The Real Cost of Gaming

[Bullstomp]

Hi all,

 

I found this really interesting article on IGN that illustrates that video game consoles have actually become more price friendly in recent years than when video games first came to market. As good as the examples used are, it would have made a much stronger point if the author included Neo Geo or 3DO (both units sold for over $700 in the mid 90s, translating to over $1k per unit in todays dollars!!!)

 

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/10/15/the-real-cost-of-gaming-inflation-time-and-purchasing-power

 

The Real Cost of Gaming: Inflation, Time, and Purchasing Power You think games, consoles, and handhelds cost more than ever? Think again.

by Colin Moriarty

October 15, 2013

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Inflation is a fact of economic life. Quite simply, costs of products and services fluctuate -- and typically increase -- over time, increasing the money needed to purchase those products and services. That means that a dollar today is worth a lot less than a dollar, say, two decades ago. (Indeed, one US dollar in 1912 has the purchasing power of over $23 today.)

Mercifully, there’s a flipside to this equation. Though inflation is inherently destructive to the value of money, decreased purchasing power can be counteracted by how much similar products cost over a period of time. This is especially true when it comes to video game consoles and handhelds (or electronics generally), which have become more affordable over time, even when something seems to be more expensive.

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...games are essentially cheaper than they’ve ever been.

I’ve made the argument over the last few years that games are essentially cheaper than they’ve ever been. An NES game in 1990 cost, on average, about $50. That’s $89 in 2013 money. Your $70 N64 cartridges in 1998 would require the equivalent of $100 today. Heck, the $50 PlayStation 2 game you bought in 2005 is worth $60, the exact price of a typical retail game in 2013. This isn't to say that salaries (or hourly pay) have kept up with inflation and the cost-of-living -- it decidedly hasn't -- but it is to say that, dollar-to-dollar over the past 35 years, gaming hardware and software is generally cheaper than ever.

Hardware in particular is where differences in cost – when accounting for inflation – is extremely pronounced. The PlayStation 3 may have seemed expensive when it launched at $599.99 in 2006 – and it was – but it’s not the most expensive mainstream gaming console. That honor goes to the Atari 2600. Launched in September of 1977, the Atari 2600 cost $199.99. When taking into account the 258.9 percent inflation rate between 1977 and 2013, the Atari 2600 cost the equivalent of $771 today. ("Mainstream" gaming hardware typically had to sell over 10 million units in totality, or currently be on the market.)

The five most expensive mainstream gaming consoles of all-time.

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...the NES is actually the most expensive Nintendo console ever released.

Tracking Nintendo home consoles since the release of the NES in 1985 further illustrates this. Though the NES launched at a totally reasonable $199.99 that year, $199.99 was a significant sum of money in the mid-‘80s. The inflation rate since 1985 is a staggering 117.4 percent, meaning that the NES is actually the most expensive Nintendo console ever released ($199.99 in 1985 equals $434.69 in 2013).

The cheapest Nintendo console, when taking inflation into account, is the GameCube, which launched in 2001 for $199.99 and today would cost $264.25. From there, the Wii ($249.99 in 2006, $290 in 2013), Nintendo 64 ($199.99 in 1996, $298.11 in 2013), and Super Nintendo ($199.99 in 1991, $343.41 in 2013) round out the list. The Wii U, having only come out last year, suffers from only a 1.9 percent inflation rate, spiking its price only $6.63.

The real cost of Nintendo's consoles over the years.

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Inflation has been far kinder to Nintendo’s handhelds...

Inflation has been far kinder to Nintendo’s handhelds – especially the Game Boy line – showcasing just how cheap they were even at the time they were released. The original Game Boy, launched in 1989 for a mere $89.99, would only cost $169.73 today (at a 88.6 percent inflation rate). Game Boy Color, released in the summer of 1998 for the low sum of $69.99, would cost only $100 today, with a 40.4 percent inflation rate. Game Boy Advance continues the trend, launching in the early summer of 2001 for $99.99, the equivalent of $132.12 today.

