What would the most expensive game be like?

Commodore256 · 2012-07-23T22:50:52

This question came to me looking at smartphone games and I noticed how most of them is $1-$6, none of them are $60. (ports of former $60 games that now cost $5 like GTA3 don't count because they already made returns on the original investment, so everything is profit) I've notice how the cheap games are the most fun you can have for $1, but the production values is nowhere near that of say Skyrim or Mass Effect. This got me thinking... What if there was a game with production values so high, in order to make a profit, they would have to sell a million copies at $1,000? (Or whatever ridiculously high number you want) We have had games with higher production values than the standard, but still sold for the standard price of Video Games, like Shinmue, LA Noire, Earthbound had a freakin' Strategy Guide and so does World of Warcrack, but they're subscription based, so the Guide is just Icing on the Cake. But, we have had a $200 Game once before, Steel Battalion, but it was only expensive because of the controller. In the 90's, we had these Battletech Pods (google it) that were Arcade Machines with full immersion, but the closest thing to we have of that now is a room with 6 Nvidia 3D Vision Projectors and a Warplizer. I think the most expensive game should have new technology. (or maybe old technology that's not used in consumer land) For Starters, no Polygons! It would have Voxels! (Basically, 3D Pixels! imagine this, but enough Voxels to make a Character Model mold like Clay) Second, no Voice-Overs, realistic Human Voice Synthesis that sound a lot better than Hatsune Miku. (Actually, Miku is a real Human Voice, just autotuned with software) Third, Actual AI, I don't want to just interact with the Characters, I want the Characters to interact with Me. Fourth, I would like there to be interiors to every building with items that you would find in a house and have all of them look different. Of course, there would be good hardware needed and I would want it to be good, but what do you guys think? What would you like to see in Video Games, but they're not feasible to implement in a $60 game that sells a million copies and with a $300 Console? (or even a $800 PC, we would need custom RISC Processors with custom extensions and Co-Processors)

Stormynature

5,198

July 18, 2012 10:28 PM

I tried to look up the website, but could not find it as all the buzz about Microsoft surface tablet filled my google results.

exclude the search term microsoft

ToniKorpela

271

July 18, 2012 10:31 PM

I agree on the impulse of buying a game that would result in need to buy the game even if it costs thousand dollars. I've been looking for PS3 Battlefield 3, but it was always sold out at my favorite technology shop and I basically do not want to use other shops so I waited and waited that i could get a copy, but the price had dropped so much that I got one for 25 euros even though I would have been ready to pay few hundred euros for it.

ToniKorpela

271

July 18, 2012 10:32 PM

[quote name='TMKCodes' timestamp='1342650345' post='4960679']
I tried to look up the website, but could not find it as all the buzz about Microsoft surface tablet filled my google results.

exclude the search term microsoft
[/quote]
I tried googling "Surface 2 Games" like I did when we got the Surface desk.

shurcool

439

July 22, 2012 11:44 PM

What if there was a game with production values so high, in order to make a profit, they would have to sell a million copies at $1,000? (Or whatever ridiculously high number you want)

A game like Grand Theft Auto or Carmageddon, except where you remotely control a car in the real world equipped with a camera. So when you steal and crash a Ferrari in the game, the game company would have to compensate for the damages you've done.

It'd probably cost a few million dollars per copy. ;)

Nypyren

12,313

July 23, 2012 12:10 AM

Are we excluding games that require hardware peripherals? If not, the most expensive game would likely require some insanely expensive peripheral (such as a very advanced brain-computer interface or something similarly futuristic).

Bacterius

13,181

July 23, 2012 12:27 AM

A game like Grand Theft Auto or Carmageddon, except where you remotely control a car in the real world equipped with a camera. So when you steal and crash a Ferrari in the game, the game company would have to compensate for the damages you've done.

It'd probably cost a few million dollars per copy. ;)

Haha like in Half Life 2 where civilians would play "control this manhack and kill people for points" at the arcade and didn't know the manhack was for real. Would the players be aware that they were controlling a real car? I can foresee some major legal/ethical issues especially if players end up running people over. And you'd have people wondering why their lawn is being trashed by fifteen driverless derby cars... And imagine split-screen gameplay, oh, yeah, I want this game NOW.

“If I understand the standard right it is legal and safe to do this but the resulting value could be anything.”

shurcool

439

July 23, 2012 01:30 AM

Would the players be aware that they were controlling a real car?

Well, unless you could justify the high price of admission with just saying "the most realistic graphics and driving physics you've ever seen", players would probably have to know.

I can foresee some major legal/ethical issues especially if players end up running people over. And you'd have people wondering why their lawn is being trashed by fifteen driverless derby cars...[/quote]
You could host the "game environment" on a closed circuit to avoid the legal/ethical issues.

Another approach is to target the game towards super rich people who want to go for a race of a lifetime, without the consequences. Pitch it that way.