Budget range
Budget range is the name given to software (usually video games) that are sold for a fraction (usually less than half) of a regular product price. While most of the software released under budget range are re-releases of successful products (such as Sony's Platinum Range), other labels (usually smaller, localized or "value" labels of larger companies) release their new games at budget prices to gather a broader audience.
Although bigger companies have their own labels, most budget releases are done by third party companies, who acquire the rights of successful titles released long after the originals have disappeared from the stores, and re-sell them (often as shovelware), usually without printed manuals, replaced by PDF versions on-disk and a drastically changed cover (or simply framed inside the labels' standard box art). The same games might also appear on gaming magazines as covermount.
Although the market is quite small when compared to full priced games, budget releases allow players to replace CDs of an out of print original release, try games without resorting to software piracy and purchasing games missed when originally released.
Player's Choice games on the Super NES and Nintendo 64 had to be million sellers before becoming Player's Choice titles, although that practice seems to have been discontinued in recent years with games frequently becoming part of the budget range without being million sellers.
Examples of budget re-release ranges[edit]
- Codemasters: Bestsellers
- Eidos Interactive: Eidos Ricochet
- Electronic Arts: EA Classics
- Empire Interactive: xplosiv
- Infogrames: Best of Infogrames and RePlay
- Mastertronic: Sold-Out Software
- Microsoft Studios / Xbox: Platinum Hits, Xbox Classics and Platinum Collection
- Nintendo: New Play Control! and Nintendo Selects (formerly Player's Choice)
- Sierra: Best Seller Series and Originals
- Sony Computer Entertainment / PlayStation: Greatest Hits, Essentials (formerly Platinum), The Best (formerly PS one Books) and BigHit Series
- Square Enix: Legendary Hits and Ultimate Hits
- Taito: Eternal Hits
- U.S. Gold: Kixx
- Virgin Interactive: White Label
- ZOO Digital Publishing: Classics
Examples of Budget-priced new releases[edit]
- Activision Value label
- Dinamic Software games (now defunct)
- City Interactive pl:City Interactive [1] European Publisher
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