Game Prices 20 years ago

X360, PS3 and some big PC titles are currently priced at $60 as their full price. For us PC gamers have to imbrace a $10 price increase and screaming its too high and some console gamer have already done that. Maybe you should look at what our parents had to pay for our games.

There is a Toys R Us commerical aired during Christmas Season of 1990 showing the prices of two NES games. Tetris was priced at $55 and Super Mario Bros 3 $70. This might not be alot of money for some people, but adjusting to inflation for today's money, the two games would be priced at $90 and $115.

Crysis 2 is priced at $60, that would be the equivalent at $35 comparing to prices in 1990.

i think donkey 64 was like 40 bucks.....

most games today are worth only 30-40 bucks...

Game prices have ranged from high to low many times throughout the generations its not like they just upped and got expensive...I remember paying 80 dollars for chrono trigger.

Well, even now a game that's $60 is actually worth less money than a $50 game 10 years ago, and that's what new PS2/Xbox/Gamecube games cost.

$70 for SMB3 it was totally worth it back then. I love that game.

I've never understood the "today's money" argument. It doesn't take into account the average wage, cost of living or thevalue of the dollar.

That's the US? Dang! I haven't been one to whine about game prices because I have always put the money. The way I see it, I fill up my car with $80 of gas every 350 miles I drive. So even if I'm driving 30mh, I spend $80 for 700 minutes, a little under 12 hours. Personally, I make sure I spend more tha 12 hours per game and compared to some other hobbies, its one of the cheapest. That's how I justify it. But I would never see myself spending 20 hours on Tetris or SMB3.

Game prices have ranged from high to low many times throughout the generations its not like they just upped and got expensive...I remember paying 80 dollars for chrono trigger.

WilliamRLBaker

X360, PS3 and some big PC titles are currently priced at $60 as their full price. For us PC gamers have to imbrace a $10 price increase and screaming its too high and some console gamer have already done that. Maybe you should look at what our parents had to pay for our games.

Jd1680a

Those games shipped with cardridges dude while pc gamers today get the game via digital download. It costs nothing but bandwith.

i remember when growing up that snes games were 70-80$$$....

LoZ OoT was 70 bucks when it first came out if i remember correctly, and Super Mario All Stars was 50 bucks as well. O the 90's :P

turok 64 was the most expensive game i ever bough (unless you count WoW) at £59 and the game was useless unless you bought a memory pack which was a futher £20

I remember N64 games costing up to the equivelant of 100 euros back in the late 90s.

i remember when growing up that snes games were 70-80$$$....

useLOGIC

Holy schnikey... And those were dollars from 20 years ago! :o

According to SSB$70 in 1990 is equal to $107 in 2010. Thats a price increase of 53.9%.

Edit: SSB is the official statistics of economics in Norway, feel free to use the calculator yourself using google chrome's translate!

[QUOTE="Jd1680a"]

X360, PS3 and some big PC titles are currently priced at $60 as their full price. For us PC gamers have to imbrace a $10 price increase and screaming its too high and some console gamer have already done that. Maybe you should look at what our parents had to pay for our games.

edidili

Those games shipped with cardridges dude while pc gamers today get the game via digital download. It costs nothing but bandwith.

Some pc games were 70$+ around the same time as this advertisement.

$70 for SMB3 it was totally worth it back then. I love that game.

OrianaDorta

I agree! I remember Virtua Racing and Super Street Fighter 2 for Megadrive being almos equivalent to 100 euros, not to talk about Neo Geo games!!!

I think the most I ever paid for a game (not counting collectors editions or games that had extra accessories included) was around sixty dollars on Zelda OoT the day it came out. I bought Final Fantasy 6 (FF3 SNES) and I think I paid at least sixty for with Christmas money it but I don't think I paid more for it than I paid for Zelda. I don't remember SMB 3 being almost seventy dollars, but then again I was around nine or ten when it came out and my parents didn't buy the game for me until almost two years later. When you look at game prices today, it's not really that bad assuming the game is good.

Well, even now a game that's $60 is actually worth less money than a $50 game 10 years ago, and that's what new PS2/Xbox/Gamecube games cost.

