You ever get one of those poorly put together dozen page booklets for your birthday? The ones that tell you a myriad of facts mixed in with articles about the year you were born? One of the topics they always cover, is how much stuff used to cost. When I was growing up, a new video game at a retail store was fifty bucks. From NES to even the Wii, that’s always been the way it was. With the advent of the Xbox 360 and PS3, games went up in price. In these tough economic times, I myself don’t purchase as many video games as I used to. I trade a lot and buy used when I can. Sixty bucks is a lot of money no matter what you’re talking about.
And to tell you the truth, it doesn’t really bother me all that much.
Of course you have a gallery of naysayers who whine and moan that games are now sixty dollars. But step back and think about it. In the over three decades home console video games have been produced, they have increased in price by just 20%. Sure, it sucks you have to pay more, but let’s put that into context. The national rate of inflation from 1980 until today is 157.5%. If videos games went up in price by the same rate, you’d be paying $128.75 a game! That’s the cost of Nintendo DS.
That’s not the half of it. In the 1980’s, a necessity like a loaf of bread would have cost you fifty cents (no not the rapper, the currency). Today, a loaf of bread costs around $2.50. Ergo, if video games went up by the same percentage, you’d have to pay $250 per game! Now you’re talking about a Nintendo Wii. That’s nearly a 400% increase over nearly three decades.
I could go on and on with the examples, but I think you get the point.
Some say this is only the beginning and that prices will only go higher. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. I don’t know to tell you the truth, but for the time being, it’s sixty bucks. So the next time you scoff at a price of a video game, keep this in the back of your head and be thankful it’s not more.
