Average Game Prices

[Gabriel]

Average videogame prices seems to be something of a hot topic lately. I thought it might be a good idea to collect the average prices into one thread.

 

For the purposes of this thread, we're talking about current major releases, not bargain titles. Also, I've decided to round up that whole 5 cents to a penny of difference between the actual price ($xx.95) and what we really know it is. Prices are all in American dollars.

 

The X360 is the easiest of the bunch. The average new game price is currently nailed at $60 with little variation.

 

The X-Box has high variance between $40 and $50, with probably a slight edge towards $50 titles. But I'll be more than happy to let someone else with more XBox purchases under their belt make the call.

 

Most GameCube titles are $40. They seldom ever get discounted either.

 

The PS2 has a fair variance between $40 and $50 with the vast majority of new titles being $40, and some select titles hitting $50. I'd say the split is around 75/25.

 

Almost all new PSP titles are $40. EA and Koei overcharge at $50 for new titles.

 

The Nintendo DS is a strange creature. Most titles are $35. Official Nintendo releases tend to be $40 for about the first month (maybe two) and then drop to $35. That's how Mario Kart, Super Princess Peach, and New Mario Bros all were.

 

The GBA tends to average $35 for most titles I'm interested in, which are almost exclusively RPGs. I frequently see the several year old Pokemon games priced between $35 and $38. Quite frankly, almost all GBA games are the sort of thing you'd see in a compilation along with 4 to 19 other games for $20 for other systems.

[Gabriel]

Here are some prices I recall for older consoles.

 

During the first year, the PS1 tended to have $50 titles. After that, Sony did the $40 across the board thing.

 

Whenever I checked N64 games, they were almost always $65 or $70.

 

There was never much of anything on the Saturn I was interested in. I'll leave it to someone else to fill in it's segment of the price range.

 

While most of my 3DO purchasing was done after everything hit the bargain bin, I recall most titles being around $50.

 

The Jaguar so wildly varied that I'm not even sure what an average price was. I remember I missed my only opportunity to own Defender 2000 because it was priced at $80 and I didn't have the money to spare. It was an oddly expensive cart though.

 

Sega CD games were pretty much nailed at $40 which made me love my SegaCD.

 

32X games were mostly $60.

 

Genesis games ranged from about $50 to $60.

 

SNES games ranged from $60 to $70. (I have vivid and painful memories of purchasing Street Fighter II Turbo for $80+)

 

In comparison, just about all Atari 2600 games were $25 to $35.

[ninjarabbit]

Personally I won't pay more than $30 for a game anymore. I know if I wait long enough I can eventually get the game I want on sale or used

[BydoEmpire]

Hm, I wonder if we're seeing big regional differences.

 

I've never seen 1st party DS titles for more than $35, even around launch. 3rd party titles seem to be *mostly* $30.

 

I also haven't seen many PSP games over $40. I'm pretty sure even EA games are $40, although I have no idea about Koei. EBGames.com has Vice City Stories for $50.

 

I also don't recally too many n64 games over $60. I'm sure there were some, but I think $59.99 was pretty standard. Maybe I'm just not remembering correctly...

 

First party GameCube games are $50 everywhere around here. 3rd party games vary between $40-$50. Earlier in its life, pretty much everything was $50.

 

It's kind of the opposite for ps2 - 1st party games are $40, 3rd party games vary between $40-$50, though of course they're trending down. For the first years of the system's life almost everything was pretty much $50.

 

Xbox games *were* $50 for most of its life, but now I don't really know (I haven't bought any new non-budget xbox title in a long time).

 

I remember NES games being $30-$35 for the most part. Some bigger games like Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy were probably $50 but I honestly don't remember.

 

I don't know what the average SNES game prices was, but I paid $70 for SF2 and $80 for FF3. They were totally worth it. =) I also remember being extremely pissed because I paid $60 or $65 for some SNES Batman game that was pretty bad. It was one of the more expensive games, so the average must have been more like $50.

 

There seems to be a trend of different pricing between 1st party and 3rd party games (ps2, gamecube, xbox 360). That's worth noting.

