Random Thoughts Thread

[Hobie-wan]

Probably a stupid question but how do devs know the exact amount of games sold? Do the stores send them a report? Same for comics.

I have some retail experience from my youth and we would send back unsold product. It was part of the "deal" to get it on minimal shelf space. If that isn't the case perhaps they just count how many sell to the stores and other outlets. Obviously a store will reorder if it is flying off the shelves. Meanwhile a stagnant game will have slightly inflated sales due to product sitting on clearance racks.

Right, and sometimes I think they go off the number of copies produced minus any stock numbers reported back to them by major distributors. So say 100000 copies produced minus 500 in stock at Amazon, 850 in stock at Gamestop headquarters, 300 at Best Buy distribution, and 125 at Joe Bob's Super Duper Game Distribution that caters to smaller game stores and rental places.

[jp1]

I'd be more interested to know why the fight to keep digital distribution copies at high prices. Speaking of Xbox marketplace and PSN here more than Steam. Often I could go to the store and pick the game up a few dollars cheaper. It has to be a cheaper avenue to encourage digital distribution through some kind of discount. There is no middle man, there is no packing and shipping, and you have the chance to greatly reduce the used game market and piracy in one step. I personally would rather something I made sell 10,000,000 copies at $20 than 1,000,000 at $60. The increased exposure alone has to have some intrinsic value.

[Jmustang1968]

I'd be more interested to know why the fight to keep digital distribution copies at high prices. Speaking of Xbox marketplace and PSN here more than Steam. Often I could go to the store and pick the game up a few dollars cheaper. It has to be a cheaper avenue to encourage digital distribution through some kind of discount. There is no middle man, there is no packing and shipping, and you have the chance to greatly reduce the used game market and piracy in one step. I personally would rather something I made sell 10,000,000 copies at $20 than 1,000,000 at $60. The increased exposure alone has to have some intrinsic value.

The vast majority of game cost is development and marketing. But many digital games are discounted, see Steam

[jp1]

I'd be more interested to know why the fight to keep digital distribution copies at high prices. Speaking of Xbox marketplace and PSN here more than Steam. Often I could go to the store and pick the game up a few dollars cheaper. It has to be a cheaper avenue to encourage digital distribution through some kind of discount. There is no middle man, there is no packing and shipping, and you have the chance to greatly reduce the used game market and piracy in one step. I personally would rather something I made sell 10,000,000 copies at $20 than 1,000,000 at $60. The increased exposure alone has to have some intrinsic value.

The vast majority of game cost is development and marketing. But many digital games are discounted. see Steam

Yes, but Steam seems to be the exception and not the rule. I know they have nice sales and I would be inclined to take part in them if I were a pc gamer. Since I'm not I do most of my purchasing through the outlets I mentioned and the sales from them are rarely on anything new or even moderately new. It is usually something I could pick up on ebay for less...but, I purchase digital due to convenience a lot of the time despite my gripe.

EDIT: On the other hand I don't have a lot of the old games and things like "Games with Gold" have recently beefed up my collection considerably and basically for free. So there is a flip side.

[MrPopo]

The console manufacturers are probably terrified that brick and mortar stores will stop carrying their hardware if they start discounting the digital software.

[jp1]

The console manufacturers are probably terrified that brick and mortar stores will stop carrying their hardware if they start discounting the digital software.

Good point. I hadn't considered that.

[ZeroAX]

The console manufacturers are probably terrified that brick and mortar stores will stop carrying their hardware if they start discounting the digital software.

Same for publishers. And if they don't stop outright carrying them, they sure as hell will stop promoting their games. That's why even new steam releases have prices on par with the physical copies.

Mind you this is bullshit, trying to go against the advancement of technology will only serve to hasten the retailer's demise. They're better off adapting imo, but that's a word big old corporations hate more than anything.

[Luke]

Whether you know the answer or not "That's a great question" is the best way to start your answer to a question.

When I was in the fifth grade I learned a valuable lesson. I had an oral report on Zimbabwe, and my teacher asked me "How many tribes are in Zimbabwe?", I quickly said "That's a great question. Chris Dudley, can you name some tribes in Zimbabwe?".

Chris "studly" Dudley did.

My teacher then gave the life lesson of "When you don't know the answer to a question, you tell them they asked a great question, and then redirect that question to the smartest person in the room".

This tactic works, from elementary school to the board room.

There is also no shame in answering "I don't know, but I'll find out".

[JsGameRoom]

Downshifting increases the RPMs, because it takes more RPM to keep a vehicle going at the same speed in a lower gear. This sounds the same as accelerating, up until the shift when accelerating.

J's right. A down shift while in high rpm's usually leads to an engine roar and sometimes a fireback. It's basically your engine loudly asking "WHAAA?".

What Luke said.

Basically accelerating is going from something and it GROWING into a louder sound.

Downshifting is a quieter sound going to HOLY SHIT LOUD all of a sudden.

Accelerating is say going from 3000rpm to 5000rpm , downshifting is going from 5000 to 3000. BIG difference.

[Jmustang1968]

No downshifting always increases RPMs. If you are driving in 4th gear and downshift to 3rd, you get an inmediate increase in RPM and thus torque and hp to get quick acceleration responsiveness or it can slow you down if you dont give it any gas.

This is why at high speeds say, on the highway, you are in a higher gear for lower rpms.

And the sound it will make will depend on the speed you are going. If you are at a speed that isnt too higher for the lower gear, it may not spike the engine rpms too much.