Why did Phantasy Star games cost so much?

V

Vieo

Member
I've never played any of them even though I did have a Sega Genesis. When I would go into to Toys r Us to buy my SNES games back in the day, I would look at Genesis games and I would always see Phantasy Star games costing like... $90 - $100. Was this just Toys R Us or was it this way else where? This was back when I used to shop only at Toys r Us or KB Toy Store... come to think of it, I think those were pretty much the only two real game stores back then. Funcoland wasn't even out yet I don't think.

Also, I remember the Secret of Mana being in Toys R Us and costing like $99, years after it came out. I saw the commercial for the game, the animated one where the boy picks the sword up out of the water then it backs away and he's there with two of his friends. I wanted that game REALLY bad but the price never came down. Then one day after seeing it for $99 at Toys R Us, I went walking around with my mom (I think it was around christmas), we popped into this cheap electronics store by chance and the guy had the game there for $20. The box was pretty banged up, but it wasn't a used game. The cart and box contents had never been touched. What was the deal with that overpricing?
 
Cartridges are expensive to make. RPGs have a battery backup and more ROM space than usual, so they cost more to make.

Mana shouldn't have been that much though (Unless it's Canadian dollars).
 
back in the day bigger games meant more memory in the Cart which meant it cost more to make which meant jacked up game prices. Carts really did cost a small fortune back in the day... and no one could afford to eat the added costs of a large cart for a really big RPG with lots of artwork.
 
So the Phantasy Star games are really long games? How long? Final Fantasy VII long?(40hrs?) or Baldur's Gate long?(100+ hours)

Also, so I wasn't imagining things? The Phantasy Star games really cost that much? How many of you bought them when they came out? Are they worth playing now? :D
 
It's was mostly memory that drove the price. The first PS was like first 4meg cart in existence IIRC. PS2 and 4 where also hefty for their time.

It's funny to look back at this stuff and see how far we have come in terms of compacity. One those tiny DS carts could hold the core PS serious and include voice acting or even FMV.
 
Sega of America was literally forced to release PS4 by corperate in Japan. So they set an astronomical price point expecting it to tank... and it beat everyone's expectations. :)
 
jarrod said:
Sega of America was literally forced to release PS4 by corperate in Japan. So they set an astronomical price point expecting it to tank... and it beat everyone's expectations. :)
Click to expand...

Wow, I didn't know that. And why in the hell was SOA so against the idea in the first place? It sounds like a Namco Hometek kind of attitude. :/
 
ge-man said:
It's was mostly memory that drove the price. The first PS was like first 4meg cart in existence IIRC. PS2 and 4 where also hefty for their time.
Click to expand...
At 3MB (24 Mbit) , PS4 wasn't really that huge for 1994 console standards (Capcom released the 5MB (40 Mbit) SSF2 Genesis port that year for $20 less). The high price was just another skuffle in the stupid infighting war between Sega's American and Japanese branches.
 
Vieo said:
Also, so I wasn't imagining things? The Phantasy Star games really cost that much? How many of you bought them when they came out? Are they worth playing now? :D
Click to expand...

I bought all of them when they came out, including the original Phantasy Star for the Master System the day it came out ($85 at TRU). Yeah, they weren't cheap, but I was so addicted to the series, it didn't matter. If you ask me, they're some of the best RPG's ever made (though you can probably skip PSIII, it's by far the weakest of the four).
 
I was really young when PSII came out, so my parents had to buy it for me. I remember they paid 80 bucks for it, reluctantly.

I'm grateful that they did. My all-time favorite RPG.
 
I remember seeing WWF Wrestlemania 2000 for the N64 costing $109 (Canadian) at Walmart. The N64 itself was $99 at the time. DAYUM!

But yeah, cartridges are always more expensive to produce and especially RPG's which took up more ROM space which cost more on the bottom line. I believe that was one of the reason's why Square left Nintendo during the PSX/Saturn/N64 era.

From what I recall, Seiken Densetsu 3 was originally destined to be a CDROM title (to be released on the Sony/Snes CDROM hybrid) but had to be chopped down to a cartridge which still cost an assload at the time.
 
jarrod said:
At 3MB (24 Mbit) , PS4 wasn't really that huge for 1994 console standards (Capcom released the 5MB (40 Mbit) SSF2 Genesis port that year for $20 less). The high price was just another skuffle in the stupid infighting war between Sega's American and Japanese branches.
Click to expand...

Yeah, my memory was fuzzy there. I have a hard time remember how cart size evolved at that time.
 
Sega RPGs were expensive


U.S. release prices:

Phantasy Star 1988-1990 ~$90

Phantasy Star II 1990-1991 ~$80

Sword of Vermillion 1990-1991 ~$80

Phantasy Star III 1991-1992 ~$80

Phantasy Star IV 1995 $100
 
Did Secret of Mana actually cost $99?? I don't remember it being anywhere near that price, though I can't remember if I actually bought it for myself or not at the time.
 
ge-man said:
Wow, I didn't know that. And why in the hell was SOA so against the idea in the first place? It sounds like a Namco Hometek kind of attitude. :/
Click to expand...
Stupid infighting. SOA thought RPGs were a dead end and were resnetful that PS4 was literally forced on them... in the mid 1990s they skipped tons of potential localizations (Shining Wisdom, Crusader of Centy, Dragon Slayer I&II, Monster World IV, Surging Aura, Blue Seed, Dragon Force, Rayearth, Shining Force GG3, Sylvan Tale, etc) after being pretty proactive about RPGs in the 1980s and early 1990s.
 
teiresias said:
Did Secret of Mana actually cost $99?? I don't remember it being anywhere near that price, though I can't remember if I actually bought it for myself or not at the time.
Click to expand...