[jesusc]

early on third party on DS were $40, and non Sony releases PSP games were $50. These days the prices are more like what you stated.

[Video]

It's definately a regional thing.

 

I remember NES games being around $35, some more, but most 35.

 

I remember SNES, averagely around $60, tough some of the special games (extra chips, FX, etc) going as much as $80 (I think I paid $70 for Starfox, and never regreted it)

 

Somewhere around there, a price cap was imposed on games, and since then, NO games have been over $50, with the exception of exclusive, special edition, or ones with big pack in controllers.

 

N64 were pretty much all $50, with a few being 60, but more on the 90/10 percentage of things.

 

GameCube, are typically from the $30-$50 range, with the games averageing at just under $40 altogether.

 

X-box was pretty much all $50, through most of it's life, and many games are still there, though some are starting to come out at the $20 starting point.

 

360 Mostly $50, but about a quarter are comeing out at the $60 range. Of course, less than $50 games ballance those out so it's still $50.

 

PS2, apparently sells bad here, cause with the EXCEPTION of a [FEW games being released at $40-$50, MOST are being released in the $20 range.

 

Gameboy/GameBoy Color/GBA $30 across the board.

 

DS well, average closer to $35, with some $40's and some $30's, but new games are pretty much $35.

 

PSP, don't know, don't care, to expensive hardware wise.

 

It remains to be seen what other stuff will sell for, but $50 does seem to be the set limit around here, and depending on the system, even $30.

[moycon]

The X360 is the easiest of the bunch. The average new game price is currently nailed at $60 with little variation.

 

Here's a little variation taken from that other thread where I tried to tell you you have you facts wrong:

 

 

Test Drive: Unlimited $39.99

Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged $39.99

Bomberman Act: Zero $49.99

LEGO Star Wars II $49.99

Cabela's Alaskan Adventure $39.99

Open Season $49.99

Samurai Warriors 2 $49.99

World Series of Poker $39.99

Just Cause $39.99

Blitz The League $49.99

Cars $49.99

Fuzion Frenzy 2 $49.99

History Channel: Civil War $49.99

Pimp My Ride $49.99

Rapala Trophies $39.99

Rayman 4 $49.99

 

I'd say your nails are loose.

These are all new 360 games or games not released yet...feel free to pre-order though.

As far as I know the internet isnt regional.

[madhatter667]

Moycon:

There are maybe 2 games out of that list I would even consider buying... that's theCivil War game, and Samurai Warriors 2... and even that's a maybe... is Sony going downhill lately?

 

From my experience:

PS2 titles at launch are around $50

greatest hits $20

after they have been out a while $30-$40 depending.

 

Gamecube at launch was around $50 as well, with fluctuation down to $40

players' choice titles $20

 

I have not purchased a new Xbox game yet.

 

Playstation seemed to settle in around $40 a title when I was buying new.

 

Older stuff I cannot say, as that money came out of my parents' pocket.

[Gabriel]

The X360 is the easiest of the bunch. The average new game price is currently nailed at $60 with little variation.

 

Here's a little variation taken from that other thread where I tried to tell you you have you facts wrong:

 

 

Test Drive: Unlimited $39.99

Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged $39.99

Bomberman Act: Zero $49.99

LEGO Star Wars II $49.99

Cabela's Alaskan Adventure $39.99

Open Season $49.99

Samurai Warriors 2 $49.99

World Series of Poker $39.99

Just Cause $39.99

Blitz The League $49.99

Cars $49.99

Fuzion Frenzy 2 $49.99

History Channel: Civil War $49.99

Pimp My Ride $49.99

Rapala Trophies $39.99

Rayman 4 $49.99

 

I'd say your nails are loose.

These are all new 360 games or games not released yet...feel free to pre-order though.

As far as I know the internet isnt regional.

 

Well, at least two of your examples are extremely misleading: X-Box Live Unplugged and World Series of Poker. Both of those games are more or less bargain titles. For example, their equivalents on the PSP are $30 and $20 respectively. That doesn't mean the average price of a PSP game is $30 or $20.