Raymundo_Manuel

I always waited late into the gen to buy consoles and there games so most I've spent for a game in previous gens was $50 and yes I did own an N64, SNES, and Genesis.

toys r us may be ripping people off back then cause i remember all nes up to wii being 49,99

with some 29 19 39 in the mix , handheld on nintendos end has always been 29-39 bucks

again with 19 in the mix , sony has been charging 40-50 for psp games

so ya , toys r us back then really ripped people off , same for kmart they wanted 89 for marioparty 4 lol and 500 for a original xbox! at launch lol every where else was 49 for marioparty 4 and 300 for an xbox

that kind of tells you somthing ,

Most I paid was $98 for Chrono Trigger. RPGs were especially expensive around then. Phantasy Star 4 was $120-140 depending on where you went. Then the PS1 spoiled me and I couldn't dare bring myself to spend more than $40 per game, and even now I think that's too much. Usually $30 or below is within my buying range. Takes a while for some of the games I want to get cheap though, but it's not like there's any shortage of good games to play. So it's not really worth worrying over for me.

25+ years ago I used to buy Amstrad/Spectrum and Commadore games brand new for £5 each. Then the 8 bit systems came out and the price of games sky rocketed!

How about those $250 Neo Geo games? I wonder why they're no longer in the console market?

LoZ OoT was 70 bucks when it first came out if i remember correctly, and Super Mario All Stars was 50 bucks as well. O the 90's :P

mexicangordo

I've been preaching this here for years. Games now are cheaper than ever. Here is a handy inflation calculator provided by the US Board of Labor and Statistics.

NES games ranged anywhere from $35-$70 USD. According to the BLS inflation calculator, $35 in 1985 (when teh NES launched in the US) is equivalent to $71.99 USD in today's economy. $70 in 1985 would be $143.97. So NES gaames adjusted to current inflation levels cost anywhere from $72 to $144 USD.

SNES games were typically in the $40-80 USD range. Adjusting from 1991 (US SNES release date) to 2011 makes those prices $65-$130.

N64 games ranged from $50-$90 USD. Which would be $70-$127 at today's prices. PS1 prices were mostly in the $50 range, or $70 at today's prices.

PS2 and Gamecube games were mostly around $50, which is about $65 today.

Which brings us up to the current gen. $60 today is still $60, which if you've been following along, is less than games of any previous generation. Yet all the time threads pop up complaining about how expensive games are this gen. I guess they don't realize that when their parents were buying their games they were doing with much smaller salaries than we have today. Hell, I can go get a minimum wage job at McDonalds and make more per hour than my mom did working as an RN when I was a kid.

i think donkey 64 was like 40 bucks.....

most games today are worth only 30-40 bucks...

eboyishere

Donkey Kong 64 was $59.99 - $74.99 in the United States.

In fact, Almost all N64 titles were priced at launch $20 more ($60) than the very same PSOne ($40) games.

I found it interesting that even late ports from the Playstation coming to N64 like Spiderman, Megaman Legends, Resident Evil 2, and Tony Hawk Pro Skater had less audiofiles and were $20 more than the Playstation earlier counterpart. It was a very interesting time to be a gamer.

>imbrace

stopped reading there.

It's not so much that the $60 price point bothers me, it's that it costs $60 for no reason.

A console game is $50 and then ~$10 to the console manufacturer

A PC game is $50 and then $10 because the publisher is an ***.

If PC games are going to be $60 then make console games $70.

>imbrace

stopped reading there.

It's not so much that the $60 price point bothers me, it's that it costs $60 for no reason.

A console game is $50 and then ~$10 to the console manufacturer

A PC game is $50 and then $10 because the publisher is an ***.

If PC games are going to be $60 then make console games $70.

scoots9

People forget what inflation is. Hell not too sure some here even know what the **** that means.

it's funny how people don't rem that stuff from back in the day.

the 16meg chipsets for snes titles was way expensive.

i remember me and my brother saving up for super street fighter because it was $80 at launch.

$70 for SMB3 it was totally worth it back then. I love that game.

OrianaDorta

How about those $250 Neo Geo games? I wonder why they're no longer in the console market?

caseystryker

Man, my mommy sure did love me. :oops:MrSelf-Destruct

Paying 80 bucks is cheaper than paying that w**** babysitter my mommy always said :o

Game prices have ranged from high to low many times throughout the generations its not like they just upped and got expensive...I remember paying 80 dollars for chrono trigger.

WilliamRLBaker

[QUOTE="eboyishere"]

i think donkey 64 was like 40 bucks.....

most games today are worth only 30-40 bucks...

SolidTy

Donkey Kong 64 was $59.99 - $74.99 in the United States.

In fact, Almost all N64 titles were priced at launch $20 more ($60) than the very same PSOne ($40) games.

