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Console pricing, back in the 90s...
- Thread starter Matt_Fox
- Start date
Punished Miku
Banned
Back then, selling 100k copies of a game was good. Selling 1 million was a blockbuster.
No one buys expensive things because its inflation "fair" when compared to the 90s. They are free to raise prices but they dont because it will radically shrink their customer base. All the biggest games now are free
No one buys expensive things because its inflation "fair" when compared to the 90s. They are free to raise prices but they dont because it will radically shrink their customer base. All the biggest games now are free
Angry_Megalodon
Member
The NES-SNES eras were much worse, and games were like luxury products.
The Neo-Geo console was for rich kids, the master race of consoles.
The Neo-Geo console was for rich kids, the master race of consoles.
Shake Your Rump
Banned
I couldn’t afford it straight up and I was too young to get approved for a credit card. I somehow got a Sears credit card, so I bought my a PlayStation there. I distinctly remember it was $550 for the console, an extra controller, Tekken and MK3.
Punished Miku
Banned
Most people rented games or got 2 games a year, birthday and Christmas. Backlog was lot a word. I doubt corporations are rushing back to that.
Big Baller
Al Pachinko, Konami President
I think I paid 220 guilders for RE2 N64 which comes down to 100 euros
Sintoid
Member
The real problem wasn't console price
It was game price and distribution
In small towns like mine there were no game stores and console were sold in Toy Shops mostly at lauch with first batch of games
Buying games was hard and pricy,there were no indie games at all so only major release came to vast distribution
And sometimes you bought games with the money you spared for months just to discover you bought real trash
I have no nostalgia about that times
It was game price and distribution
In small towns like mine there were no game stores and console were sold in Toy Shops mostly at lauch with first batch of games
Buying games was hard and pricy,there were no indie games at all so only major release came to vast distribution
And sometimes you bought games with the money you spared for months just to discover you bought real trash
I have no nostalgia about that times
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Matt_Fox
Member
Truly, Neo Geo console $649 in 1990... inflation adjusted $1,560 ! The game carts were $300-$400 each in todays money too.
Dr. Suchong
Member
Picked mine up shortly after launch and not long after had the lens issue where audio and fmv skipped like crazy.
After I was cheekily sent a reconditioned one as a replacement (which was practically thrown at me by the courier) I insisted on a new one as my machine was still under warranty.
Soured by my experience, I traded it in at my local Gamestation with about 13 games for a Sega Saturn.
The staff looked at me like I was mental when I told them my request.
Picked my Saturn up with Sega rally, Virtua fighter 2, Shining wisdom, and Guardian heroes.
It wasn't till FF7 came along that I broke and thought "Fuck it, I'm having a PlayStation again for this"
After I was cheekily sent a reconditioned one as a replacement (which was practically thrown at me by the courier) I insisted on a new one as my machine was still under warranty.
Soured by my experience, I traded it in at my local Gamestation with about 13 games for a Sega Saturn.
The staff looked at me like I was mental when I told them my request.
Picked my Saturn up with Sega rally, Virtua fighter 2, Shining wisdom, and Guardian heroes.
It wasn't till FF7 came along that I broke and thought "Fuck it, I'm having a PlayStation again for this"
MadchesterManc
Member
The 8/16 Bit era were dark times. Games didn't really have standardised prices so it was a bit of a wild west. Some games would even cost north of $100, and that's not an inflation adjusted price either.
Luckily my local market had a used game stall back then to make things more manageable.
Luckily my local market had a used game stall back then to make things more manageable.
SportsFan581
Member
Launch prices were high, but a good number of players would come in only after prices fell. Price cuts were swift, the PS1 launched at $299 in the US, just 8 months later it was $199 and in less than 2 years it was $149.
Plus, inflation doesn't apply to all purchases uniformly the way an inflation calculator would apply it. Real world inflation will apply more heavily to necessary purchases and a little less so to luxury purchases.
Plus, inflation doesn't apply to all purchases uniformly the way an inflation calculator would apply it. Real world inflation will apply more heavily to necessary purchases and a little less so to luxury purchases.
Banjo64
cumsessed
A comparison I’ve used before but the first commercial radios would cost over $1000 today.
Xmas 1995 when PlayStation was released in the UK at £299.99 - inflation adjusted that's £600! (PS5 on release was £449).
Makes you think abit, I wonder how many Gaffers were around in the 90s and lucky enough to have it on release or near to it?
The N64 and PS1, as the first real 3D consoles, were absolutely worth any entry fee they wanted to slap on them.
Everyone was also better off in the 90s in the UK - wages high compared to the cost of living.
Holammer
Member
Yes, prices back in the 16bit days were insane, buying Earthbound at release in 1994 cost you 70$, that's 148$ today adjusted for inflation.
That's why you had one of these and a shelf with a dozen+ disk storage boxes.
Ahhh... piracy nostalgia, I had the exact same floppy box. Sold it and my collection when SNES9x got good enough.
That's why you had one of these and a shelf with a dozen+ disk storage boxes.
Ahhh... piracy nostalgia, I had the exact same floppy box. Sold it and my collection when SNES9x got good enough.
