I grew up when Nintendo cartridges were worth their weight in gold, while new PC games and other console games were the same price as they are now, except 20 years of inflation later:
Games are cheaper than ever, yet complaints everywhere.
$60 for new releases, only acceptable if AAA + hype + great metascore, else wait for sale.
$40 for SSF2 remaster with extra modes, way too much.
$30 for an indie game, too much
$20 to $50 for VR games, too much
$10 for Mario runner, too much
$15 per month for game streaming, too much
$10 per month for XBox game pass, still too much
$5 per month for gold/ps+ with tons of games, too much
Have Mobile games, free to play, Steam sales and Humble bundles eroded the value of games so much that a $40 dollar price point now negatively influences reviews of a game?
What's a game worth nowadays?
For me Steam sales have changed my perception of game value. I have a bunch of games on my wish list which I might buy at a sale. Though it has more to do that I don't value digital downloads all that much and rather not spend more than $10 or even $5 on a download only title unless it's something I really want.
Physical games I have no problem paying CAD 80 for nowadays, yet when I buy a game digitally CAD 40 for The Witness feels like a ripoff. I would pay upto CAD 60 for a physical edition. (Might cave in to a digital edition with VR support)
I wouldn't pay $40 for Ultra street fighter 2, simply because I don't like street fighter. I would pay that no problem if it was wipeout 2097 remaster (wrong platform I know, just an example)
So what should games cost?