Is the game REALLY worth $125.00?

I love sims, I really do so please be totally honest when replying to this. Is the game (with honest answers only) truely worth $125.00? I mean a person could buy a very nice video card for that amount of money or even two Xbox 360 games or 3-4 PC games. That is a WHOLE lot of money for game, IMHO. So is it really truely honestly worth it? I mean SHIII is considered a ground breaking Naval sim in regards to graphics and replayability considering it has a very nice random and dynamic campaign but IT only cost me $40.00 when I bought it brand new. It lacks in a few areas and not everything was or still is implemented into it the way I believe it was really meant to be (Considering UBIsoft wanted to get it out on the market ASAP and rushed their developers). Dangerous waters seems like a better comparison IMO to Steel Beasts Pro Edition. It is not the most remarkable graphically enhanced sim I have seen but the most sophisticated and educational. That game cost about $65.00 when I bought it from Battlefront.com about a year ago and I thought that was expensive but I had the money and hadn't bought anything for myself for awhile. But $65.00 is bearable IMO but it MUST be a truely remarkable game for it to cost that much. Only the most overhyped games and some of them are good don't take me wrong ever cost more than about $60.00-$75.00 considering DOOM III DVD Jewel case only cost me about $60.00 dollars when I bought it and same with COD2 which cost me $54.00. Those games were created by some TOP NOTCH companies with solid backgrounds in game developement and seemed somewhat reasonable but a bit pricey to me at even that amount.

So now I debate with myself "Is SBPE truely honestly worth the money". Honestly to myself I have to say "NO" and let this one go since I feel as though I'd be ripped off by paying that much for it. The graphics look 'OK' but they aren't the best I have seen, the gameplay is probably "Excellent" but even the gameplay in the original Steel Beast game was "Excellent" so why bother paying more money for what I already have? The ability to command several types of platforms is nice, but I would be happy with just one platform if that would knock the the price down about $80.00. I guess there is a limit for everyone and I guess $80.00 is as high as I would pay for a game in my life unless it was some next gen game from the year 2025 or something when inflation has increased to the place that it is common to buy a game at $125.00 which is the equivalent of todays $45.00-$50.00 margin.

[CCIP]

Perhaps one argument to disagree on this is if you stop treating it as a game and think of it as a "commercially-available version of a professional military training tool".

Personally, knowing the replay value and depth that sims have, I'd say a good sim is worth those 3 console games. If a polished version of SHIII sold for $125, I'd buy it, because it's worth that much in terms of value.

I don't think it's a rip-off. You get what you pay for. If you want a professional sim, you won't mind paying that. If you don't, buy those 3 other games and be happy. Everything is ruled by supply and demand. If the game's developers worried about low demand, they'd drop their price. But they aren't, this isn't even really their job, their job is making sims for the military - this is more of a "by the way" offshoot. Can you get this anywhere else, for any other price? I don't think so. So, it's put up or do without.

Personally, I'll find out if it's worth it once I get a job. That said, I've spent a lot of money on sims up to date (including controllers and other hardware I bought specifically for it, I must have shelled out a good $300 on Falcon 4.0), and I never regretted it!

[TteFAboB]

If you saved $125 every month (and kept the inflation from eating that) by 2025 you'd have $28,500, enough to build your own LAN House and command your friends on your own virtual tank platoon, or not, if 2025 is a post-thermonuclear-war world, then you'd probably have to buy a real [refurbished] M1A2 (equipped with a laser-cannon) instead to defend your local clan against mutant bandit raiders.

I'm buying SPB because I'm not buying a bunch of other games. After being severely dissapointed by "Battlefront II", "Republic Commando", "Empire at War" (modding might save this one), partially "Black & White 2" and others, I don't go out and buy every single good-looking game I see, as I know most games won't offer more than 3 months of gameplay. To me that is the key, replayability.

I'm still playing Jagged Alliance 2 (heavily modded), that game is worth $125 but if I remember I payed $19 for it.

