Do rpg's hold their value better than other genres?

[disorderlyvision]

just an observation, but it seems that rpg's tend to hold their value better than other genres, what do you guys think?

[Mozgus]

If only due to all the people with their stupid argument that completion time equals value. I know I put 4x more gameplay hours into Smash Bros Melee than I did with any RPG ever made.

[disorderlyvision]

maybe i should have clarified cash value and not replay value. replay value on most rpgs is non-existent. games that i have beat more than once had a long stretch between playings. but for cash value it seems that rpgs hold a higher value. most of the games that are expensive on a particular console are rpgs. i know their are some expensive japanes shooters as well, but overall it seems like rpgs sell for more than most other genres. atleast from what i have seen.

[otaku]

No they don't really. Some do because of low print runs and quite often high demand for those with low print runs. Otherwise I've seen plenty cheap rpgs print run and demand are key

[Mozgus]

maybe i should have clarified cash value and not replay value. replay value on most rpgs is non-existent. games that i have beat more than once had a long stretch between playings. but for cash value it seems that rpgs hold a higher value. most of the games that are expensive on a particular console are rpgs. i know their are some expensive japanes shooters as well, but overall it seems like rpgs sell for more than most other genres. atleast from what i have seen.

My point was that replay value (or more specifically just the expected completion time) is what a lot of people factor more than anything when they determine whether a game is worth the price. I know a lot of people who won't even buy action games because they can be beaten in 10 hours or less. They scoff at it. This DOES raise the value of a game, even if it's very stupid.

Another factor is how cult-like the RPG community is. They tend to be very critical of anything that does not strictly follow their genre's "rules", while they buy anything that does, no matter what the reviews say.

Also, they tend to be more in touch with the industry. They know what's coming out and when, at least within their genre.

Yet another factor is how they usually have little issue with playing older RPGs. They don't necessarily stay cutting edge. This keeps the demand up on the archive of titles. Perhaps one reason for this is how story-centric the genre...supposedly is, and how stories do not need cutting edge technology in order to be told. The RPG hardcore has no problem dedicating a weekend to Chrono Trigger for example. The number of people who are willing to play old titles in their genre absolutely stagger similar people who love other genres.

[gennss]

Perhaps its because the stories are a little bigger on the heart strings... maybe nostalgia value.

Perhaps shorter print runs?

[RackGaki]

Pretty much everything mentioned so far factors into the inflated value of an RPG. They are usually quite long (albeit repetitive), can have limited print runs (Atlus, I'm looking at you), and put a greater emphasis on quality storytelling.

I don't believe that most RPGs pull off the quality storytelling, but that's mostly irrelevant.

I agree with Mozgus's earlier assessment that completion time does not necessarily equal value. Though citing an immense amount of time put into Smash Bros is somewhat counter to that argument. Fans of fighting games and shoot 'em ups can easily dump as much (or more) time into their respective games as many RPGs.

I would personally say something like, I enjoyed my two hours of Portal many more times than the ten hours I put into Blue Dragon.

[MrPopo]

Yet another factor is how they usually have little issue with playing older RPGs. They don't necessarily stay cutting edge. This keeps the demand up on the archive of titles. Perhaps one reason for this is how story-centric the genre...supposedly is, and how stories do not need cutting edge technology in order to be told. The RPG hardcore has no problem dedicating a weekend to Chrono Trigger for example. The number of people who are willing to play old titles in their genre absolutely stagger similar people who love other genres.

I think this is one of the biggest reasons. When you look at a lot of early 3D games, or early racing games (not necessarily 3D), you see a lot of missteps due to the newness of the technology. People usually aren't looking to get some Virtua Fighter 1 on, or would rather play the original Super Mario Kart over the newer installments. However, with RPGs, though the old ones may not be the most user friendly (I'm looking at you, NES generation), the core gameplay is still the same as it is in the 32-bit era. The main difference is in the graphics and the story presentation. Once again, looking at the NES era, the story presentation is pretty bad (not til DW3 & 4 do you see some decent storylines), but since the core gameplay is there, it's still fun for fans.

[ott0bot]

My take is similar to those posted. Moz usually hits the rpg nail right on the head. I do think it has alot to do with the large amount of obsessed rpg fans who no only will play a rpg to death, they'll write an walkthrough and make a shrine or dedicate a website to it. This is true even if the game is horrible or sub-par. Alot of the fans are so into the games that the demand is very high, and people won't sell them as often as a racer or action game which they beat and move to the next game.

Also, many players (like myself) often start a game and don't finish it, so are reluctent to sell it until they get to conquer the entire game. This in combination with some of the games having low production runs and higher that average retail prices when they came out boosts the cost up a bit.

But yeah....why the heck FF VII goes for 60 bucks or more when it was one of the most printed ps1 games out there is beyond me. I guess it's just demand.

[glynnahab]

Here's an interesting article on the subject:

http://blog.videogamepricecharts.com/20 ... chive.html

According to the stats given here, they do tend to hold their value better than other genres. I'm not proclaiming infalibility on this article or anything, but it is informative nonetheless.