to be used for next year's titles on the PlayStation2 and Xbox. We'll just have to wait and see...
Source: Gamesindustry.biz, Take Two
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hxxp://insidepulse.com/article.php?contentid=29919
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
All good things must come to an end. The $20 price point which was successfully used to stimulate sales of the ESPN American sports titles this year will not last indefinitely, according to comments made by Take-Two executive VP Cindi Buckwalter.
At the UBS Media Week Conference last week, Buckwalter said that Take-Two and partner Sega will seek to return pricing to premium levels for the next-generation console versions of the games.
"We continue to evaluate pricing," she told the conference, according to a Reuters report. "When the next-generation hardware comes out, we do expect to introduce the sports products at premium prices."
The $20 pricing was introduced for the ESPN titles after Sega and Take-Two teamed up to co-publish the range, and has proved successful in improving the performance of the SegaSports titles. Not only that, but they've nearly turned the market upside down putting the pressure on Electronic Arts, forcing them to drop prices on several of its key EA Sports titles in order to stay competitive.
There is only one question, however. Buckwalter's comments confirm that premium pricing will be used for next-generation console SKUs. This is most likely because product development will be more expensive and that the early adopter market is less sensitive to pricing. All well and good. But what about current-gen systems? It's still not clear whether the $20 price will continue to be used for next year's titles on the PlayStation2 and Xbox. We'll just have to wait and see...
Source: Gamesindustry.biz, Take Two
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