I found it interesting that even late ports from the Playstation coming to N64 like Spiderman, Megaman Legends, Resident Evil 2, and Tony Hawk Pro Skater had less audiofiles and were $20 more than the Playstation earlier counterpart. It was a very interesting time to be a gamer.

Not only that, I remember PSOne Greatest Hits being about $19.99 - $24.99? Compared to the $39.99 Players Choice titles on the N64.:P

Buying the cartridges were more pricey since they were more expensive to produce compared to the CD Roms, which is why many went the route of CD's instead of Nintendo who wanted to avoid piracy.

Still, I didn't pay for my N64 games so I'm cool with it.:P Last generation (PS2/GC/Xbox) wasn't so bad, this generation is just the same thing. It's just that Steam is becoming more and more amazing that gamers are starting to notice how much people tend to pay for games at retail.:P

toys r us may be ripping people off back then cause i remember all nes up to wii being 49,99

with some 29 19 39 in the mix , handheld on nintendos end has always been 29-39 bucks

again with 19 in the mix , sony has been charging 40-50 for psp games

so ya , toys r us back then really ripped people off , same for kmart they wanted 89 for marioparty 4 lol and 500 for a original xbox! at launch lol every where else was 49 for marioparty 4 and 300 for an xbox

that kind of tells you somthing ,

mariokart64fan

Tells us what?:? I see PSP games for $9-$29.99 nowadays while I still see Mario Kart DS, New Super Mario bros, Mario 64 DS @ $40+.:P

Canadian prices of course, then again I could care less about the PSP and DS.:P

[QUOTE="mariokart64fan"]

toys r us may be ripping people off back then cause i remember all nes up to wii being 49,99

with some 29 19 39 in the mix , handheld on nintendos end has always been 29-39 bucks

again with 19 in the mix , sony has been charging 40-50 for psp games

so ya , toys r us back then really ripped people off , same for kmart they wanted 89 for marioparty 4 lol and 500 for a original xbox! at launch lol every where else was 49 for marioparty 4 and 300 for an xbox

that kind of tells you somthing ,

sanim02

Tells us what?:? I see PSP games for $9-$29.99 nowadays while I still see Mario Kart DS, New Super Mario bros, Mario 64 DS @ $40+.:P

Canadian prices of course, then again I could care less about the PSP and DS.:P

[QUOTE="sanim02"]

[QUOTE="mariokart64fan"]

toys r us may be ripping people off back then cause i remember all nes up to wii being 49,99

with some 29 19 39 in the mix , handheld on nintendos end has always been 29-39 bucks

again with 19 in the mix , sony has been charging 40-50 for psp games

so ya , toys r us back then really ripped people off , same for kmart they wanted 89 for marioparty 4 lol and 500 for a original xbox! at launch lol every where else was 49 for marioparty 4 and 300 for an xbox

that kind of tells you somthing ,

Ragnarok1051

Tells us what?:? I see PSP games for $9-$29.99 nowadays while I still see Mario Kart DS, New Super Mario bros, Mario 64 DS @ $40+.:P

Canadian prices of course, then again I could care less about the PSP and DS.:P

I bought TP twice (once for the GC and Wii) and it's STILL going for $59.99 here.:lol: Ahh Nintendo.:P *sheds tear and waits for OoT*

[QUOTE="Ragnarok1051"][QUOTE="sanim02"]

Tells us what?:? I see PSP games for $9-$29.99 nowadays while I still see Mario Kart DS, New Super Mario bros, Mario 64 DS @ $40+.:P

Canadian prices of course, then again I could care less about the PSP and DS.:P

sanim02

I bought TP twice (once for the GC and Wii) and it's STILL going for $59.99 here.:lol: Ahh Nintendo.:P *sheds tear and waits for OoT*

Lol, OoT will be $50 due to "nostalgia revived via innovative 3D technology for Sanim". :P

[QUOTE="sanim02"]

[QUOTE="Ragnarok1051"] Yeah the PSP's biggest games are now going for around $30. Meanwhile some of the DS's oldest games are still $40. I guess its just another Sony hater trying to hate for no reason. :PEpisode_Eve

I bought TP twice (once for the GC and Wii) and it's STILL going for $59.99 here.:lol: Ahh Nintendo.:P *sheds tear and waits for OoT*

Lol, OoT will be $50 due to "nostalgia revived via innovative 3D technology for Sanim". :P

Obviously, I mean c'mon you know how it is with me and mah homie Link yo.8)We go wayy back when I shelled out $70 for the original.:P