How come shop price is €30<=> steam €20?

[chimera]

How come the shop price of darwinia (if you order it in a CD case) is €30 whilst the steam version is €20? Is it solely to cover the box and CD costs?

By the way... I'm thinking of buying the game, are there still some people playing this game cos I would want to release some levels I create with the map editor. I like level editing very much with other games so I probably like this one also. But... if there is no one to play my levels, well then it's no use in making them right? So is there still some activity here?

(why do I always buy the game about a year later when it's released? Same thing happened with uplink, and still... was a beta tester for darwinia)

[Leonaken]

Oh hell yea people still play this and do mods. Though the mod/level scene has always been pretty low-key.

As far as pricing at a brick-and-mortar game shop is concerned, I have no idea. IV just stuck a deal for retail distribution in the US for a higher price than on Steam, though it does come with some bonus merchandise.

[Montyphy]

You also have to take into consideration the shop is likely to have large overheads. Shelf space isn't free afterall.

Plus, the shop wants to get as much as they can out of you. Its nothing new that you can often find better deals online these days.

[hitm4n]

Manufacturing costs, printing costs, distribution costs, shop markup, VAT, taxes, etc etc. All passed on to the consumer. Thats why buying online almost always saves you money. I thought the reason for this price difference would be pretty obvious really...

[trickfred]

Manufacturing costs, printing costs, distribution costs, shop markup, VAT, taxes, etc etc. All passed on to the consumer. Thats why buying online almost always saves you money. I thought the reason for this price difference would be pretty obvious really...

Not everyone is wise in the mysterious ways of retail manufacturing. *shrug*

Most people think anything they buy in a store just grows on a tree somewhere fully formed; boxes and plastic packages containing consumer fruit ripe for plucking. My kid thinks you squeeze hamburgers out of a cow the same way you squeeze milk out of one (I also don't think he sees the correlation between 'chicken' and 'chickens').

[hitm4n]

a lack off educashun i gess.