If they make it free they will have the biggest user base of all
Serriously though I'm sure that they have sat down and worked out pricing levels base upon target audience and what levels they predict/want to achieve for return on money.
This product is not tageting computer gamers as such but people that either are thinking of racing RC cars or are already racing RC cars at a serious level. In that case it is probably appropriately priced.
I'd certainly consider signing up if I was thinking of purchasing an RC car with the intent of competing at a serious level. And it has actually got me thinking along those lines when I have never considered it previously I already spend more time than I ought on iRacing though that I should be spending on building my business but hey life shouldn't be all work and no play!
Brings me to a question though Todd, on VRC 3 I see they sold a bundle which included a USB controller I don't see that offered on the info page of VRC Pro. Is it still available for VRC Pro as a package?
The cost of this game per year it's close to being MORE than the cost of running a nitro car at a local RC track per year, and WAY more than the running cost of an electric car over the space of THREE years.
You have to evaluate if it is worth it for you and if not don't buy it like any other product
I personally can see some value if I were racing Nitro road RC or something similar, when you consider all the costs including wear n tear, event fees, travel, preperation time, etc. But I can certainly see it wouldn't be for everyone. In a quick browse around RC forums here in Australia I see that a tight budget is $50 per race weekend and could easly be double that.
If I wanted to run 1/8 nitro road though my nearest track is 200km away so my travel costs alone would be $50 a weekend! Sucks to be so remote sometimes, one reason race sims are so attractive, you have access to many tracks instantly 24/7.
The cost effectiveness is always going to depend on an individuals circumstances.
I'm thrilled to finally learn after twelve years of writing and selling software that reducing the price of a product has a general tendency to increase the number of sales of that product. I was thinking we should set the price at $100,000,000,000,000,000 per month at a bare minimum so we would all get super rich really fast and buy matching pink Prius's (fabulous!). Plus, how cool would it be to pay off the US national debt single handedly and still have enough money left over to buy everyone in the world a Ferrari and a mansion and their own space shuttle and a live dinosaur? RAaaar!! Man, the ladies I'd get...
I wouldn't forget about the brains and talent behind LFS either. I planned on buying everyone 1000 copies of LFS so those guys get super rich too. Since they wouldn't need or care about money anymore in the slightest, they could develop LFS S3 and just give it away for free to everybody!
Now that you mention it, I guess at that price we'd probably only sell 5 copies or so. That would hardly be worth it. At $1 we'd sell probably about 6 copies. That's a lot better because it's more people buying it. Thanks for setting me straight. I need to start thinking long term.
Alright, alright, that was a bit harsh. I'm just having some fun. Don't take it to heart or too personally. That was a pretty funny comment you made though because it is so obviously true. I just couldn't help myself
Anyway, back to Earth: I'm not sure what type of RC cars you're referring to. Some of the cars these guys run cost $3000 or more fully equipped at the world and European championship levels and spend thousands per year on this hobby. A lot of them do it professionally. Somebody who spends $300 to $800 on an engine that lasts maybe 10 hours doesn't generally flinch at $15/month to race on days when they aren't doing the real thing.
Some people will think the prices are way too high, others won't. Same with every product and service. That's ok and so is voicing an opinion on the matter.
(There are even a few people who think LFS is too expensive. I quickly gave up trying to figure that one out )
Glenn: I don't know what they're going to do with the VRC USB adaptor. They were kicking around the idea of including an adaptor for free with one or more of the packages, but don't know what was decided. I don't think there's even a link there yet at the new site to buy the adaptor at all.
As much as I love RC's (though not really the tarmac/carpet track type) I really can't be bothered to pay that much. The physics didn't look all that convincing in the trailer either.
Well the cars look like toy cars with almost no inertia. Which is exactly what they are, so I'd say that's good. If they looked anything like regular cars in motion there be a real problem!
In the sim, it looks like there's some odd bodyroll and tire grip going on in the corners. Hard to say for sure without having a hands on. But enough of all that. There are never too many RC games/sims around, so let's hope this one will kick off nicely.
Well real rc can certainly be cheaper if you never buy new tires, never buy fuel and never break anything on the car. Never pay track fees, never use your real car to get to the track. And you get your car for free from somewhere.
Just buying few spare sets of tires, some basic tools and accesories will get you over 179/2 = 95€ per year. Do you think it is free to go drive on your local track? Can you drive full season without ever changing shock fluids, diff fluids or even breaking anything? Do tires last full (2) seasons?
Depends on the track owners, but you can make a track on a smooth carpark on a Sunday night, or use an indoor warehouse. Compared with iRacing (which i thoroughly hate for its price) it's a rip off, iRacing simulates race days in cars that you couldn't even afford to BUY let alone run..