The ridiculous, insane price of console gaming. It just hit me that... (1 Viewer)

[Chad Ellinger]

Sega Saturn $325 (I think, quickly went to $299)

Actually, the Saturn's launch price was $399. Its price, combined with the fact that it launched 6 months earlier than even many developers expected, ensured that it never took off, although it did drop in price later on to compete with Playstation.

 

[DonRoeber]

I've no problem buying used games, provided they let me check out the quality of the disc before I buy it. Some of my favorite N64 games I bought used for $20 or so.
I'll keep going back to that store too, since they recently had a copy of Criterions Hard Boiled, used, for $15. They no longer have it

 

[BrianB]

Brand new games ARE expensive... $50 is a lot of cash - I certainly won't pay that for a lot of games (been spoiled with the DC!)... Unfortunately, modern games are also incredibly expensive to develop. As Gary said, budgets over $5 million aren't uncommon... As hardware advances, the gamebuying public has higher & higher expectations - with that, comes cost.

Additionally, although the consumer may pay $50 for his/her new game, only a portion of that makes it to the developer - usually, $20 goes to the retailer, a few more dollars goes to the distributor, about $20-25 goes to the publisher.

Of that $20-25 going to the publisher, if it's a console game, then $7-10 has to go to Sony/Sega/Microsoft (more if it's a Nintendo game!) That remaining $15 (at most!) has to pay all development costs, all marketing costs and /then/ hopefully pay a royalty to the developer for selling enough copies to make a profit...

 

[Morgan Jolley]

$55 for an X-Box controller? I thought it was $35.

Accessories (like controllers and memory cards, not those outlandish, weird, or pointless ones) are no more than $35 right now, and the price of consoles hasn't gone up that much in the last 10 years (as opposed to things like HTF equipment or other expensive hobbies). To tell the truth, I'm quite happy with things as they are right now. $50 for a game is no big deal, and $300 for something that will last for several years ain't that bad. Hell, $200 for a PSX that lasted for 6 years (and still kinda going) at launch is pretty good, if you ask me.

I like the state of gaming prices as they are right now.

 

[BrianB]

Hell, $200 for a PSX that lasted for 6 years (and still kinda going) at launch is pretty good, if you ask me.

PSX was $300 at launch.

 

[John Berggren]

At $199, the Gamecube was a great launch price.

 

[Joe michaels]

It really depends on how much hourly enjoyment you get for the dollar. I think $50 is a tad high but if you get a game like GTA3 and it gives you 20 hours of enjoyment that's like what $2.50 an hour? Not bad really. What does concern me is places like Babbages are starting to charge $54.99 on may of their games when they are released. That I will not pay. I stopped going to Babbgaes altogether because of this.

 

[Joe michaels]

While media and pressing of game titles is cheaper now, the cost of production is so much higher, I remember when we all went "whoa" when Wing Commander 4 cost $10 million, now the average is around $3-5 million

Hardware launch prices to my memory

NES-$99 ($129 with stupid ROB the Robot)

Sega Master System ($99, $129 with the awesome 3-D glasses)

TurboGraphx 16- $199

Sega Genesis- $189

SNES-$189

Atari Jaguar $249

Sega Saturn $325 (I think, quickly went to $299)

Sony Playstation $299

Nintendo 64 $250

Sega Dreamcast $199

Sony Playstation 2 $299

Nintendo Gamecube $199

Microsoft X-Box $299

Yes, it has steadily gone up, but $300 is the cap that the companies are at. They know any more than $300 and people balk.

Actually I think the NES was more than that when it first came out. If you go back to the Atari 2600 it's initial alunch price was $250.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Even at $300 (for the PSX), 6 years is great for a console.

I'm still happy with how things are. I don't go to Babbage's or EB because they do the $55 thing ($5 more) while other places are cheaper.

If a game or console is too expensive, you can wait a while and get it when its cheaper. Then again, you miss out on all the time you could have spent playing games between when it first came out and when you buy it.

 

[LarryDavenport]

It's more than $50 if you think about it. Since all the games are DVD-Rom now, the only way you can save a game is to buy a memory card ($15). Madden Football for the Game Cube takes two (so that's $80 total if you want to take full advantage of the game's Franchise mode).

So far I have spent:

$400 for the bundle (console, 2 controllers, memory card, 3 games)

$50 additional game

$15 additional memory card

And I plan on getting 2 more controllers ($60), the composite video cables ($40?), 2 more memory cards ($30), and at least 4 games ($200) in the next year.

I only spend more on CDs and DVDs.

 

[Steven_V]

Considering how successful the video gaming industry is these days, it seems the majority of gamers feel $50 per game is a good price. BTW, here are some prices I remember from back in the day:

1982 - Pac-Man (Atari 2600) $45

1988 - Double Dragon (NES) $65

1988 - Phantasy Star (SMS) $90