I think it was $74.99.
 
teiresias said:
Did Secret of Mana actually cost $99?? I don't remember it being anywhere near that price, though I can't remember if I actually bought it for myself or not at the time.
Click to expand...

It wouldn't surprise me. I remember my borther paying a high price for Earthbound at the time (70?) This generation has really been kind to us.
 
jenov4 said:
From what I recall, Seiken Densetsu 3 was originally destined to be a CDROM title (to be released on the Sony/Snes CDROM hybrid) but had to be chopped down to a cartridge which still cost an assload at the time.
Click to expand...
That was Seiken Densetsu 2 (Secret of Mana) actually. And Square was still pissed because Nintendo would only greenlight a 16Mbit (2MB) cart for them, while Enix got a 24Mbit (3MB) cart for DQ5 iirc.


teiresias said:
Did Secret of Mana actually cost $99?? I don't remember it being anywhere near that price, though I can't remember if I actually bought it for myself or not at the time.
Click to expand...
No SNES games retailed at $99 USD. And only 2 Genesis games ever did (Phantasy Star 4 & Virtua Racing).
 
SOM cost about the same as FFIII. I think I paid 60 dollars for each one.

Heck, when I traded in FFIII at Funco Land a few months later, they gave me 50 dollars store credit! Unheard of!
 
doncale said:
Sega RPGs were expensive


U.S. release prices:

Phantasy Star 1988-1990 ~$90

Phantasy Star II 1990-1991 ~$80

Sword of Vermillion 1990-1991 ~$80

Phantasy Star III 1991-1992 ~$80

Phantasy Star IV 1995 $100
Click to expand...

the Square RPGS on the snes were expensive too. I remeber Final fantasy 3 (6), Secret of Mana, chrono Trigger and super Mario RPG all coasting $80. I think only Final Fantasy 2 (4) was the only one that was priced at $70. All Rpgs were expensive back in the 16 bit days.
 
That's why you rented them for 4 straight weeks, and had marathon sessions with friends to beat it.


Getting stuck on a certain part at 2am in the morning, and the (Nintendo) hint line didn't open until 12pm EST. Falling asleep while your friend tried to find the right trigger to continue the storyline ... waking about 3 hours later, "Did you figure it out yet?". "No." Fuck!


Ahh .. all the wasted hours of my life.
 
sonic4ever said:
the Square RPGS on the snes were expensive too. I remeber Final fantasy 3 (6), Secret of Mana, chrono Trigger and super Mario RPG all coasting $80. I think only Final Fantasy 2 (4) was the only one that was priced at $70. All Rpgs were expensive back in the 16 bit days.
Click to expand...


true. it's just that Sega's RPGs were the most expensive on average. going back to the late 1980s with Phantasy Star and perhaps others too.

anyone have pricing info on Master System RPGs (other than PS I) like Miracle Warriors and Y's ?
 
Sounds like everyone here bought into the hype. :p

None of those games needed to be THAT expensive. Publishers tried to sell RPGs at a higher price because they thought they could get away with it, plain and simple.

PSIV especially was hilarious... the fact that people paid over $80 for that game when it really should've cost $40, $50 tops, is baffling.
 
Games in general were expesive as hell during the 16 bit days. The PS games were definitely the most expensives ones I ever bought (got them all used, but even then they were really expensive). Most of the Square games were around $70 dollars as well. And hell, even some non rpgs were that expensive like DKC. Games are so much cheaper these days then they were back then.
 
john tv said:
Sounds like everyone here bought into the hype. :p

None of those games needed to be THAT expensive. Publishers tried to sell RPGs at a higher price because they thought they could get away with it, plain and simple.

PSIV especially was hilarious... the fact that people paid over $80 for that game when it really should've cost $40, $50 tops, is baffling.
Click to expand...


There was no alternative!
 
sonic4ever said:
the Square RPGS on the snes were expensive too. I remeber Final fantasy 3 (6), Secret of Mana, chrono Trigger and super Mario RPG all coasting $80. I think only Final Fantasy 2 (4) was the only one that was priced at $70. All Rpgs were expensive back in the 16 bit days.
Click to expand...
None of these games were that expensive near me. FFII was $50, Mana was $60, Chrono and FFIII were $70. I don't remember how expensive Mario RPG was, but I know first party games didn't get priced higher just cause they were RPGs.

EDIT: Come to think of it, FFII was actually $60, I think.
 
john tv said:
. I don't remember how expensive Mario RPG was, but I know first party games didn't get priced higher just cause they were RPGs.
Click to expand...