I'm still playing X-Com:Ufo Defense (necrophiliac) and Terror from the Deep every now and then, those games, with horrible graphics, are worth $125 but I payed less than $20 again.

I've been playing X-Wing vs Tie Fighter since 1997 (and the previous ones before that), I don't even remember how much I payed for it but I know it was cheap, adding the Balance of Power expansion and the last game X-Wing:Alliance the total is still below $125. I have the original CD here, it's so old and has been spinning [very] hot for so long the colors are fading away.

If SBP will provide me entertainment for many years to come, it's worth it, because while I'm busy with it, I won't buy the latest shoe-box crappy First Person Shooter and spare myself from the dissapointment and save my money.

[3Star]

What the others said. It's a MilSpec sim, and is deliberately priced to make the casual gamer think twice about spending the money to buy it. Otherwise, it will be compared with other, run-of-the-mill games, and will then be slated for having moderate graphics, no campaign, and so on. Which are the last two things that the military are interested in. Thus, Esim decided that they would rather discourage such people from buying it, than to sell them to all and sundry, only to have people find out it wasn't what they thought it would be.

SB1 was the best play-hours-per-dollar I've ever bought. SBP/PE probably would come in pretty close. Basically, it's a niche piece of software. If you're looking for a traditional game, wait a year or two for SB2 to come out.

NTM

[frog7]

Can some of the people who as this sim tell us what they think of it ......id like to hear more..iv read the review and it does look good id also like to know what spec people are playing it on...

[kaptkirkU4467]

Old tankers save money for sims like this..I'm upto $40 now.

After reading several reviews of the game I understand it is NOT a game and is a military grade simulator. But the same arguement could be used for Dangerous Waters and it on release was only half the cost of Steel Beasts Pro Edition. However, I am still struggling with myself on whether or not to buy it at this $125.00 cost or to wait for cost to drop a bit. Dangerous Waters was picked up by another company and now it sells for nearly half of what Battlefront.com sold it for (From $65.00 down to $30.00 in less than a year). So I am just wondering if I shouldn't just wait for awhile and pay less for it. Plus by then there should be more updates for it and possible mods, so I would be getting the sim that some of you have now and then some for a LOT cheaper cost. So I won't let this one go forever but just for a year if it takes that for it to drop in price. If it doesn't drop that just means I will have to save about $10.42 a month for a year ($125.04) and get it then. Heck, I've already waited a long time for this sim, I guess I can wait a little longer. Well, back to SHIII and Dangerous Waters for me for awhile I suppose

[Raploc]

News Flash!! No you will have to pay $125 to get it. No short cuts. Comparing Dangerous Waters to SBPe is like comparing Counter Strike to VSB1.

[3Star]

With all due respect to DW, which I have, the two are not comparable. One is a mass-market game which relies heavily on real-world techniques, (and, frankly, is flawed/buggy), the other is a sim which approximates about as close as possible the individual mechanics of the different types of vehicles to a level of fidelity and reliability that is suitable for the primary customer's military use. Basically, when the US or any other navy in the world starts to use DW as an officially sanctioned training tool, get back to me. SBP is being used to keep soldiers alive. That's how good it is.

My experience to DW is exactly the opposite of what a lot of people will find for SB: I bought DW expecting a high-fidelity simulator, instead, I found a relatively shallow game. Esim are worried that people will be looking for a game, and instead get a high-fi sim.

NTM

[Skybird]

I did an interview with Ssnake, technical director of eSim, it will be released in some days, it depends on Neal. Ssnake will explain some views of the military what makes SBP attractive for them. Some pof his remarks were very surprising.

I must agree with 3star on what he said about DW and SBP. DW is a game with very strong sim-elements, and it was deliberately designed to be a game package, although for a niche-market. It is, imo, more bugged then SBP (although not that much like SC was). SBP is a professional training tool, and has no feature that was designed with a possebility of a game-release in mind. It also is in a technically better shape and condition, only one medium-to-heavy category bug, and a small handful of very minor ones, some of which evcen are not confirmed to be bugs appearing on all systems.