 

But, since you listed some games, I figure I'll list some games too. All prices come from Wal-Mart's online store (rounded up to the nearest dollar), which I figure is about as neutral a source as we'll get.

 

Enchanted Arms = $60

Over G Fighters = $60

Chromehounds = $57 (this one definitely was $60 at launch)

NHL 07 = $60

Lord of the Rings: Battle For Middle Earth II = $60

Dead Rising = $60

Saints Row = $60

Call of Duty 2 = $60

Hitman: Blood Money = $60

Blazing Angels = $60

Battlefield 2: Modern Combat = $60

 

Looking at the Coming Soon section revealed that 30 out of 42 games were priced at $59.82 or higher. The remainder are not exactly what I would call cutting edge next gen entertainment. The remainder are mostly ports of older budget games or they were titles that have been around for a few months.

 

Hell, even DOA4 is still $54.

 

I'm interested in precicely two X360 games which will come out this season (allegedly). They and their listed prices are:

 

Star Trek: Legacy = $60

 

Wal-Mart isn't currently offering DOA Xtreme 2, but buy.com lists it's price as $59.

 

Now, I'm more than willing to admit that there is a small number of prime titles coming out at $50 (represented by Samurai Warriors, Lego Star Wars, and N3), but they are definitely the minority, not the rule.

[Gabriel]

 

I remember NES games being around $35, some more, but most 35.

 

 

I'm not even going to hazard an official guess on NES games. I mostly skipped that era of gaming. My NES games all come from the twilight years of the system and bargain bin/pawn shop acquisitions.

 

I remember paying $50 at Wal-Mart for Wizardry Knight of Diamonds.

 

I also remember my friend scrimping and saving for a while so he could afford to buy Nobunaga's Ambition at Wal-Mart which was $80 at the time.

[christianscott27]

I haven't bought a full priced title since the year 2000 or so, I just cant go over $40 for a game. You'd figure game prices would level off and go down since they have become so mainstream but instead they've gone up. I guess I'm hurting the industry I love, I pay full price for new hardware and thats about it. It reminds me of an article I read about piracy and prices, theres a new model for dealing with piracy that runs something like this.

 

- There will always be a way to pirate, there are more motivated hackers than any industry could hope to stop

 

- Piracy is limited by how motivated consumers are to steal, this is largely a function of price, connection speed and computer know how.

 

Thus the more you jack up the prices of a game up the more likely you are to drive people to look for ways of stealing it online. Then you combine that with widespread broadband and gamers being fairly computer savvy people and you can see the game industry starting to shoot itself in the foot. Even if only 10% of gamers become pirates thats a major chunk of their revenue walking away.

[shadow460]

I'll list a couple of games:

NiGHTS (with controller) $60 in San Diego, CA

Virtual On: Operation Moongate $50 in San Diego

Twin Stick for Vitual On another $50 from Japan

 

Saturn titles were $40 to $50 each when I got mine. Ditto for PSX.

 

Most N64 titles were $60 or $65 when I started buying those.

 

Dreamcast titles...I remember those being about $40 for the ones I got. I think Hydro Thunder launched at $40, and some of the other new games I got were that price.

PS2 games are usually $40 for new first party games. Anything from EA is, of course, $50 or higher.

[ninjarabbit]

The most I've ever paid for a game is $60 for Donkey Kong 64 bundled with the Expansion Pak.

[shadow460]

You lucky dog. I paid $60 for Majora's Mask and then had to lay out another $30 for the Expansion Pak.

[moycon]

Well, at least two of your examples are extremely misleading: X-Box Live Unplugged and World Series of Poker. Both of those games are more or less bargain titles. For example, their equivalents on the PSP are $30 and $20 respectively. That doesn't mean the average price of a PSP game is $30 or $20.

 

But, since you listed some games, I figure I'll list some games too. All prices come from Wal-Mart's online store (rounded up to the nearest dollar), which I figure is about as neutral a source as we'll get.