Untrue. Earthbound was more expensive, as was Mario RPG (though I think the latter was $60 instead of $70).
 
jarrod said:
That was Seiken Densetsu 2 (Secret of Mana) actually. And Square was still pissed because Nintendo would only greenlight a 16Mbit (2MB) cart for them, while Enix got a 24Mbit (3MB) cart for DQ5 iirc.
Click to expand...
Dragon Quest V was 12Mbit.
 
john tv said:
Sounds like everyone here bought into the hype. :p

None of those games needed to be THAT expensive. Publishers tried to sell RPGs at a higher price because they thought they could get away with it, plain and simple.

PSIV especially was hilarious... the fact that people paid over $80 for that game when it really should've cost $40, $50 tops, is baffling.
Click to expand...

Yeah. but prices weren't dropping as fast as it does today. FFIV was still expensive even 2-3 years after its release.

Really didn't have a choice. Now we do today, especially with Activision's plans of charging more for games.
 
john tv said:
Dragon Quest V was 12Mbit.
Click to expand...

I think he means DQ VI.

What was the biggest SNES game again? One of the Tales games (48mb?) or Star Ocean (48mb).

I think Mana 3 was 32mb. Was SFAlpha 2 also?
 
PS2 has got to be one of the harddest rpg's i have ever played. The devs of that game must have been gankers or something , geez usually when you start off in an rpg the first 10 levels or so are easy wins, not that game you got owned.
 
jarrod said:
D'oh! What game am I thinking of then? What 24Mbit game did Enix release in 1993-ish? Seventh Saga? Actraiser 2? :/
Click to expand...

Those both are 12-bit. But I can't think of another game around that time myself.
 
Unison said:
I think he means DQ VI.
Click to expand...
No DQVI was much later (late 1995). And it was 32Mbit (4MB) iirc.


Unison said:
What was the biggest SNES game again? One of the Tales games (48mb?) or Star Ocean (48mb).

I think Mana 3 was 32mb. Was SFAlpha 2 also?
Click to expand...
I remember reading Tengai Makyou Zero used compession technology that allowed 100 Mbit (12.5MB) of game data... not sure about actual counts though. I think ToP at 48Mbit (6MB) was the largest actually.
 
SonicMegaDrive said:
Keep building up them levels!

I think PSII's difficulty was just the designer's way of making the game longer.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what it was. I don't miss those kinds of dungeons these days.
 
since we're talking 16 bit RPG prices, for me, the prices went something like this:
$80 new for LTTP (ridiculous, I wound up getting the LTTP pack-in with SNES instead)
$70 new for Chrono Trigger
$60 new for SOM, FF3/6, Mario RPG
$50 new for Earthbound
unsure on Lufia 2, never saw it for sale here new or used

however, I bought most of mine used (SOM was $50 used, what a ripoff, but that was back when it was only maybe 1-2 years old) for a lot lower price. well, actually, I haven't bought CT yet. I can't decide between getting it for PS1 or getting it for SNES, and I'm not that motivated to get it at all (SHOCK AND HORROR).
 
DonasaurusRex said:
PS2 has got to be one of the harddest rpg's i have ever played. The devs of that game must have been gankers or something , geez usually when you start off in an rpg the first 10 levels or so are easy wins, not that game you got owned.
Click to expand...

After trying to find the exit to the first dungeon on the GBA version for two fucking hours one night I just gave up (because it 2AM and I needed rest for work.) And it had such a nice story too :_:
 
jarrod said:
D'oh! What game am I thinking of then? What 24Mbit game did Enix release in 1993-ish? Seventh Saga? Actraiser 2? :/
Click to expand...
Not sure, honestly. I'm getting old... starting to forget stuff. :)
 
john tv said:
Not sure, honestly. I'm getting old... starting to forget stuff. :)
Click to expand...
Maybe it wasn't over SD2 even now that I think about it... maybe it was Romacing Saga 1 or 2 or FF5 not being given the cart size Square wanted, while Enix got a larger sized cart approved. Someone help me! :/
 
belgurdo said:
After trying to find the exit to the first dungeon on the GBA version for two fucking hours one night I just gave up (because it 2AM and I needed rest for work.) And it had such a nice story too :_:
Click to expand...

The Genesis version came w/ a hintbook w/ maps & walkthroughs for the whole game. I imagine it would be almost unplayable w/o it.

I got about 4 dungeons into the GBA one before I gave up!
 
john tv said:
PSIV especially was hilarious... the fact that people paid over $80 for that game when it really should've cost $40, $50 tops, is baffling.
Click to expand...
PSIV for $100 was a better value than CT for $75. =)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

So how much did you spend in the last 12 months gaming-wise?
37
875
Punished Miku replied
Level-5 CEO explains why delays happen so much and why “just announcing things later” isn’t always a solution
Game Dev 
1
125
Hudo replied
  • Locked
Why do people blow the Xbox controller so much?
Opinion  2 3
136
5K
GHG replied
Phantasy Star Tabletop RPG Coming 2025
11
1K
Azure Crystal Gaming replied
Why did all gaming companies go a HUGE hiring spree during COVID?
35
142
SILKYSMOOTH30FPS replied
Top Bottom