Seems like the gaming gods themselves have come down in mortal form and taken the time to read my last post. Either that or someone at Atari agrees with the general sentiment that next-gen gamers are expressing regarding the higher costs of games on consoles versus the PC versions. Whatever the case, the recent announcement by Atari that Test Drive Unlimited will be selling at the lower price of $39.99 is like mana from Heaven for gamers on a budget. I’m not sure what the motivation is for this, but it sure is appreciated.

Atari, as most are aware, has not been having a great time of things lately. Profits are down, critical acclaim is down, and investor blood pressures are up. Needing a hit in the worst way, they have been spending the time to apply many coats of polish to their massive Maui online driving game. Having played the downloadable demo on XBox Live during E3 and eagerly soaked up all the screen shots and videos they have released, my personal level of anticipation for this game has reached its peak. This price point is just the icing on the cake. With the amount of topography to explore, the incredible detail in the vehicles (both cars and motorcycles), the ability to buy cars, houses and clothes, and a form a massively multiplayer online racing, Atari looks set to break the mold for the first time. From my limited experience with the other Test Drive games from years gone by, I think they just may have a genuine hit on their hands for the first time.

Selling at a lower cost is a gamble, especially for a company that is in desperate need of profits. However, if they can convince enough gamers sitting on the fence to drop some coin and give the game a shot at a lower cost, perhaps they will love it and word of mouth advertising will result in more sales…. and more profits. I am really hoping that turns out to be the case, because from what I can see, this game deserves to sell a truckload of copies, and Atari deserves a real financial boost for the extra care they are taking with it, and the favour they are doing gamers with the price point.

Think, also, of the future. If the game sells really well other publishers may reconsider their price points. Selling 750,000 copies of a $39.99 game still beats selling 200,000 copies of a $59.99 game. You can be sure Rockstar got some notice for what they did recently, and a few more success stories may just bring about a change… so buy a copy. I’ll see you online.

- Martin VanWoudenberg