It costs more for everyone to be alive than it did back then.

Game developers are included in "everyone".

The biggest cost, by a huge margin, in any business is the people.

Just because digital distribution is cheaper than physical it does not mean making the game itself is cheaper. In fact, games are getting more and more expensive to make, even though some of the budget is saved through digital distribution, the developer is trying to recuperate the much higher costs.

who is making everything more expensive......

how do we stop it

Vote with your wallet. Problem solved.

Originally posted by ReBoot:

Vote with your wallet. Problem solved.

in a smaller world that worked..... these days.... its just a waiting game.... and a waste of time...

complain todays and dont buy........ then the new kids come up its all back to normal....

Originally posted by Falcon:

People always say “games are cheaper now than ever once you adjust for inflation.”

They are correct. E.T. for atari 2600 was roughly $50 at release in the 80's, super mario bros 3 on nes years later same price which with inflation should have been at least $20 more but stayed the same, resident evil 2 remake decades later $60+/- release should have been $120+ yet is in the same ballpark pricing as much older games.

I dont know what is inflation or why do AAA CEO need 12th Iphone 19 but 120 USD for base game edition with paywalls and locked characters is too high

Originally posted by Falcon:

People always say “games are cheaper now than ever once you adjust for inflation.”
I don’t actually agree with that because what you get for your money has gone downhill.

Back in the day, you bought a game and got a box, a disc/cartridge, a proper manual, sometimes a map or poster. You owned it. You could sell it, lend it, keep it forever.

Now? You’re paying the same price (or more) for a license to download some data. No box, no manual, no resale value. If the publisher pulls the plug or delists it, you might lose access completely. That’s not ownership.

On top of that, games are packed with microtransactions, DLC, battle passes, and other ways to keep you paying long after the initial purchase. In the past, you got the full game at launch.

And here’s the kicker digital distribution actually saves publishers money. No shipping, no printing, no physical production, no retail markup. Yet prices didn’t drop they went up. The savings just boosted profit margins.

And those profits? They’re at record highs. The industry makes billions every year, and big publishers are making more money than they ever have before. So when they argue that $70 games are “necessary,” it’s hard to take them seriously.

So sure, maybe $70 in 2025 is cheaper than $60 in 1998 once you adjust for inflation but that number doesn’t tell the whole story. You’re paying more for less.

Games aren’t really “cheaper now.” They just cost the same (or more) for a smaller, more restricted product and the companies are raking in record profits

“On top of that, games are packed with microtransactions, DLC, battle passes, and other ways to keep you paying long after the initial purchase. In the past, you got the full game at launch.”

Not true. Some games had locked dlc on the disc.

Originally posted by ReBoot:

Vote with your wallet. Problem solved.

People will pay 70 USD for game
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2486820/Sonic_Racing_CrossWorlds/

and then willingly pay for ability to play said games for some time: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3592250/Sonic_Racing_CrossWorlds_Season_Pass/

Originally posted by Falcon:

People always say “games are cheaper now than ever once you adjust for inflation.”

I've never once in my life seen or read someone say that and make any kind of sense whatsoever.

Originally posted by The Living Tribunal:

Originally posted by Falcon:

People always say “games are cheaper now than ever once you adjust for inflation.”

They are correct. E.T. for atari 2600 was roughly $50 at release in the 80's, super mario bros 3 on nes years later same price which with inflation should have been at least $20 more but stayed the same, resident evil 2 remake decades later $60+/- release should have been $120+ yet is in the same ballpark pricing as much older games.

Case in point.

Originally posted by Falcon:

People always say “games are cheaper now than ever once you adjust for inflation.”
I don’t actually agree with that because what you get for your money has gone downhill.

Then you were never familiar with what you got back in the 80's, 90's, 00's.

Originally posted by Falcon:

Back in the day, you bought a game and got a box, a disc/cartridge, a proper manual, sometimes a map or poster. You owned it. You could sell it, lend it, keep it forever.

Or at least until you lost the disk, or the disc got damaged, or byte rot set in, Not to mention it was a pain to store the damned things.

Originally posted by Falcon:

Now? You’re paying the same price (or more) for a license to download some data. No box, no manual, no resale value. If the publisher pulls the plug or delists it, you might lose access completely. That’s not ownership.

Manuals aren't really needed much anymore. Because devs can now actually put that information IN the game. Better still devs of particular skill design the game in such a way as to teach you seamlessly. Manuals were literall a crutch devs used in the old days to get around the limitations of storage presented by physical media and hardware at the time.