What also is a big difference is the customer service that Sonalysts and eSim are doing, and which made me turning away from Sonalysts, finally. SA is a defense contractor, and is the far bigger company of the two. eSim also is a defense contractor, although not on the scale like SA and in a different understanding, and it is much smaller. Nevertheless, although not having released a game, it's technical support, judged by the fast patching of SB1, and their published plans for supporting SBP, is far superior to SA - who is not able to have it's baby gotten into shape even after over one year. It also failed to do a thorough job with patching SC, which also was not substantially patched before over one year had gone by, despite the presence of some real showstoppers. Although smaller, eSim has the willingness to take better care of it's community, not only in terms of forum presence (which rivales that of SA easily, at any time, since years), but in deeds. They even halted all military offers of more lucrative contracts just to get the job with SBP PE done. That is what I call dedication to customers.



Okay, I expected that a comparison between SC/DW and SBP would come up on this board sooner or later, and I said what I have to say, and other did that, too. But we do not want a forum war here about people's preferences for this or that sim of their choice. So I would like to see this comparison beeing left behind now.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by SubSerpent

After reading several reviews of the game I understand it is NOT a game and is a military grade simulator. But the same arguement could be used for Dangerous Waters and it on release was only half the cost of Steel Beasts Pro Edition. However, I am still struggling with myself on whether or not to buy it at this $125.00 cost or to wait for cost to drop a bit. Dangerous Waters was picked up by another company and now it sells for nearly half of what Battlefront.com sold it for (From $65.00 down to $30.00 in less than a year). So I am just wondering if I shouldn't just wait for awhile and pay less for it. Plus by then there should be more updates for it and possible mods, so I would be getting the sim that some of you have now and then some for a LOT cheaper cost. So I won't let this one go forever but just for a year if it takes that for it to drop in price. If it doesn't drop that just means I will have to save about $10.42 a month for a year ($125.04) and get it then. Heck, I've already waited a long time for this sim, I guess I can wait a little longer. Well, back to SHIII and Dangerous Waters for me for awhile I suppose

Box-release of SBP: read my lips: IT WILL NOT HAPPEN. you could wait for SB2, not before 2008 I expect, but that is a more game-like and less-detailed package than SBP. Again: there will be no box-release of SBP. They do not expect high sale snumbers. The price is due too the anticipated small sale number.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by 3Star

What the others said. It's a MilSpec sim, and is deliberately priced to make the casual gamer think twice about spending the money to buy it. Otherwise, it will be compared with other, run-of-the-mill games, and will then be slated for having moderate graphics, no campaign, and so on. Which are the last two things that the military are interested in. Thus, Esim decided that they would rather discourage such people from buying it, than to sell them to all and sundry, only to have people find out it wasn't what they thought it would be.

SB1 was the best play-hours-per-dollar I've ever bought. SBP/PE probably would come in pretty close. Basically, it's a niche piece of software. If you're looking for a traditional game, wait a year or two for SB2 to come out.

NTM

The price was not calculated to scare gamers away. It simply is the minimum price at which they could do such a limited release. Noone ever exopected a mass-succeess. To use their own words: "what we have is a dedicated sim for the military and professionals. All we do is this: we just do not stop civilians to buy it."

[Mylo42]

This may sound odd but....

.....I was very excited about the fact that SBP was $125. This price tag supports the reviews on the sim in that....this is not just another game out there, but is, in fact, something different, something more substantial, ...a REAL sim if you will. Of course it's going to cost more, I would expect nothing less. If SBP was $65 I would have thought to myself, "Ya....military training aid my arse....what kind of military training aid can you buy for $65 ?" Again, the fact that it is twice that much at least gives me hope that it is for real. In all honesty, I would have put the price of a real military training aid closer to $500 so, I'm quite pleased with a $125 price tag.

