The Pound Per Hour Scheme

The question of whether X price is worth the content of Y game is constantly brought up. Is the game's price worth the content you are getting from a game?

In recent game releases to spark this debate, Evolve has hit the shelves. Evolve is a multiplayer game featuring a unique four VS one (4 v 1) system of which the 4 players are hunters and the lone player is a monster. 

The game has been priced at £34.99 or your regional equivalent and with it comes the following:

- 4 Classes; Assault, Trapper, Support, Medic

   -  12 hunters, 3 per class. With each hunter doing the same job but with different methods.                      (eventually to be 16, 4 per class)

- 4 Monsters; Goliath, Kraken, Wraith and the unreleased Behemoth (Eventually will be 5 monsters)

- 4 Game modes; Nest, Defend, Hunt, Rescue which can be all experienced in a pseudo-campaign             known as evacuation of which after each round, different effects apply to the next round to mix           the game up a bit.

- Eventually 12 maps (all free)

A lot of people are complaining about the price to content ratio regarding Evolve, saying that with the current content available the price tag of £34.99 is not justified. Many can understand this, both sides of the argument. My opinion is that the value of an entertainment product is subjective to each individual and to apply a logical "yes or no" to illogically created products, is illogical in itself and there is no real definition of what is worth it and what is not; everyone to their own.

To settle this for myself, I use a scheme that I created for myself. I call it the Pound per Hour Scheme. When I buy a game, I expect to get 1 hour of gameplay for every £ (pound) I have paid to acquire the game. Let's take an example; I paid £29.99 for The Elderscrolls: Skyrim and I have played it for 1,500 hours. By far I got my money's worth from Skyrim. Let's take another example; the recently released Dying Light by Techland. I paid £39.99 and an extra £15.99 for the season pass, totaling to £55.98. I have played Dying light for 90 hours thus far, and intend to play it more; I have already gotten my money's worth from this game. I have Evolve, and thus far I have played it for 15 hours, I have not gotten my money's worth yet but I intend to play it a lot more and see no problems in getting my money's worth from this game yet. It is a very unique game and I do not intend to put the game down just yet, especially as I am playing with friends which greatly increases the enjoyment I get from the game.

I hope that by explaining how I value a game with my scheme, others can learn from this and come to value a game for themselves using either my system or their own way of valuing. I just thought I would make this blog post as a couple of friends said they really liked the Pound per Hour scheme I told them I was using, in order to value a game.

But above all, value a game for yourselves and form your own opinion; variety is the spice of life. The more opinions, the more spice so to speak.