26 replies to this topic

[onlysublime]

I still remember one of the first Street Fighter 2 games for the SNES costing $75.  ahh...  good times.

[RickR]

That's what makes it so satisfying to find these item for cheap at thrift stores.

[WispFollower]

Wow, what made them think Street Fighter Alpha 2 and NBA Hangtime were worth that much more than the other games?

Edited by WispFollower, Mon Dec 17, 2012 11:10 PM.

[Foxsolo2000]

Snes games in the UK were ridicously expensive for Street Fighter 2 was £70 UK sterling at the time. It was one of the reasons why I never possessed a Snes when it first came out

[Metal Ghost]

I can't remember the year....probably right around the turn of the century (and that doesn't feel wierd 'saying'!) and playing Conker's Bad Fur Day with a buddy.  Absolutely fell in love with that game and just had to have it.  Then I saw how much it was going for at Toys R Us....something like $70.  Now at this point I had already graduated college and was working, but I still couldn't bring myself to spend $70 on a game (which I've long since gotten over at least with L.E.'s, but I digress ).  And this was way at the end of the N64's life, there'd be like 5 games left on display, and there'd be Conker still selling for $70!  I did end up getting it eventually in a brick and morter, but it took a lot of patience.

[cimerians]

I was PC gaming mostly at this time so I didn't really follow what was going on with Nintendo anymore other than noticing 70 dollar price tags on Shadows of the Empire at local malls. Actually I think I had a Saturn and a Playstation at this time and ended up playing the PS1 for years.

[Reaperman]

My first reaction was that I'd give them $100 for the lot.  But then considering that they're sealed and new, a couple of those saturn games might still be somewhat fair prices.

[Ransom]

Yeah, they really never have been cheap as far as first-run stuff.  Prices came down for each of the consoles over time,  of course.  But imagine spending $200 in 1977 for a VCS.  That's more than $700 in today's money!  All so you could play Combat.  But at least you got two joysticks and a pair of paddles in the package.

[godslabrat]

Ransom, on Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:33 AM, said:

Yeah, they really never have been cheap as far as first-run stuff.  Prices came down for each of the consoles over time,  of course.  But imagine spending $200 in 1977 for a VCS.  That's more than $700 in today's money!  All so you could play Combat.  But at least you got two joysticks and a pair of paddles in the package.

It's really hard to get a perspective on how expensive/cheap these things have become.  Notice that a current system then was about $200, but $400 is not unexpected today.  That's double the price.  The games, however, are still about the same price.  Inflation is tough to calculate too... If an Atari was really worth $700 in today's money, would anyone have bought one in 1977, during the "recession"?  Tons of people had Ataris, so it doesn't make sense that it would cost more than a half-decent used car.

[moycon]

godslabrat, on Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:49 AM, said:

If an Atari was really worth $700 in today's money, would anyone have bought one in 1977, during the "recession"?

In the early 1960s a hi-fi console with speakers was $500, a 17" portable TV (B&W) was $150 and still people bought them. $500 probably was more than the cost of a used car at that time.

Besides that, just because a country is in a "recession" doesn't mean people can't buy things!

[Ransom]

No matter what, parents will try to find a way to buy their kids toys. . That said, I didn't get a 2600 until a few years later.  My friend got one that first Christmas they were available, though, the lucky bum.

[VW]

I remember Mortal Kombat II costing almost $80 for the Genesis when I bought it in the mid '90s, but my friends and I definitely got my money's worth out of that game.  I mostly did PC gaming in the '90s and remember most new games cost $50 then, interestingly the same amount most new PC games cost today.

[Nuclear Pacman]

Game prices have remained steady. The thing is that we've been repeatedly promised cheaper games with each new delivery system. We were promised cheaper retail prices with CDs and DVDs due to 'cheaper manufacturing costs', but that never really happened. I think alot of people took that to mean $30 new launch titles and such. I'm not sure what the inflation rate has been over the last decade, but if games remain around $60 all the time I don't really have too much of a problem with that, as long as I'm still getting a physical copy. Now, $50-60 for new download only games, if that is the future then count me out.

[onlysublime]

where do you get $50-60 for a downloadable game????

the most expensive game on demand is $30.

[BydoEmpire]

Games were definitely getting expensive in the 90s, but a lot cheaper in the 80s if you don't consider inflation (which isn't really fair of course).  Most 2600 stuff was around $30 (and so were a lot of early NES titles).  Raiders of the Lost Ark was an expensive game at $39.99, but of course, factor inflation and that kind of blows up.  However, in the late 70s and early 80s games were new and exciting.  It was amazing tech to have right in your home.

[Gabriel]

onlysublime, on Tue Dec 18, 2012 5:18 PM, said:

where do you get $50-60 for a downloadable game????

the most expensive game on demand is $30.

I recently purchased Warriors Orochi 3 on the PS3.  The NA version of the game is download only and is $50.  The PS3 NA version of Record of Agarest War was also a $40 PSN only game.  There are others, but those are the two I can think of right off the top of my head.

[onlysublime]

yikes!  I can't believe there are some games that expensive for download only.  I've shopped for GoD games on the Xbox and never saw prices like that.

yeah, for that price, it'd have to be a real physical disc.

[Emehr]

When physical media becomes phased out you can bet that console games will maintain their $50-60 price tag when you're downloading them off of servers.

As for those Super Nintendo prices, I'm not sure where that ad came from but those prices would've been considered eye-watering back then, too. The only time I remember SuperNES games reaching the $70 mark was when Street Fighter II Turbo came out. Probably some Final Fantasy games or other RPGs too. I recall that 95% of most games (SuperNES and Genesis) were $50 or less. $60-$70 games were certainly not the norm, at least not in my region.

[Jinks]

So games and consoles today are cheap....They never go up with inflation..

[onlysublime]

the ad came from Toys R Us.  one of their Christmas shopping ads.  these were the prices back then.  In fact, the prices shown are discounted "coupon" prices.  if you're remembering gaming as much cheaper, maybe it's time to clean out the cobwebs...

I got the links from Kotaku.  I didn't realize that Kotaku actually cropped the pics.  Here's the other site showing full versions of the ads:

[toptenmaterial]

In terms of people purchasing the equivalent of $700 systems in the 70s: it was a time when people actually maintained savings accounts and stashed dough away for their respective little treasures, rather than putting it all on credit and paying off a minimum balance.

[twoquickcapri]

Does anyone else remember the N64 selling for $250 at launch?

[SoulBlazer]

Yeah, I paid $70 for Final Fantasy 2 with my SNES when I got it in Christmas of 91, most expensive game I've bought. Don't regret that at all, it was a awsome game and years later when I sold it CIB I got all that money back. Games have remained pretty steady in price, but you have to remember that there's a lot of costs associated with game making -- the producers take some, the publishers take some, the game store takes some....and so on.

For the record, that SNES cost me $180 and that was a sale price. It was the first big item that I bought with my own money (I was just about 16).

You HAVE to count inflation, though.  It's not a simple and cut thing, but it does put things into perspective.  (That, and how much the average person made a hour back then as opposed to today.)

[Reaperman]

Somebody get me a time machine so I can go back for that GB pocket.

[BydoEmpire]

Well, not always...






Although, of course, inflation brings those prices back in line with 2012...

Edited by BydoEmpire, Thu Dec 20, 2012 6:16 AM.