Rare games (especially boxed) increase in value.  Just look at some of the rare games on NES that sell for 20,000+ boxed.  I would say collecting video games is on par with collecting sports cards.  I used to be a big time card collector but collecting video games is more fun to me (considering you can actually play them too).  Sure it ruins the value opening them but eventually with time the value will be the same as you originally bought it or greater.  I remember during the 16 bit era you could buy tons of Atari 2600 cartridges for barely anything.  I am pretty sure those 2600 cartridges are worth more now. 

This!!! Games are definitely worth the price. 

It's important we keep the $60 price for boxed console games becuase that will ensure enuff revenue to keep developing these AAA titles that we all want to play from time to time. Not to say that more games shouldn't be $40 or even less from day one. Today only GOTY editions and HD re-makes are $40, while I could imagine sub-AAA titles like Hunted: The Demon's Forge, Rise of the Agronauts and Wolfenstein* to cost $40 on release.

I do think multiplayer focused games should have differentiated pricing models though. My suggestion is $50 for the bare bones game with limited online and once you've put substantial energy in the multiplayer it should cost extra (not much different from the current revenue model with having frequent map packs like COD and BF do).

Like the OP said, if games cost $60 in mid 90's and we take inflation into account I think $60 for a game today is quite reasonable. Not cheap, but reasonable for all parties involved.

* personally I love these games and they're worth $60 to me, but I know how the general gaming public sees them.

As much as people get a chuckle (or, in some cases, just get outraged) off of the Angry Bird comparisons that a lot of folks use, it's actually pretty valid. It is now THE example given to a lot of developers that you CAN and DO make money off of mobile device gaming. Angry Birds is the 'pulled yourself up by your bootstraps' success story that tended to fill the early days of computers and gaming and what not. The fact that the gameplay gets boring after like three minutes is completely irrelevant in the monetary scope. It shows that there is a market for dollar games and that they are able to reach the types of numbers for casual gamers that well surpasses typical console gamers.

I mean, it goes down to basic numbers...

Total Number of Combined Wii, 360 and PS3: About 230m.

Total Number of iPhones: Just under 200m (obviously higher if you include iPads).

Total Number of Android Devices: Above 250m.

Angry Birds is now doing well enough that their company is larger, there are Angry Birds toys invading toy stores and they even hired a guy to start putting together an Angry Birds movie. You can't do this on peanuts, so they're obviously doing pretty well. And that's what companies see, not 'is the game interesting at all?' or 'could I still play this if my brain was not a brain, but a bundle of basic nerve cells that twitch occasionally?'. This is why all of these groups are running to get as many iOS and Android games out as possible, even if 99.9% of them are absolutely horrific piles of shovelware.

But, to the original question: I haven't bought a full priced game in years, because I don't want to spend $50 to $60 on one. I just wait for Steam sales.

Some games are worth the asking price and some aren't. It's the same for just about any other product.

Off topic: The author's writing style really annoys me.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Care Package Edition just got announced for $180 US. Not that is tad overpriced as it doesn't even come with season pass for dlc like last year. Am more interested in who buys these than why do they charge so much for them. I guess because someone buys them. 

No, that's why Steam sales are awesome!! Fu*k all the DLC released weeks/months later... Publishers sure know how to squeeze all the money they can out of gamers.

True but that is because of people that have too much money lol. There was a sealed iphone 1 that went on ebay for 10k few weeks ago... Same reason. 

I'm surprised developers and publishers don't want a cut out of Atari 2600 cartrige sales the way things are going...

Steams sells are the best example that lower prices equal more profit.

I don't have that much of a problem with $60 dollar boxed games. It's only $30 dollars if it turns out you didn't like it that much anyway since you can always trade it in or sell it on yourself.
Games I'm not convinced about I'll simply wait for to drop in price or turn up on a Steam sale.

I do feel psn and xbla games are overpriced. $14.99, 1200 or 1600msp is a bit much for a small game with no resale value. I would make a lot more impulse buys if they were priced under $10.

Non discounted digital downloads are pretty much rip offs anyway. Currently the Ratchet and Clank HD remake make it to psn. Buy the separate digital download versions for $14.99 each or a boxed version with all 3 for $29.99. There is no value in downloading.