Compare that to SEGA’s competitor to the Game Boy, the battery-eating, color-screened Game Gear. When Game Gear launched in 1991, it cost $149.99. That’s $257.56 in 2013 money, taking into account a 71.7 percent inflation rate between then and now.

Gaming's earliest mainstream handhelds weren't (and aren't) that expensive.

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Nintendo’s DS line is newer, and hence doesn’t suffer as much from the rigors of inflation.

Nintendo’s DS line is newer, and hence doesn’t suffer as much from the rigors of inflation. The original Nintendo DS, which launched in the fall of 2004 at $149.99, would only be spiked to $185.70 today, keeping it well within the “appropriately priced” range. 3DS, too, hasn’t seen its price rise much. With a mere four percent inflation rate between 2011 and now, Nintendo 3DS’ original price tag of $249.99 would raise its price less than $10 ($9.53, to be exact).

PlayStation’s competition to Nintendo’s handhelds – the PSP and, more recently, the Vita – both launched at $249.99 in 2005 and 2012, respectively. That means PSP, today, would cost $299.37 (at 19.8 percent inflation), with Vita faring better, with only a 1.9 percent inflation rate, and hence costing only $4.66 more than its initial asking price.

Newer handhelds haven't suffered much from inflation.

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Saturn’s predecessors... have faired better because of their lower respective entry prices.

SEGA’s consoles have run the gamut of pricing, with SEGA Saturn being perhaps the most inappropriately priced at the time of its release, which makes inflation quite unkind. When Saturn launched (out of the blue, mind you) in 1995, it cost $399.99, or the price of the PlayStation 4 today. But $399.99 in 1995 is worth $613.84 today, illustrating just how high that price was at the time.

Saturn’s predecessors, on the other hand, have faired better because of their lower respective entry prices. Master System, launched in 1986 at $199.99, would cost $426.76 today, with a 113.4 percent inflation rate. Genesis, launched in 1989 at a slightly lower price point -- $189.99 – would cost $358.34 today, with an 88.6 percent inflation rate. Dreamcast, which came to market on the other side of the Saturn’s failure, cost $199.99 in 1999, equivalent to $280.75 today.

SEGA's Saturn, in particular, was inappropriately priced then (and now).

Not surprisingly, Sony’s PlayStation brand saw its most expensive entrant in 2006’s PlayStation 3, and with a mild inflation rate between then and now of 16 percent, its $599.99 cost equates to $696.05 today. The original PlayStation, launched in the west in 1995 at $299.99, would cost $460.37 today, while PlayStation 2, launched in 2000 for an identical $299.99 price point, would cost $407.44 today.

Strangely, PlayStation 4 is the cheapest PlayStation console yet.

Microsoft’s three Xbox consoles have gotten more expensive over time. The original, OG Xbox, launched in 2001 at $299.99, costs more like $396 today. Xbox 360, launched in 2005 at $399.99, would cost $479 today. And Xbox One, which comes out next month, will cost $499.99 in 2013 cash.

Xbox consoles have gotten more expensive over time.

 

[CasaDeBen]

Didnt read it really... Ive read something like that before and its quite interesting to see how crazy some things cost. On another note, I still have a 3DO and I am the second owner as my moms really good friend gave it to me years ago, he bought it at launch and I thought it was the coolest system ever at the time. 

[xVolloxx]

Gaming's gotten cheaper but the general price of living had risen greatly , As well as DLC , Subscriptions etc 

It's getting harder for Gamers , publishers , developers etc 

[BeautifulTorment]

Just so everyone can see what he's talking about without having to read all of that stuff.... this chart has been reposted on places like reddit hundreds of times.

 

[savageamusement]

Got my Mega Drive (Genesis) when I was 7 and still works like a dream, was worth every penny my parents paid for it.

I've had 18 solid years (and counting) of great gaming from that one machine, a great console built to last unlike the new consoles with their YLOD and the like.

[Bullstomp]

Just so everyone can see what he's talking about without having to read all of that stuff.... this chart has been reposted on places like reddit hundreds of times.

 

 

First time I've seen this graph, its pretty cool. Thanks!

[Parker]

Don't show this to my wife, she'd have a heart attack. 

 

 

Parker