As for the graphics of SBP and their "dated" appearance in some areas ? Again, sounding odd but, this too made me think that perhaps SBP is a REAL sim. I figure a REAL sim would make the graphics as good as they need to be and focus more dev resources on getting the thing to work right. Too much "eye candy" scares me, it makes me doubt the title's value as a simulation. If that's not the case with SBP, all the better.

I would buy 3 or 4 $125 simulations any day of the week and leave the $65 "games" for someone else. That's still only $500 for hours, hours, and .....hours of entertainment and educational value. I certainly don't need the latest and greatest in Hollywood pyrotechnics to keep my interest either.

Kudos eSIM, you've got my money.

Mylo42

Yeah but it isn't too real after all. I just noted in a movie clip that Skybird posted up that someone else made showing a TOW hitting a few twigs hanging from a tree branch and exploding - NOT destroying the twigs or the tree at all. The troops in the game look like something from a 1980's PC game and haven't really been improved upon since SB1 which intially cost the public on release way less than $125.00 and that too was claimed to be a "military trainer". Obviously the game is not worth $125.00 considering MS Flight Sim 2005 is used to train real pilots how to fly and has WAY better graphics and modeling than SBPE. Not to mention that upon release was only $50.00 up to $65.00 for the Tin Case version. Those of you that insist that the game is worth every penny are lying to yourselves and know better but don't have the guts or are too spoiled to admit when you are wrong. There was no more put into the making of SBPE than any other simulator on the market - probably even less. Of course the company is going to tell you that it is geared towards the militaries of the world and that it's not a sim for the casual gamer but think about this. Why would the worlds militarys use a PC sim to train with when they have the real deal on the field? It's just a ploy to suck you into paying $125.00 suckers. You just watch, in a few months the company will need and want more money so they will reduce costs to get a profit. The US would never buy this considering they can make their own. Look at America's Army - developed by the United States Army and is considered a FPS and infantry simulator! I honestly think that $125.00 is an incredible figure for a piece of software that isn't an operating system or some type of developement software. Another thing. The players tank is way too nurfed. How is it that an enemy tank can fire round after round at the players tank and yet it stays intact. To be a true simulator that means that the players tank should only be able to sustain as much damage as one of the enemy NPC tanks. Difficulty settings should be an option considering that in real life it would only take about 1 round to take out your tank and crew. Another thing I've noticed is that the tanks in the sim glide across the ground and don't appear to follow the terrain as if it is light as a feather. My guess is that those of you that paid $125.00 for it wish you had back at least $60.00 of it if not more. If the company was smart they would have tried to reach the masses with the sim and sold it for a reasonable price from the beginning.

[Pinetree]

Originally Posted by SubSerpent

Yeah but it isn't too real after all. I just noted in a movie clip that Skybird posted up that someone else made showing a TOW hitting a few twigs hanging from a tree branch and exploding - NOT destroying the twigs or the tree at all. The troops in the game look like something from a 1980's PC game and haven't really been improved upon since SB1 which intially cost the public on release way less than $125.00 and that too was claimed to be a "military trainer". Obviously the game is not worth $125.00 considering MS Flight Sim 2005 is used to train real pilots how to fly and has WAY better graphics and modeling than SBPE. Not to mention that upon release was only $50.00 up to $65.00 for the Tin Case version. Those of you that insist that the game is worth every penny are lying to yourselves and know better but don't have the guts or are too spoiled to admit when you are wrong. There was no more put into the making of SBPE than any other simulator on the market - probably even less. Of course the company is going to tell you that it is geared towards the militaries of the world and that it's not a sim for the casual gamer but think about this. Why would the worlds militarys use a PC sim to train with when they have the real deal on the field? It's just a ploy to suck you into paying $125.00 suckers. You just watch, in a few months the company will need and want more money so they will reduce costs to get a profit. The US would never buy this considering they can make their own. Look at America's Army - developed by the United States Army and is considered a FPS and infantry simulator!

Are you being serious or are you trolling for trolling's sake? M$FS had a staff of how many to develop it? eSim have a programming staff of 1.