By the accounts of people in Brazil who lived the 8/16 bits: Everything was expensive, but getting the console was the least of the issues, it was the games which only rich people could afford them, everyone else just rented, until the PS1 and Saturn came with the CD-ROM which made prices cheaper, and piracy easier.
When I got into gaming it was already 32 and 128-bit generation, got a PS1 and always had tons of pirated games.
When I got into gaming it was already 32 and 128-bit generation, got a PS1 and always had tons of pirated games.
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a multicultural team of v
Member
Now instead if paying a lot of money for games and playing them to death people pay little for games and never even play them. We've gone from expensive but well used to donating to corporations.
Matt_Fox
Member
Apple have always been at the pricey end of the scale but $2400 in '96 is $4800 today (it even says monitor sold separately, jipped!). I guess you can just about spend that on a truly top of the line gaming desktop but still...
S0ULZB0URNE
Gold Member
Magician Lord I still play time to time and am impressed in its music plus visuals even to this day.
Truly, Neo Geo console $649 in 1990... inflation adjusted $1,560 ! The game carts were $300-$400 each in todays money too.
Grildon Tundy
Member
In the early/mid- 90s, we had an NES and later a Genesis, so we were a gen behind. The games I played were second-hand and $5-10. I didn't even know my systems were "less advanced." Ignorance was bliss. And affordable!
TGO
Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
£299 is £299
Xmas 1995 when PlayStation was released in the UK at £299.99 - inflation adjusted that's £600! (PS5 on release was £449).
Makes you think abit, I wonder how many Gaffers were around in the 90s and lucky enough to have it on release or near to it?
It'll still get you the same shit it did back then as it does now.
The price of food & bills are the things that inflation affects, electrics and media not so much.
Increase wages get off set by increased bills
People didn't think the value of £300 is different than today
Now what is interesting is how much £299 was worth in dollars back then, and how much $299 was worth in pounds.
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cash_longfellow
Member
I was lucky enough to get my snes on launch, that was so magical!
Xmas 1995 when PlayStation was released in the UK at £299.99 - inflation adjusted that's £600! (PS5 on release was £449).
Makes you think abit, I wonder how many Gaffers were around in the 90s and lucky enough to have it on release or near to it?
SportsFan581
Member
Now instead if paying a lot of money for games and playing them to death people pay little for games and never even play them. We've gone from expensive but well used to donating to corporations.
We had a Win95 Packard Bell, it was only 100mhz with a 1GB HDD if I remember it correctly.
wondermega
Member
It was a hugely different time, and probably difficult to imagine what that was like if you are a younger, modern gamer today. If you were a kid with a job, you might buy yourself a few games a year (5?) and also could still get 2 or 3 between birthdays/holidays. But of course you'd only buy something that you intended to get a lot of mileage out of, because buying & beating a game inside of a week was going to be a bummer (unless it was the kind of game you simply loved to "hang out with," like Contra or F-Zero - you or your friends could just pop the game in & play it in the background regardless of whatever else was going on, even if you'd already beat it dozens of times.
Game rentals was the big thing, your money would go a lot longer. It was pretty blissful making it to Friday night, heading to the video store, and grabbing a game or two for probably about $10 that would just be yours until Sunday. Again, you might really enjoy something and wind up renting it a few times, but at that point it would make more sense to just buy it.
Game rentals was the big thing, your money would go a lot longer. It was pretty blissful making it to Friday night, heading to the video store, and grabbing a game or two for probably about $10 that would just be yours until Sunday. Again, you might really enjoy something and wind up renting it a few times, but at that point it would make more sense to just buy it.
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
When PS2 was at the end and it was clear out time, I remember stores selling them for $99.99 CDN. I'm positive I saw Canadian Tire (out of all stores! lol) selling the super slim model for $79.99.
At these prices, the US had to be cheaper.
At these prices, the US had to be cheaper.
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Guerilla Munch
Member
Cost of living was exponentially cheaper back then. Luxury items like electronics were expensive, but essentials like housing, food, fuel, and transportation were dirt cheap.
Heimdall_Xtreme
Hermen Hulst Fanclub's #1 Member
I still remember that getting games at that time was extremely difficult in Mexico, it was almost impossible for me to get Megaman x2 for the SNES at that time, much less the Original Japanese games.
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
with currency exchange, N64 games were $99.99 in Canada. Give or take $10. Ya, some games broke $100+
But then right beside them you'd see PS1 and Saturn games at $60 CDN.
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cireza
Member
Magical times back then. Yes, games were expensive, consoles too. However, it felt worth it to invest in the games.
First of all, keeping in touch with the news, and how good games were, was a big part of the fun. This was done through speaking with friends and reading magazines. You would actually invest a little money in magazines to make better investments in games.
Then obviously, you didn't get a ton of games at once. I would get one expensive game at my birthday and one at Christmas. Otherwise, it was most of the time high discounts or used games.
The Master System was a god-send in that regard compared to the MegaDrive, as it was very cheap and games too. I played a ton of games I loved on this console, and eventually got a MD with the release of Sonic & Knuckles, when the console became much more affordable (october 1994).
