5 ms·
> Video game players are hilariously, pitiably dramatic. I'm a gamer and I 100% agree with you. The simple fact is, AAA game prices have been stuck at $60-70
by Sohcahtoa82 1y ago
> Video game players are hilariously, pitiably dramatic.
I'm a gamer and I 100% agree with you.
The simple fact is, AAA game prices have been stuck at $60-70 for 30 years. Despite $60 in 1995 being worth ~$127 today, games are still $60. They haven't kept up with inflation. Games are relatively cheap while development costs for AAA are ridiculously high.
A typical SNES game had 10-30 people working on it and would have it done in 1.5-3 years. AAA games will have typically 1,000-3,000 and could take 3-7 years, so we're talking 100-200 times the development cost.
Now, compare the best-selling SNES games [0] to the overall best-selling games [1]. Modern AAA games barely reach 10x the unit sales as old SNES games.
Margins are thinning.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_Super_Nintendo_Entertainment_System_video_games#List https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_Super_Nin...
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_gam...
- wetpaws 1y ago[dead]
- medstrom 1y agoAre you sure you got your info right? I'd not be surprised if they've been stuck at $60 after adjusting for inflation, i.e. costing around $30 in 1995.
- xienze 1y agoNo, many games absolutely retailed for upwards of $60 in 1995 and earlier. Source: lived through it. https://www.reddit.com/r/Switch/comments/1jr81yf/video_game_prices_in_the_90s_us_millennials_are/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Switch/comments/1jr81yf/video_game_...
- ecshafer 1y agoI got a playstation over a N64 at the time mainly because the games were cheaper, those prices are accurate to my memory.
- Sohcahtoa82 1y ago100%. Easily verified by doing Google image searches for "SNES game ad". Most games were in the $50-70 range (Note that you'll see some images with prices up to $95, but that's Canadian dollars). It was only as the SNES generation was ending that you started seeing some games around $30-40.
- kipchak 1y agoI agree, but just want to add that part of this was offset by CDs being cheaper than cartridges. When the two overlapped with the N64 and PS1, N64 games were about $10-20 more expensive. Turok and Doom 64 for example were originally $75-80, and MGS & FF7 were on the higher side at $50. Digital delivery has probably had a roughly similar effect.