Red Dead Redemption: John and Arthur Collection price leave fans upset
Red Dead Redemption series stands as one of Rockstar Games’ crown jewels; an astounding achievement considering GTA is also in their catalog of titles.
Red Dead Revolver first kicked off its series back in 2004 for PS2 and Xbox. Though Red Dead Revolver may seem linear at first, its western-themed antics with an iconic figure such as Clint Eastwood in mind provided an ideal base to build upon later on in Red Dead series.
Red Dead Redemption was first released for PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2010 for both platforms, featuring John Marston as both an often cruel but ultimately charming protagonist. Set during the decline of American frontier life in 1911, RDR follows John’s journey as he attempts to live an honest family life while leaving Dutch’s Van der Linde Gang of outlaws behind; unfortunately for John though, these plans often fall through; after all this is Rockstar Games after all!
Red Dead Redemption 2 arrived in 2018 as an unexpected prequel to its 2010 predecessor, Red Dead Redemption. Instead of following in its footsteps directly, we played as Arthur Morgan engulfed by Dutch van der Linde gang shenanigans that involved John Marston as well. RDR2 proved itself as an exceptional sequel: it not only retained an engaging story from its predecessor’s world view and activities compared with RDR1, but was larger, better with new activities included and still looks stunning today!
Recently, Red Dead Redemption was re-released for PlayStation 4 with backwards compatibility to PlayStation 5. Furthermore, Nintendo Switch owners could enjoy playing this classic on-the-go!
Yet some fans were disappointed to discover the re-release of RDR was mostly just a basic port without multiplayer support, unlike its backwards-compatible Xbox version; particularly as its RRP of PS40/$50 USD was considered commercially accurate by Take-Two Interactive CEO John Rizzo; though at least this re-release comes bundled with Undead Nightmare expansion for added fun!
Rockstar Games saw this as an opportunity to capitalize on Red Dead Redemption’s re-release by offering a bundle containing both games – but fans were unsatisfied with what was offered: PS86.73/$99.97 USD for Xbox players at time of writing for digital copies!
Even though this bundle is selling for its full retail price – including both Undead Nightmare expansion and Red Dead Online – it should also be remembered that both games regularly appear in sales at significantly reduced prices; I picked up RDR with Undead Nightmare for about PS10 when it first released some years back; RDR2 usually goes for PS20 to PS25 so taking the plunge at this price may not be wise, regardless of how great both titles may be.
Fans have expressed displeasure with the maximum RRP price of Red Dead Redemption bundle.
“Spend only $100? What an unbelievable steal!” exclaimed @XeoMafia when responding to Idle Sloth’s tweet about two games costing $100 each; another respondent noted, however, “I love both games but think that each should come closer to $60 in price” while @TheLife0fJustin voiced similar sentiments on this thread. This seems to be an ongoing discussion about pricing on gaming systems.
One Twitter follower noted that this bundle can also be found at PlayStation, with PS Plus subscribers eligible for discounts: “$66.99 on PlayStation Store for PS+ members (still too much imo)”, as tweeted @kayjune.
At the end of the day, however, whether or not a product offers value for money depends entirely on each individual’s subjective perspective. Therefore, waiting until there’s an exciting sale may still be beneficial if purchasing both Red Dead Redemption titles at once.
Red Dead Redemption can now be found across PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch; its sequel can also be found across PC, PlayStation and Xbox platforms.
