Jaffe: Gamers "should feel that they're getting great value"

Eat Sleep Play boss David Jaffe has warned the games industry not to take pricing complaints too lightly.

The God of War creator said the used games market is a symptom of gamers' general unhappiness with how much their hobby costs.

"Consumers feel games are too expensive and they shouldn't have to care about the machine behind the scenes of how they get their games," Jaffe told GamesIndustry.

"They should feel that they're getting great value for what they spend. They should feel that they're being respected by the people who make the games and that they're being entertained well beyond what they paid for their entertainment."

Jaffe said digital distribution will probably equalise the market eventually, but in the meantime, the industry needs to focus on keeping consumers happy.

"I think it's going to be a lot of pushing and pulling and changing to find something that feels fair and respectful. But I think the big thing that we have to listen to - it doesn't matter how this gets solved or what Sony does or Microsoft does - what does matter is that we need to listen to what the customer is saying," he said.

"The customer is basically saying they're cynical, they think we're greedy, and they think they're not getting value for their dollar."

While the designer acknowledges some consumers will never be satisfied he feels the industry doesn't give current dissatisfaction enough credence.

"However the specifics of this get worked out, I think we really need to hear - it's like, wow. The customers aren't happy," he sad.

"I do think some of them who are complaining about pricing, we should listen. It's at our peril that we ignore that part of the conversation. We can disagree with their solution while still fully embracing the emotional component, which is that they feel that they're getting the shaft more often than they should, which really should be never."