With new forms of distribution for video games come new pricing models. Outlets like Apple’s iOS App Store and digital distribution storefronts like Xbox Live Arcade and PSN are challenging the convention of $60 AAA retail titles, and complicating the already peculiar brand of calculus that gamers use when determining “value”. Why is $1 okay on iPhone but $6 is too expensive? Why is one ten-hour retail game criticized for being “too short” while others aren’t? Why are we so hung up on game length? Join myself and a stellar lineup of panelists as we wrestle with this age-old quandary.
Panelists include:
- Chris Hecker is the sole developer behind SpyParty, the as-yet-undated indie “about human behavior, performance, perception, and deception.”
- Mike Wilford is CEO of Twisted Pixel, the Austin-based developer behind upcoming downloadable titles Ms. Splosion Man and The Gunstringer.
- Albert Reed is the studio director and co-founder of Cambridge-based Demiurge Studios, which has worked on everything from Mass Effect on PC to Borderlands, and its first original IP, the downloadable Shoot Many Robots.
- Chris Grant is a writer who works from home in his pajamas.
The panel takes place at 4:30pm on Sunday, March 13, in the Wyvern Theatre (on the 2nd floor).
PAX East todo: It’s not the Length, it’s the Mirth (Game Length Versus Value) originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 13 Mar 2011 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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