I very rarely buy video games. The last game I bought was Sacrifice for the PC in 2000. The last console I had was N64 and I never really bought any games for it. When I was a kid, I usually just got games for my birthday or Christmas and rented them. The only games I remember actually buying were ones for my Game Boy and Game Gear which were around $30.00. Out of curiosity, does anyone know how much Atari, NES, SNES, and C64 games cost when they were new, old, or in the middle of their life cycle? Furthermore, does anyone know how much it would have cost to manufacture and package game cartridges and how much the retail mark up was/is?

Really...Game Boy Games were $30? I didn't know that, since I didn't have the funds to get a game boy at the time. All I know is that PS1 games cost around $15-25, and Dreamcast games cost about $15-$30. Those were the days, honestly.

Quote: Original post by Halifax2
Really...Game Boy Games were $30? I didn't know that, since I didn't have the funds to get a game boy at the time. All I know is that PS1 games cost around $15-25, and Dreamcast games cost about $15-$30. Those were the days, honestly.

Nintendo DS games are only about 30-40 now so the Gameboy price is not that weird.

games like MGS and Gran Turismo costed todays prices. N64 games were rather expensive >£50. I had an Atari ST, i get the feeling they were cheaper but I cant remember.

interestingly even without the net piracy was still rampant. 90% of my games on atari were pirated, copies of copies of copies.

">dont copy that floppy! I was too young to understand what piracy was.

Quote: Original post by RivieraKid
interestingly even without the net piracy was still rampant. 90% of my games on atari were pirated, copies of copies of copies.

">dont copy that floppy! I was too young to understand what piracy was.

Piracy is not what dictates the rise in game prices, though. Rising development costs have a lot more to do with it.

we paid $59 bucks for Super Mario Brothers 3 when it first came out. As I undertand, NES games were generally $50 new, unless they were terrible, in which case they dropped to $30.

Quote: Original post by Halifax2
Really...Game Boy Games were $30? I didn't know that, since I didn't have the funds to get a game boy at the time. All I know is that PS1 games cost around $15-25, and Dreamcast games cost about $15-$30. Those were the days, honestly.

Typical PS1 and Dreamcast games were never that cheap brand new. They were priced at $49.99, with the occasional, less popular, games at $39.99. NES games were around $30-$40 new and SNES games were around $50 or more. I remember when I saw Chrono Trigger at Target or Best Buy, and it was $80! N64 games were also typically in the $60-$80 range as well, depending on the game.

The only things cheaper back in the day were the systems and their accessories. Some people bitch about the price of games today when they really shouldn't. They're cheap compared to the past. Adjusted for inflation, games were much more expensive 10 to 20 years ago than they are today. Can you imagine spending the equivalent of $80+ on an NES game?


Edit - Adjusted my NES/SNES numbers a bit.

[Edited by - Mastadon on November 25, 2008 7:07:31 PM]

People complain a lot about games getting "more and more" expensive, but if you consider inflation, the cost of games has really gone down.

Check out an old Sears catalog from 1988 here. They are selling Legend of Zelda for $37.99. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that is equivalent to $69.55 today.

I still had some receipts from when I was younger, here's some highlights:
Ice Hockey - $60
(most games were this price)
Super Mario RPG - $80
(it's also how much F-Zero, Donkey Kong Country, and Separation Anxiety cost, Earthbound however cost $150)
Final Fantasy 7 - $30 (god I loved the PS1 era)
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time - $60

Quote: Original post by eedok
I still had some receipts from when I was younger, here's some highlights:
Ice Hockey - $60
(most games were this price)
Super Mario RPG - $80
(it's also how much F-Zero, Donkey Kong Country, and Separation Anxiety cost, Earthbound however cost $150)
Final Fantasy 7 - $30 (god I loved the PS1 era)
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time - $60

Did you buy FF7 new? If so, it must have cost a good amount just to manufacture the cartridge.