Just realized that videogames were f*****g expensive back in the days

[Alphaboy]

according to the CPI inflation calculator
75$ in 1993 is 154,52$ in 2022.

Gonna thank my dad when I see him for buying me dozens of them when I was a kid...

Video games, toys, and TVs are some of the things that went down proportionately throughout the years.

I have a hard time believing they were that expensive though. I remember buying Resident Evil 2 for like $40 in 1999. I remember buying recent games for like $60 so it's strange that games in the early 90s were also that expensive.

 

[Bacco]

according to the CPI inflation calculator
75$ in 1993 is 154,52$ in 2022.

Gonna thank my dad when I see him for buying me dozens of them when I was a kid...

Lot of stuff was expensive

Porn.
Think PAY for few paper pages often, yet felt worth it back then lol
Now limitless amount free videos of sluts getting fucked 1 click away

Fucking blockbuster asking money for 3 days rent of 1 movie, now paying not much more is 1 month of netflix

Cell phone company charging my ass for everything, teen years passed buying $$$ charges... now few money for basically unlimited everything lol

 

[Ezekiel 25:17]

I'll never forget begging my mom and dad for games. They would always put limitations on the cost so id usually end up with 2nd rate games, or year old releases on sale. 50 bucks was usually my cut off for NES titles. The new games would usually start at 59.99 back then so I got screwed.

I even had to plead with my mom to get the action set NES over the base set which was $20 bucks cheaper. I was like, "Mom! The action set comes with 2 games and a gun! 1 game costs 60 bucks...so thats 120 minus 20 bucks difference...thats 100 bucks mom, plus a gun! look how much we save!! Youd have to buy me a game anyway so this is an amazing deal"!!

Only time I enjoyed doing math back then is when it benefited my gaming life, lol.

The first game I got was maybe 6 months after i got my nintendo. It was Blades Of Steel which was a birthday present. Loved that shit!

After that, the pleading began. My dad put a $40 cap on my after blades of steel and I had to settle for a game called Karate Champ which was amazingly 29.99. It was one of the only games under 40 bucks and looked cool. Boy was I in for a surprise. Mike Tysons punch out I scored for 39.99 on sale months later.

My best sales pitch was for a 110 games in one cartridge I found in the classifides one day. I literally made my case for an hour with my dad from dining table to living room, again doing the math and convincing him of the amounts of money he would save buying 1 cartridge over 110, lol. He left me in suspense for 4 days until he came home with it. He specifically told me it would be the last game I would get for at least 2 years as it cost $200. That was my birthday & christmas present for the next 2 years, lol. The joke was on me however as half the freakin games were either clones with minor changes or some japanese variants I never heard of.

Ahhhh the good ol days!

 

[Michaelangelo]

Remember fondly my aunty gifting me Street Fighter 2 for Sega Genesis

She passed from breast cancer, RIP, you are missed dearly

 

[Eredin]

My nan bought me Conkers Bad Fur Day for my birthday.

It was $110 dollarydoos.

 

[Madmick]

Real dads buy porn magazines for his boys.

Maybe dads who have revolving door access to the local county jail, and want to continue the cycle.

The kid will find porn on his own. Calm down.

 

[Madmick]

according to the CPI inflation calculator
75$ in 1993 is 154,52$ in 2022.

Gonna thank my dad when I see him for buying me dozens of them when I was a kid...

For perspective, it didn't seem like much relative within the context of computing. The world of computing was still new to the mainstream, and everyone accepted the costs were high. Remember when the only family with a big screen TV lived in the big house in the cul-de-sac down at the end of the suburb? Nobody else could afford it? Computers were the next step up.

The Apple II was the first commercially successful home PC in history, and it sold for $1,300 in 1977. This is the equivalent of a basic office comp or web-browsing comp. This converts to $6,376 today. A bit more than the $699 the baseline Mac Mini runs you, isn't it? Things weren't a whole lot cheaper by the mid-90's. Computers ran $2K around that time.

The game consoles didn't cost that much, but they needed that low entry point to get into homes. Because software did. Almost everything had to be built from the ground up. Windows 3.1 cost $149 when it launched in 1992, and blew everyone's minds-- $312 today. And back then, people paid it. Everyone paid that to get Windows if it didn't come with the computer, and they usually didn't. Microsoft wasn't upgrading anyone to Win95 for free when it released, either. You want the new shit? You bought it.

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

My dad says our first VCR cost like $600 in 1985. Wowza.

 

[My Spot]

My dad says our first VCR cost like $600 in 1985. Wowza.

They were over $1k and closer to $1500 when they came out in the late 70s.

 

[empsim]

Yeah, they were expensive and could usually be completed in like 2 hours.

People nowadays complaining about how expensive gaming is have no idea. (And probably haven't tried many other hobbies)

 

[My Spot]

Remember fondly my aunty gifting me Street Fighter 2 for Sega Genesis

She passed from breast cancer, RIP, you are missed dearly

Playing SF2 on the regular 3 button Genesis controller?

 

[My Spot]

Video games, toys, and TVs are some of the things that went down proportionately throughout the years.

I have a hard time believing they were that expensive though. I remember buying Resident Evil 2 for like $40 in 1999. I remember buying recent games for like $60 so it's strange that games in the early 90s were also that expensive.

Cartridges were expensive, especially N64.

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

They were over $1k and closer to $1500 when they came out in the late 70s.

 

[Crimson Fury]

Playing SF2 on the regular 3 button Genesis controller?

That was annoying. Gotta have that 6 button pad.

As for Phantasy Star IV being $100, I remember hearing it was because of that stupid infighting between SOA and SOJ.

 

[My Spot]

That was annoying. Gotta have that 6 button pad.

As for Phantasy Star IV being $100, I remember hearing it was because of that stupid infighting between SOA and SOJ.

Yeah apparently it came out less than a month after SF2 finally came out on Genesis. What's weird though is when I got my Genesis for Xmas that year (93) it was the redesigned "model 2" but still came with the 3 button controller.

 

[Dizzy]

Playing SF2 on the regular 3 button Genesis controller?

 

[preppypyro]

Also just for the record, mortal kombat 2> street fighter 2!

 

[Crimson Fury]

Also just for the record, mortal kombat 2> street fighter 2!

Nah.

 

[My Spot]

Also just for the record, mortal kombat 2> street fighter 2!

10 year old me would kill me for disagreeing, but nope.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

It says alot that video games were so expensive back in the 90s, and how the Federal Reserve has devalued its own currency over the last 30 years. But that's a separate subject.

Now, gaming is one of the cheapest hobbies in comparison to many. Think about it, so many hobbies are far far more expensive than $5 each hour of enjoyment, and IMHO if a game provides that you've got your money's worth and is not a regrettable purchase.

And if you play it smart and mostly play LONG games that can be played multiple times over that per hour rate can be closer to $2 or less or even $1.

Yeah, you got to keep in mind the console/PC cost, electricity bill, the TV you play on, etc but it still averages out to be cheap in comparison to paintball or other hobbies.