Me and my friend were discussing games and I never really bought games way back when, would only really get them as gifts, so how much did for example NES, SNES and N64 games usually cost?
How much did games cost back in the day?
" NES games ranged from around $30 to $45, SNES games were usually $50 (barring some exceptions, like Chrono Trigger), and N64 games were $50-ish, IRC. "Really? Where did I hear that N64 games would cost 80 bucks?
N64 games were typically always 60. I distinctly remember that being the moment I found games to be expensive.
They did a recent overview in a recent EGM including system cost and adjustment for inflation. The bottom line is we're paying less now, with the current state of the dollar. PS1 (1995) through Xbox1 (2004) games cost $49.99 USD.
All info from EGM print issue 243.
System (year) | Game cost in USD at system launch year | Adjusted for inflation as of December 2010 |
---|---|---|
NES (1986) | 29.99-49.99 | 59.79-99.65 |
SNES (1991) | 49.99-59.99 | 80.17-96.21 |
N64 (1996) | 49.99 | 69.60 |
PS2 (2000) | 49.99 | 63.41 |
Xbox 360 (2005) | 59.99 | 67.10 |
PS1 is where games started getting more affordable. Nintendo could be $45-60, SNES/Sega Genesis was anywhere between $50-120 (you read that right). So don't let anyone tell you $60 is somehow overblown, cause these were 80s/90s dollars.
Launch price for Super Mario 64 and Pilotwings was $70, but due to the way the competition between stores worked, you could find it for $60. I remember paying $80 for Turok, however.
I believe I have the original boxes for Burgertime and Atlantis which I believe were $35 although I have no idea how standard the pricing was back before the Crash.
If I remember correctly certain popular games were that expensive. I imagine it was a mix of the better games taking up more space and therefore requiring more expensive carts, and Nintendo thinking they could get away with charging just about anything for a Zelda game.
Certain N64 games were definitely $60 or more at launch. I remember because it seemed like a fortune, and I was generally too young to afford games that cost that high.
The one thing to take away is not how much games cost, but how willing the stores used to drop prices in order to stay competitive, even on day 1!
" @Wes said:@MooseyMcMan said:" @MooseyMcMan Nah uh. Most carts were 60, and I remember killer instinct being 70. "Depends where you're from. I can only assume the OP is referring to cost in North America in USDs. "
" @Wes: That is nonsense. I own a bunch of N64 games, and non of them cost more than $50. "Talking about USDs, I most definitely remember N64 games costing more than $50 from time to time. No question. I was pretty young, so that might be playing a factor, but I don't think I'm wrong on this one.
" @cstrang said:I don't know about him, but I sure as shit spent $72 on Quest 64 back in the day." NES games ranged from around $30 to $45, SNES games were usually $50 (barring some exceptions, like Chrono Trigger), and N64 games were $50-ish, IRC. "Really? Where did I hear that N64 games would cost 80 bucks? "
Carts were fucking expensive, yo.
I remember paying anywhere between 30-40 bucks for PC games back in the day. I never paid more than 50 for an N64 or SNES game, though I'm sure there exists more expensive games.
Ok got it. 1st party Nintendo 64 games were $59.99, 3rd party tended to be $49.99, and there were of course some exceptions like Killer Instinct Gold and Turok Dinosaur Hunter.
http://ign64.ign.com/articles/084/084705p1.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshi's_Story
" @CH3BURASHKA: That's crazy talk. The only way an N64 would cost that much would be if it was something super rare, still in the packaging, and being sold online today. It was $50. I remember, like it was only yesterday... "Maybe with inflation?
And, yeah, people need to realize that, with the PS1 + 2 and N64, game prices in the US were mostly standardized to prices lower than those in the UK (IE: 50 USD-ish)
http://www.vgrebirth.com/games/game.asp?id=3988&redirect=%2Fcommunity%2Fgames.asp%3Ffield%3Dtitle%26order%3Dd%26id%3Dbushpig
" It used to vary a lot more game per game than it does now. "Definitely this. New N64 games could be anywhere from $40 to $70. As someone else mentioned, most N64 games "retailed" for $70 but stores would sell them for $60.
Ant Attack and Scuba Dive on the Spectrum were £6.95. Ultimate Play the Game (now Rare) decided to change things and made the first ten quid game: Sabre Wulf. With it came a change to a larger carboard game box. This happened for Underwurlde, Knightlore, etc. It's them that drove up game pricing in Britain.
I saw a new copy of Mortal Kombat Trilogy for the N64 at Toys R' Us priced at $125 Canadian, it nearly floored me...still can't get over how high that is.
During the 90's here in Canada the dollar was at an all time low compared to the US dollar (like 60 cents to the dollar) so games were ultra expensive. I remember WCW vs. NWO World Tour costing me $99.99 at retail. It was mental. I don't recall game prices before that because I never bought any for myself, they were always gifts and I was ultra young.
The first game I purchased with my own money was Super Mario Bros. 2. That game was around 70 dollars cdn., but I paid around 80 cdn for it being I purchased it in a grocery store. Yes, back then some of our grocery stores sold toys and games. Stepping a generation ahead, Final Fantasy III (US), was over 80 dollars cdn at release with the GST and PST factored in. I was so short on money to purchase what is to date my most anticipated game, I remember trading in a stack of very good SNES games in their original cardboard boxes (Ken Griffey Jr., Super Metroid, Legend of the Mystical Ninja, Pocky & Rocky, and a few others I don't remember). I'm not saying all games were that much here, I can't really remember, but I do remember those two very well.
Yeah, the prices people have been throwing around are off.
Later era SNES games would run 70-80 dollars (Crono Trigger and other Square games, Ultimate MK3, etc.)
N64 games would run 70-90 dollars. (Zelda 64, Star Fox 64 etc were almost 100)
This is LARGELY why PS1 became successful. It was drastically cheaper than N64 cartiidges.
It's worthwhile to say, however, that this price reduction was passed on to the consumer due to the fact that manufacturing costs for CD based systems were drastically cheaper tahn the propetary hardware Nintendo was pushing out in it's carts.
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