 

Enchanted Arms = $60

Over G Fighters = $60

Chromehounds = $57 (this one definitely was $60 at launch)

NHL 07 = $60

Lord of the Rings: Battle For Middle Earth II = $60

Dead Rising = $60

Saints Row = $60

Call of Duty 2 = $60

Hitman: Blood Money = $60

Blazing Angels = $60

Battlefield 2: Modern Combat = $60

 

Looking at the Coming Soon section revealed that 30 out of 42 games were priced at $59.82 or higher. The remainder are not exactly what I would call cutting edge next gen entertainment. The remainder are mostly ports of older budget games or they were titles that have been around for a few months.

 

Hell, even DOA4 is still $54.

 

I'm interested in precicely two X360 games which will come out this season (allegedly). They and their listed prices are:

 

Star Trek: Legacy = $60

 

Wal-Mart isn't currently offering DOA Xtreme 2, but buy.com lists it's price as $59.

 

Now, I'm more than willing to admit that there is a small number of prime titles coming out at $50 (represented by Samurai Warriors, Lego Star Wars, and N3), but they are definitely the minority, not the rule.

 

See why you got to you list games from as far back as last year!??

All the games I listed just came out or are coming out. I never said that most new 360 at launch weren't $59.99.

 

Kameo DPZ and PGR3 were $49.99 everywhere when they came out and that was it out of all the launch titles. You could go online and buy bundles from web-sites, if you chose any title other than those 3 you had to add $10. They launched at $49.99. A quick Google search under " xbox 360 launch $49.99" will confirm that. CPU states in his area they were more, it wouldn't suprise me if shops in Cali charged more, it costs like $1,800 per month to rent an apartment there. I would have bought online everywhere in the US else had em for less.

 

Personally I don't see what anyones opinion of a game has to do with the retail cost. Unless your job is to determine the price of a game depending on what you think of it, it doesn't even have anything to do with what we're talking about. One persons pleasure is anothers poison. We're talking about new 360 games. Xbox doesn't have a budget $9.99 line like the PS1 did, so drop that argument, we're not talking about what games you would buy...it doesnt matter.

 

Here's a easy way to solve this, list every 360 pre-order off Gamestop, or Wal Marts website (or where ever you want) between Oct 1st and Dec 31. List the title and the release date. Now see how many are $60.00 and how many are under $60.00. Then do the math.

 

I think you'll find there are some mis-conceptions regarding statements that all new 360 games are $60.00.

But feel free to prove this wrong.

Edited September 30, 2006 by moycon

[Vic George 2K3]

I'd say $30 is a reasonable price for any game, with $20 being a bargain and $10 or less a steal, and $50 to $60 being pricey, $80 being ridiculous, and $100 or more being highway robbery.

[Flojomojo]

I'm not sure if the point of this thread is to bitch about prices, or just to inform people of average prices they've observed. Who cares? It's only money, so if you want something enough to grab it the minute it comes out, you pay a premium. Nothing depreciates as fast as a video game, so if you can wait a few months, it will be significantly cheaper soon enough.

 

Most of my recent purchases have been on XBOX Live Arcade. Scramble for $5, Doom for $10, etc. These light my fire as much as any of the modern epics. The Wii's Virtual Console should provide a shot of competition, which can only be good.

 

Greatest Hits games are coming out on all platforms for cheap. $20 PSP games are a beautiful thing.

 

You don't have to pay a lot to have a good time.

[figgler]

I'm not sure if the point of this thread is to bitch about prices, or just to inform people of average prices they've observed.

 

Wait. This thread has a point?

[Gabriel]

I'm not sure if the point of this thread is to bitch about prices, or just to inform people of average prices they've observed.

 

Wait. This thread has a point?

 

The point was exactly what I said it was. Average prices have been a hot topic in several threads lately. I thought it would be a good idea to collect some info in a single thread.

 

Personally, I think Video should set up a mail order service. If Mortal Kombat Armageddon is released at $20 where he lives, then I'm ordering from the wrong places.

[Video]

Hey, I've thought about it, cause so many people will come up with "I paid XX for YY" And I'm just thinking, I was just looking at that in the store the other day for $10, and sometimes $20 less than they said they bought it for.

 

They could buy from me, pay the shipping, and still save a few bucks on the game

 

But that would involve a lot of work, as I don't live in town, and nobody would actually do that anyways.