[BigJMoney]

Talley, I think all your points make sense, especially your statement about supply and demand, but consider this: Dominions is an infinitely replayable game. Why lower the price, ever? Do you see the price of Risk or Axis & Allies being lowered? Using the computer as a medium, strategy games are taken to a level that a board and table-top war game can never achieve. The only loss is the ability to physically hold and touch the property you own, and to sit down with companions to play in person. I think the gains at least equal the losses. My point is, if they feel their product has that kind of value, there is no reason to lower it just because several years of other kinds of video game marketing has done so. Also, not all video games come down in price very much, anyway. I was in Best Buy the other day and was surprised to see how much Rise of Nations was still going for, and that's a game that I don't feel is as satisfying to play multiple times as Dominions.

You talk about "production values", but it's the value to the customer that's important. Graphics are highly, highly overrated in the strategy gaming genre. I think what you're seeing is a kind of rebound. Since its inception, the video game market has seen a steady increase in the quality of graphical presentation, so it's become habit to expect it. However, I think many people are starting to break the habit and find value in other things.

Look at the pen and paper RPG market and how expensive their books are...books! Yet, people do place high value on them. Nobody can say if Shrapnel is at the correct place on the supply and demand curve except maybe their accountants, but I don't think things are as incorrect as you believe. Maybe it's different from the norm, but not incorrect. Buying this game will prevent me from buying some other games that are going to be cheaper and made by more established companies. So be it.

[Edit: More established companies is incorrect! I should have said, more prominent or well-known companies.]

=$= Big J Money =$=