main
side
curve
  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Gaming Grand Theft Auto

Discussion in 'Community' started by JediKnight20043, Jul 11, 2013.

  1. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    I get the sense the games industry really likes the classical economics model, even though I think economics has moved on from it because it was clearly flawed. In this model, every individual is a supremely rational being, always able to shrewdly pursue their own self-interest rationally and without getting into difficulty. In such a model, a company can do no wrong, for the supreme consumer will punish a poor product and reward a superior one.

    What this entire model omits is that humans are also psychological creatures and that varies from individual to individual. It takes no account of dodgy antics or indeed how expectations inform behavior. There's been a series of FIFA stories recently and they all go the same way: Parent buys games for kids, kids play game, kids empty parents bank account.

    Now there's various ways to look at this:

    Savvy gamer:
    • Why didn't the parent enable protections or just not buy anything?
    • Parent should be more wary.
    Counterpoints:
    • The parent when looking at the game saw it was rated 3 years and up by an authoritative, so trusted, trade body. Parent concludes there is no danger.
    • Parent does not set up protections against the game's money-hoovering aspects because they are led to believe it is a game suitable for 3 years +.
    • A game where you have to set protections for your 6 year old is clearly not suitable for the kid.
    For all I'm enjoying Odyssey, there's a quite blatant yet subtle monetary mechanic there. They've gotten better at hiding at, but the whole cost of upgrades - in both drachmae and materials - is it. The upgrades for legendary equipment are very pricey, so don't I want to go to the shop? Buy some?

    With GTA it's even more blatant as:
    • It's known only a small part of the overall audience buys stuff in-game.
    • It's known these transactions account for the bulk of the revenue.
    • So how much is this small subset spending per individual? The way it works is £5 here, £10 there, so you don't track the spend. What happens if a gamer does track the spend? A very nasty picture emerges.
    Now, they will try to keep doing this forever. But I don't see it lasting, it's getting too much attention of the kind companies Rockstar don't like, but too bad.

    GTA 6? At this point, why would they even need to? They have the biggest, most successful game ever. For GTA 6 the only way is down and investors don't like down.
     
    Darth_Invidious and Chewgumma like this.
  2. Ahsoka's Tano

    Ahsoka's Tano Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Oct 28, 2014
    Is there a specific article that mentions how much money the game has made for Rockstar? Let's say the game retailed on average at $30 through 2018, when it reach over 110 million units sold. $30 x 110 million. Are you suggesting the microtransactions (i.e. shark cards) topped anything near $1 billion?
     
  3. Chewgumma

    Chewgumma Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Apr 14, 2009
    GTAV alone had outgrossed the entirety of the Super Mario franchise combined in 2017, despite selling a fraction of the copies.

    GTAV had sold 90 million copies by 2017, the Mario franchise had sold 310 million units by 2014. What does GTAV have that the Mario franchise doesn't that could make it perform better financially? [face_thinking]
     
    Darth_Invidious likes this.
  4. Ahsoka's Tano

    Ahsoka's Tano Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Oct 28, 2014
    Still waiting to see actual numbers of the Shark cards sold as opposed to game units sold at retail.
     
  5. Darth Guy

    Darth Guy Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Aug 16, 2002
    Jesus Christ.
     
    Darth_Invidious and Chewgumma like this.
  6. Chewgumma

    Chewgumma Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Apr 14, 2009
    Seriously? It's not that hard to extrapolate from the sales figures just how much business R* makes from microtransactions.

    Even if every copy of GTAV sold by 2017 went for twice the amount of every copy of the Mario games sold by 2014, with those figures it should only have half of the success. So what does GTAV have that's made it outgross the entire Mario franchise?

     
    Last edited: Aug 6, 2019
    Darth_Invidious likes this.
  7. Darth_Invidious

    Darth_Invidious Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 21, 1999
    That's priviledged Rockstar/Take Two info. They're notorious for being secretive about stuff like that. I mean, why wouldn't you be? Revealing too much info about such revenue streams could attract the wrong sort of attention, regardless of how may loopholes or tax haven you're using.

    There it is, plain as daylight. What accounts for that success? A very lucrative in-game cash shop, plain and simple. If you don't partake in that and take the high road when playing through the game, that's excellent. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. But we honestly don't get why you're in denial about the game's true reason for its continuous financial success.