Then I got many of my games used, because the prices were much higher on MegaDrive. Eventually got Story of Thor at full price for either birthday or Christmas. Still one of my favorite games ever.
First of all, keeping in touch with the news, and how good games were, was a big part of the fun. This was done through speaking with friends and reading magazines. You would actually invest a little money in magazines to make better investments in games.
Then obviously, you didn't get a ton of games at once. I would get one expensive game at my birthday and one at Christmas. Otherwise, it was most of the time high discounts or used games.
The Master System was a god-send in that regard compared to the MegaDrive, as it was very cheap and games too. I played a ton of games I loved on this console, and eventually got a MD with the release of Sonic & Knuckles, when the console became much more affordable (october 1994).
Then I got many of my games used, because the prices were much higher on MegaDrive. Eventually got Story of Thor at full price for either birthday or Christmas. Still one of my favorite games ever.
cash_longfellow
Member
I also had a Packard Bell. I wore out Kings Quest 4 on that thing.
Goalus
Member
After a few hours? It took me months, or even years to beat some of my (Sega Master System) games.
dragonyeuw
Member
Salaries haven't kept up with inflation, so $600 today probably feels worse than $300 30 years ago because the cost of merely existing is exorbitant now.
And, maybe a bit of a hot take, I prefer the days of having less games. I don't even remember having a backlog in the 90s, because I owned relatively few games, played the living shit out of them, and otherwise borrowed back and forth with friends or would rent a game from the local video store once or twice a month. Nowadays I'm in a position of having decent expendable income but it's spread across several ecosystems, which partly may explain why I mostly play Indies now. I'd rather drop $60 on 3-4 Indies than one busted ass need a day one patch, microtranctioned to hell and back homogenized AAA title.
And, maybe a bit of a hot take, I prefer the days of having less games. I don't even remember having a backlog in the 90s, because I owned relatively few games, played the living shit out of them, and otherwise borrowed back and forth with friends or would rent a game from the local video store once or twice a month. Nowadays I'm in a position of having decent expendable income but it's spread across several ecosystems, which partly may explain why I mostly play Indies now. I'd rather drop $60 on 3-4 Indies than one busted ass need a day one patch, microtranctioned to hell and back homogenized AAA title.
Alan Wake
Member
Oh, sure. It could. But take a game like Back to the Future III for the Mega Drive. The gameplay is what, 1,5-2 hours or so? I remember some games being very short. But it didn't matter that much because I played them over and over again, not having money to buy more than a few games.
-Minsc-
Member
My bro and I definitely rented back in the day. The only reason we played games like FF3 and Chrono Trigger was thanks to seven day rentals.
In the NES & SNES era most the games in our collection were Christmas or birthday gifts.
Unknown?
Member
Only if you believe the official numbers. $2400 back then is probably closer to $6000 today.
SirTerry-T
Member
Brought my Saturn from Beatties for £399 back on release day.
Zero regrets, loved that machine, especially when I got it modded.
Zero regrets, loved that machine, especially when I got it modded.
dragonyeuw
Member
Yep. I don't even recall specifically asking for certain games, but I remember holiday 90 getting Zelda II from my parents and Blades of Steel from my late Aunt. Any games I purchased back then were from hustles( taking out the trash daily for a local mom and pop cafe, cutting neighbour's grass etc) or holding onto my allowance at $2 a week. Imagine saving up for months and blowing it on a copy of Total Recall NES lol... even with the odd shitty game selection, every game you either bought as a kid or got as gifts felt special. Now as an adult I've got 100s of physical and digital games that feel completely disposable.
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Raven117
Gold Member
I only saw one in the wild as a kid.
It was mythical
In the end, that’s why I’m still into RPGs. Games were really expensive back then. And my parents didn’t have a ton of money to blow on stuff like that. I saved and bought one, maybe two games a year. I had to make each one count. So, rpgs offered the most playtime and in my view bang for my buck.
I also rarely buy and play more than one game at a time. Just a habit,
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InterMusketeer
Member
I did not lack video games (and consoles) throughout my childhood, and we were not a particularly wealthy family. These types of comparisons make it seem like games were some kind of nearly inaccessible luxury. Games and consoles were mostly pretty affordable, even if you had to wait for deals or price drops.
IAmRei
Member
It was pricey here, but still manageable for our parent, in south east asia. The games is mostly pirated version, and took about 12x standard meal prices here. the real games are about 40x meal prices. And i live near game rental, which is quite cheap about $1 back then per day, and because i live near, i can rent it just by paying 2$ week, good days.
As PS1 arrives, there are almost no legit games here. And the pirated game prices almost as low as 3 dollars ...
As PS1 arrives, there are almost no legit games here. And the pirated game prices almost as low as 3 dollars ...
John Marston
GAF's very own treasure goblin
If I'm not mistaken I remember paying around 700$ for my 3DO back then.
But hey Wing Commander 3!
Ceadeus
Gold Member
I can't believe this came out in 1990. What else looked comparable to this back then?
Now I've got to try the game