this post was submitted on 26 Apr 2025
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Games were standardized to $60 back around 2005. Prior to that, games were just whatever the price that publishers decided the game should be. Chrono Trigger cost $80 USD at launch in 1995: https://fantasyanime.com/squaresoft/ctabout.htm Adjusting for inflation, that would be just shy of $170 USD now. It was not uncommon for games for the Nintendo 64 to retail for $70-80: https://retrovolve.com/n64-games-were-ridiculously-expensive-when-they-first-came-out/
Video games (particularly console and handheld games) have always been an expensive hobby. Games also haven't been adjusted for inflation in the 20 years since prices were largely standardized, which is why they have become a microtransaction hell.
Honestly, this will likely lead the the return of video game demos. Because video games were prohibitively expensive in the 80s and 90s, demos were a huge part of the culture so that you could try them out ahead of time to get a feel for if they were worth the price tag.