| Shadow1980 said: New games are the least expensive they've ever been: (*snip*) Even if they were to go up to $70, they'd still be about the same as a PS3 launch title. Also, even if you factor in, say, $30 of DLC (which is totally optional), you're still talking about paying as much as you'd pay for some of the cheaper SNES and Genesis games. Also, games typically offer vastly more content than games in the early 90s did. And besides, you do have the option of waiting for the MSRP to drop or to shop around and find the game at a lower price. People who complaing about paying $60 for a new game have absolutely no historical perspective. |
While all this is true, remember that the valuation of entertainment as a whole has changed dramatically. If we go back to the early 90's a CD or VHS tape would be priced at £17.99 and £24.99 respectively (that's $30 and $42) and wouldn't have a price drop until they where at least a year old. That would be for a single album or film. Hell I remember back when video rental stores where a big thing because for £6.50 (that's $11) you could rent any 2 films for 2 nights, and that was a damn good deal back then. Now you can get entire unlimited streaming libraries on Spotify or Netflix for less than £6 (about $10) per month, and a CD or a DVD can cost you as little as £3.99 (that's $6.60) new, less than six months after release. Even a newly released blu-ray is around £10 (that's $16.50), (I bough Pacific Rim for my Dad's birthday last month for that price and it'd been out maybe 5 weeks). Now granted I'm using UK prices here, so it may be different in USA and other parts of the world but I can't imagine it'd be much different.
Just because games where prohibatively expensive back in the 90's doesn't mean their value remains static. In a world of mass media, every peice of media is worth far less now... that's why used PS3 games are cheaper now than used Mega Drive games online, because they simply cannot keep their value and compete, unless they become a collectable, (thanks for that Nintendo, you bastards).