Originally posted by Falcon:

On top of that, games are packed with microtransactions, DLC, battle passes, and other ways to keep you paying long after the initial purchase. In the past, you got the full game at launch.

Clearly you never played an arcade game then. Those were the OG MTX. Pay per continue or life in some cases. Heck some games had you plonk in actual quarters to get in game power ups.

IT's always funny when people express nostalgia for a time they clearly weren't there for.

M;'dude the games you pay $60 for now are nothing like what we paid the same for back in the day. There's more content, better graphics, more refined game play, and greater convenience.

And here's the grand kicker. Game prices run the entire price spectrum.
Every thing from Free to hundred's of dollars . This is something that didn't happen back in the day because there was a minimum retail price for a game back then. The game had to sell for a price high enough top make it worth the retailer's shelf space, so there were waay fewer free and sub $10 games.

Now... things are better and what you get for that price range now is what you paid 30 or 40 smackers for back in the 90's

Originally posted by Falcon:

People always say “games are cheaper now than ever once you adjust for inflation.”
I don’t actually agree with that because what you get for your money has gone downhill.

Back in the day, you bought a game and got a box, a disc/cartridge, a proper manual, sometimes a map or poster. You owned it. You could sell it, lend it, keep it forever.

Now? You’re paying the same price (or more) for a license to download some data. No box, no manual, no resale value. If the publisher pulls the plug or delists it, you might lose access completely. That’s not ownership.

Back in the day, we didn't have the same ♥♥♥♥♥♥ inequality as we do today. Now, all games have to chase "whales" like farmville. Per seat sales isn't enough to guarantee the studio stays solvent.

https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/knowing-steam-players-are-hoarders-explains-why-you-give-valve-that-30-percent-analyst-tells-devs-you-get-access-to-a-bunch-of-drunken-sailors-who-spend-money-irresponsibly/

Valve business model depends on people ironically not playing their games because attention is too valuable.

Originally posted by Falcon:

And here’s the kicker digital distribution actually saves publishers money. No shipping, no printing, no physical production, no retail markup. Yet prices didn’t drop they went up. The savings just boosted profit margins.

30% is a crap ton.

Originally posted by Falcon:

And those profits? They’re at record highs. The industry makes billions every year, and big publishers are making more money than they ever have before. So when they argue that $70 games are “necessary,” it’s hard to take them seriously.

They are concentrated into a few companies like Roblox.

Originally posted by Falcon:

So sure, maybe $70 in 2025 is cheaper than $60 in 1998 once you adjust for inflation but that number doesn’t tell the whole story. You’re paying more for less.

Games aren’t really “cheaper now.” They just cost the same (or more) for a smaller, more restricted product and the companies are raking in record profits

Inequality..... Games are a victim of the economic reality that inequality exists....

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2010/10/an-inconvenient-truth-game-prices-have-come-down-with-time/

Originally posted by ( ( < < <20🤖1> > > ) ):

who is making everything more expensive......

how do we stop it

You are in many ways by not voting in elections. Did you hear? There is a housing shortage worldwide......

https://docs.un.org/en/A/78/192

The shortage is eating everyone's budgets.

I was there.
ZX 80, ZX 81, Vic 20 and forwards.

So called triple A games today are ludicrously expensive.
Games back in the very early 80's in the UK indeed were never cheap. Scramble would / did cost 9,99 pounds. Yet that was then a true top arcade game.

Mastertronic was a more budget friendly publisher and games cost 1.99 and 2.99 respectively. ( Pounds),

I cannot adapt the exact differences in prices but taking into account everything I would suggest nobody back then would have paid anything remotely like today.

My guess, that is what it is, I would say games are a minimum of twice as much today and in some cases three times.

Games today hovering in the $20.00 - $35.00 AU are the only reasonable options for value. The rest in my opinion are rip off.

Yet an argument of exception shall always wheedle it's way in to the debate.

Absolutely more expensive today.

P.S Reason for AU is I live in Tasmania now.


To end, remember you had a tape/diskette/s and a box with all sorts within. You could also sell/swap said games back then.

It is far more worse today, and the flip is there are far more options today, albeit filled with shovelware.

Originally posted by Chelle:

I was there.

Mastertronic was a more budget friendly publisher and games cost 1.99 and 2.99 respectively. ( Pounds),

I cannot adapt the exact differences in prices but taking into account everything I would suggest nobody back then would have paid anything remotely like today.

My guess, that is what it is, I would say games are a minimum of twice as much today and in some cases three times.

itch.io is full of games that are worth a few bucks....