    If Rockstar were an independent dev with few revenue steams and GTAV was a free to play game, then this probably wouldn't be too much of an issue as long as the game was marketed properly in that regard. Folks like DE can get away with such monetization with their F2P Warframe and now Bungie sorta-kinda-but-not-truly-all-the-way with Destiny now that they thankfully parted ways with Activi$ion. However, Rockstar isn't a small independent developer. It's a dev that's part of a large publisher that really doesn't need such an ubiquitous cash shop inside its full price game. That is an has always been the crux of this discussion.
     
    Chewgumma, Jedi Ben and Bacon164 like this.
  8. antitoxicgamer

    antitoxicgamer Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Sep 9, 2020
    Have you seen GTA 2 movie ?

    In my opinion a GTA movie can work well.
     
    christophero30 likes this.
  9. christophero30

    christophero30 Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    May 18, 2017
    I'm playing GTA Chinatown Wars on the PSP. It's really good.
     
  10. I Are The Internets

    I Are The Internets Shelf of Shame Host star 9 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 20, 2012
    I've been meaning to revisit V. I bought it for the PS4 back in 2016, but I never loaded it up.
     
  11. vin

    vin Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 1999
    I refused to buy it again for PS4 waiting on GTA6 or something new. And I’ll be damned if I buy it again for PS5.
     
    Last edited: Oct 23, 2020
  12. Ahsoka's Tano

    Ahsoka's Tano Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Oct 28, 2014
    If you had it for PS4 you wouldn't have to buy it for PS5.
     
  13. vin

    vin Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 1999
    I had it for PS3 you sonovabish!!!!!!
     
  14. Darth Guy

    Darth Guy Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Aug 16, 2002
    If you bought it for PS5, you wouldn't have to buy it for PS6.
     
    Bacon164 likes this.
  15. Fredrik Vallestrand

    Fredrik Vallestrand Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Jan 15, 2018
    I wonder off how they upgrade for PS5 and what about GTA 6.
     
  16. FatBurt

    FatBurt Sex Scarecrow Vanquisher star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 21, 2003
    GTA 6 map rumors are doing the rounds currently but nothing has been confirmed.

    Personally, I find that a little surprising as whilst I 100% expect GTA6 to be in the pipeline, the release of the Xbox and PS new models is the perfect time to confirm it's pending. We know it is, just let us know for certain

    GTA 5 updated PS3/4 is just poor IMO
     
  17. Fredrik Vallestrand

    Fredrik Vallestrand Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Jan 15, 2018
    I know the red redemption 2 team is behind working on GTA& now so i could see it coming out in 2-3 years.
     
  18. Ahsoka's Tano

    Ahsoka's Tano Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Oct 28, 2014
    I was really addicted to GTAO up until about a year ago when I got RDR2 and especially when I started playing RDO. Lately the only time I go on GTAO is just about once a month since Rockstar is giving out $1m of in-game money each month you log in up until the game is released on the PS5.
     
  19. FatBurt

    FatBurt Sex Scarecrow Vanquisher star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 21, 2003
    I've managed about an hour on GTAO and RDRO before I got bored.

    Give me the story as is and I 'll consider reasonably priced expansions otherwise the online element for me is just bare.
     
  20. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    Ah, but if you had opened your wallet...
     
  21. FatBurt

    FatBurt Sex Scarecrow Vanquisher star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 21, 2003
    I'm not a money tree


    :_|
     
    Last edited: Oct 25, 2020
    Darth Punk and Jedi Ben like this.
  22. Darth Punk

    Darth Punk JCC Manager star 7 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Nov 25, 2013
    Just tried playing this. What an absolute load of ****
     
    blackmyron and Jedi Ben like this.
  23. FatBurt

    FatBurt Sex Scarecrow Vanquisher star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 21, 2003
    Online or Story?
     
  24. blackmyron

    blackmyron Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Oct 29, 2005
    I presume Online? The story for GTA V wasn't terrible (or as boring as GTA IV), but it did highlight why San Andreas was the height of GTA.
     
  25. JoinTheSchwarz

    JoinTheSchwarz Former Head Admin star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 21, 2002
    GTAV is magnificent.